Here are a couple of poems I don't have a whole lot to say about (partly because it's too hot to think), but I like them and felt like they deserved a promotion from the hard drive. I will say that the second one is another from the series of home poems and was mostly composed there - edited this afternoon. I hope you enjoy them.
1. Miss Goody-Two Shoes
The shower’s too hot,
but you don’t reach for the cold.
Are you ignoring that tap with rebellious desire,
or as premonitory self-punishment?
Inner and outer voices clash beneath the suds -
blood pressure rises with the steam;
“Take the easy option,
look right in front of you.
It’s a sure thing -
it’s what the good girls do.”
Follow their advice, do what you’re told;
“Send this text, but not that one,
just see what might happen.
Leave that other Facebook option alone;
‘friend’ doesn’t mean what it used to.”
But that tattle-tale feeling in your gut?
Connected to that lineal story of misaligned stars
predating and predicting your very existence?
“Wait until the time is right…”
Wash confusion down the drain
with orchid extract and apricot bits,
but it clogs and swirls at your feet,
casting a scalding, dizzying spell.
Cut off the flow before heat fades,
revel in the heaviness of saturated air,
the anticipation of the moment
when crimson skin will recoil in shock and anger
from the frigid blast beyond the safety of the door.
May 20, 2010
2. Storm Chasing
564 miles doesn’t make any difference sometimes.
Tornado Katie, Tornado Jay – they’re all the same,
brandishing flashy graphics and HD radars
as weapons in the war on weather,
as if blotches of green and red
could be more highly defined than a bolt of lightning.
Dog breathes faster, trees sway amongst the flashes;
shut the windows, batten down the hatches.
One sibling flutters in panic, the other chuckles wisely until
SkyCam proves too tempting – both run outside to look.
June 17, 2010
I like reading your poems from a while ago. They amuse me because in them your thoughts are cloudy but now with the clouds gone...aren't you glad it turned out the way that it did?!? I remember your angst and now that it's mostly gone...SO INTERESTING to look back, like a left-open diary. (Perhaps I watched too much Bridget Jones last night?) It's like reading a history book: The History of Amanda Leigh. (That is an epically great title for something...I'll cede the credit to you, haha)
ReplyDeleteGlad the first finally made the board; it came out of the editing sessions well!
ReplyDeleteThe second one is great, esp. like the opening two lines and the great detail about the dog's breathing. Well done!
Adrienne - that's an interesting forecast, Jay Trobek! Don't worry, there are still clouds, just more interesting ones.
ReplyDeleteWcp - thanks for the help on the first and the kudos on the second. More coming soon, I think.