Monday, February 9, 2009

poetry

Our school has this really cool Literary Festival that we have every year. A different author is invited to speak to the students and then we have a day of workshops and stuff. This year our invitee is Billy Collins.

We had a poetry reading at the local library tonight in conjunction with the book club I am in. It was really great. I definitely like his poetry. It struck my poetic fancy, so here it goes.

I plop myself down on the leather chair,
dark and soft, bought with money I didn't have.
The dogs enter momentarily searching
for what will be the perfect spot tonight.

I could return the call of the man I haven't actually met yet,
but who will be asking me to spend
another couple of hours buffing, plucking and powdering in an effort to impress him
(whether he realizes that this is part of the request I don't know.)

Perhaps I will light up the wall with the flickering lights of the TV
allowing myself to be pulled into another world
of laughter, embarrassment and long looks.
Oh, to be in a world where everything is resolved in 24 minutes or even 47.

The thought of doing anything more
than snuggling down into the chair
waiting for Buddy to leap upon me
is more than I can bear this evening.


This one is for Cha Cha

We have never met
but I feel a kindred soul
as we find ourselves swirling in the amusement park cesspool
of dating and lost loves.

Our standards are like the signs in front of roller coasters
demanding that the participants reach a minimum height before entering
Sadly, there are many not quite there
and others trying to convince the ride master
that they meet the requirements
without it actually being true.

Some nights it is like being in the fun house.
It starts out fun to see ourselves bizarrely skinny or strangely squat
but if we aren't careful the reflection becomes more true to life
than the mirrors we keep at home.

Other nights we find ourselves in the giant teacups
swirling around in circles feeling sick to our stomach
wondering why our memories of the teacup seem
so much better than the reality.

We eyeball the ride at the far end, there seems to be a line
It's called the Tunnel of Love
That's the one we want to ride
So many people already in line
Why must we wait?

But then we remember
to be alone in the dark
with someone who isn't The ONE
is like choosing the perfect pair of jeans to wear to the park.
We want the perfect dark blue pair that makes us look really thin
BUT UNFORTUNATELY CUTS OFF OUR ABILITY TO BREATH.

Why do we do that? Choose the pair that we know we will regret wearing?
It's better to wait for the perfect dark blue pair of jeans that make us look really thin, feel really thin AND allow us to take in great big lung filling breaths of air.
It makes the entire park experience a lot more fun.

1 comment:

  1. OHHH! Wonderful - thanks for sharing! And right back at cha ... I am quite thankful to have such a wonderful partner in crime!

    ReplyDelete