Tag: poetry

the message is the medium (poem 20160519)

crow13 Comments

1280px-jtf_guantanamo_sailor_sends_a_message_in_a_bottle_dvids231291

ignored by meandering seabirds
thrusting beaks into retreating waves
the bottle sat sealed

the occupant
a cylinder of paper rolled
into a tight tube
the way a child would
form a makeshift telescope

no ethereal genie ready to escape
in a plume of silver smoke
no trio of wishes to be granted
by pulling the cork

only paper

paper and words written inside
so that the tube must be unrolled
and held up to the light

do not forget
do not forget
but please
do not remember

——

Jane Dougherty Writes
Poetry challenge #31: Message in a bottle

grind (poem 20160516)

crow3 Comments

you return from vacation
tired and vaguely put off
by having to come home
but the worst part isn’t
giving up on your leisure
or the new vistas
or just escaping the grind

the worst part is coming home
and finding that everything
is fine
that the world didn’t stop turning
just because you weren’t there
that the gears and cogs
circled their axes like normal
and nothing is out of place
that the grind was just fine
without you

you resent the world for not
needing you
and you resent yourself
for wanting it to

transformation (poem 20150515)

crow19 Comments

full moon
but i’m not going to get
all lon chaney jr. on you

no sudden transformation
not much of a wolf
not much of a man, either
not likely to change

this little light of mine
i’m going to let it shine

no teeth and no fur
(except on my back)
and a useless heart
(except as a clock)
you can keep me around
as a paperweight
big as an eclipsed moon
and as inviting

tombstone (poem 20150514)

crow5 Comments

the clouds wandered in
while i was eating
distracted by all the carbs
and the waitresses’ uniforms
at the saloon
i managed to make it
across the street in time
to see a single finger of lightning
touch the ground
out beyond the town
thunder rolled into me
like i was made of dried wood
and the drops fell heavy and fat

old silver mining town
more famous for murder
washed for the moment clean

gold and ghosts (poem 20160513)

crow2 Comments

the mining town is full of ghosts
phantom families drifting
from shop to shop
buying ice cream
that evaporates in this heat
ghost workers and tour guides
repeating their lines on a loop in
this rough and disheveled tourist trap
not even the original town
recreated with old haunted wood
spirit that i am
i pay my money for the mine tour
and the train ride
and wish for a real ghost
to glide out of the shadow
of the mountain

on visiting the grand canyon (poem 2060512)

crow8 Comments

it was a cute mnemonic to remember
how the grand canyon was formed
over millions of years

DUDE–deposit, uplift, downcutting, erosion

standing at the edge
(there are very few places with rails)
you can see the strata where layer upon layer
settled in an ancient ocean
each line is an ancient mouth whispering

how many people go over the edge?
(i hear the question, and voice it myself)
a dozen on average in a year
usually someone trying to get a good photo

but it is the whisper, you see
we’ve done it all for you, is what it says
taken on the burden of it all
and you can just let go

arizona (poem 20160511)

crow5 Comments

in a safeway checkout line
a husband and wife
she argues
with the checker about
a two for one deal on something
steaks, i don’t know
i’m too busy focusing on the man’s eyes
crazy and glassy
i’ve seen them before
meth eyes
brain damage eyes
eyes too open
stuck on the surprise setting
but so unfocused
a truck could run him down and he wouldn’t know
until he tried to stand up
yet
he is the one not arguing
saying okay as he emerges from a fog
and pays the bills
while his wife angrily shoves food
in the bags
and walks off