One of my 2010 goals is to write a poem each day of the year and share them here on the blog. Here are the three poems I've written for the first three days of January.
001-It belongs to somebody
Imagine a tree leaning over
a river of snow. You are
on the tree using a bucket
to scoop snow. You are
the tree, the bucket, the snow.
You are the mouth of the river
never shutting up. You
only widen and widen
and let yourself go.
There must be 50 ways to lose
a pound, but how do you keep
it lost forever? That's the trick.
I think in exit numbers;
she knows street names; and
neither one of us owns a map.
Bubble wrap. Newspaper. Full
moon. New Year. Fireworks.
So many pounds to gain.
The river jumps, volcano
smokes. You lean and lean
and bend into everything
you're not looking at. Lava
balls. Water falls. Giant
fire-breathing monster, where
were you hiding? I am not
the river or volcano; I am
not what you think I am.
You could decorate with baskets,
old bottles and clocks. Find
me the function of this figurine
made of porcelain that costs
more than a week's worth
of groceries. Tell me how
to mass produce these prints
priced above the original
paintings of some starving artist.
Behind the smoke is a bird
looking for somewhere to land.
It's been flying all winter
with tired wings flapping. I
am that bird. Through all
the pounds and rivers, snow
and smoke, I've been searching
for the right spot. Now I know
I've been searching for you.
002-Move
Think: Write a poem;
write a short poem
about a mountain
mounted by children.
One wants to be king
of the mountain. He
pushes the others
and stands his ground when
the other children
try to push him back.
Like most games children
play, this one will end
in tears and one boy
claiming victory.
003-Disoriented
He wakes and wanders the house
in search of his father. He needs
his father. Empty gun. Loaded
potato. One word leads to a second
thought. She looked better on paper
folded like hands across his lap.
Empty bottle. Loaded school girl.
Wake up lonely and ready to go.
*****
Spent New Year's Eve at my father-in-law's house. It was a great night, and we (Tammy, Ben, Jonah, Will & I) hit the road in the evening of January 1 to visit with my grandmother in Dandridge, Tennessee (a planned trip in December had to be aborted). On January 2, we had breakfast with Grandma Helen and hit the road to drop the boys off at their mother's house. Unfortunately, we learned in Southern Kentucky that their mother was having the first of what would ultimately be eight seizures that would cause her to quit breathing twice. Scary stuff. So, we kept Ben and Jonah for an extra night at my brother's house in Kettering, Ohio. This morning, we dropped off Ben and Jonah with their grandparents in Fairfield, Ohio, and Tammy, Will and I made it back down to Georgia. Apparently, everything has stabilized with my ex-wife's health, too, which is great news. Hopefully, the new medicine the doctors are giving her will end this seizure madness. What a horrible way to start 2010!
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8 comments:
These 3 poems are the first ones that even remotely appeal to me. I've usually just thought that people were too lazy to compose real rhyming patterns, but hey I get the picture you're describing and it's intriguing style.
Found you through twitter
Keep up the good work and my best wishes for 2010 for you and your family, I hope evrything will be alright I have a loving grandmother with severe health problems, so I think I know what it's like...
Happy New Year nevertheless!
that first poem is particularly fantastic :) what a great start to the year!
sorry to hear about your ex-wife's medical condition :( my brother-in-law suffers from seizures but has been doing well this last year *knock on wood*
Thank you, palapapa! That's really great to hear!
Also, thank you, Jessie, for the kind words.
It's really weird for Ben and Jonah. Both of their parents lost consciousness, quit breathing, and ended up in the hospital within the same 7-month span. Lucky for them, we're both still ticking, though, thanks to our new spouses.
I woke up New Year's Day with serious sinus issues which were made worse by flying to Florida where they are setting record cold temps when I was expecting heat or at least warmth. Not in the same league as seizures, but not what I expected either. So here's to 2010 and all the unknown pain and pleasures and to the ability to find in them some poetry.
Wow, great start Robert. I can totally empathize with the third poem, because that's my first real memory, wandering around my Grandparents house, searching for my parents. Scarey.
I thought about doing that challenge this year as well, but got cold feet. There's always next year, right? Maybe.
BTW, kimik=AC Leming
Robert, a poem a day all year is a worthy goal. I usually do the poem a month in your poetry challenges....but a year is something else. I will look forward to reading your daily poetry.
So happy to find another crazy poet! I announced on my blog, on a whim!, that I was going to write a-poem-a-day, too! Some of mine are in my journal, so not all will be posted. Best of luck! ~Jill
Thanks, all!
This is my first attempt at consciously doing a poem a day throughout the year. So far so good.
Will try to post all the poems on here throughout the year, though I'll probably lump them together in batches as with this post.
Thanks for reading!
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