Hiding Place.
Was wondering where the cat snoozed sunny afternoons
when I turned the hose on some groggy –looking gardenias
in a cloistered corner of the yard
and found out
as a cat bounded out of the bushes into the clearing
as if she were scalded
Curdle
I like nothing better at night or on languid afternoons
than to curl up on the couch with Tessa Hadley
reading me one of her tales,
familiar yet fresh, cozy yet curdling at the core
like a Victorian murder mystery
Fighting Fish: an Extended Metaphor Poem
You & me
we’re siamese fighting fish
territorial as hell
in this fishbowl
of love.
You say,
I am taking every inch
of yr space;
I say,
huh, you are crowding me
but most of the time
we get on swimmingly
*pic courtesy of pinterest
Reminiscing Rainbows
We were reminiscing rainbows at the writers’ workshop when the mentor
snapped: Get out of the picture. You’re spoiling the view. Let the vision
remain. So I did. I got out and wrote this:
A bright rainbow
scythes
the air:
a gentle crop
of rain
miniature Xmas trees
growing carelessly
on the side of the road
their leaves plush
with pollen
Xmas trees for bees
Snip
Snip
Snip
Like scissors
Snipping hair
Your
Swift
Little beaks
Snip bugs
From the air
Short,
sharp, snarly,
tight as a a haiku
assured.
amped,
giving it to me straight
like a track
from
Amyll & the Sniffers
That photo you posted
on Facebook
of her and him
unmoored me
sent my head spinning
down
down
that whirlpool
of memory
the immaculate misconception
of my frail craft
the face in the photo
having the last laugh
the Maserati of the insect world
they leap from dawdle to dash
in one second flat
at one moment hovering helicopters
the next fighter planes
daredevil pilots at the controls
coupling in mid-air as if refuelling
how do they do it?
sex on the run
& here comes junior, red-headed
as a matchstick, parents in tow,
learning the ropes
What if I leave the dog out?
You can’t leave the dog out. It’s hilarious.
How about the two phone calls?
Necessary to the plot.
But it’s got to be less than 100 words. What if I leave out the storm descriptors?
Then, excuse the pun, you destroy the atmosphere.
How about the phrases I worked hard at?
Like ‘freckled sensibility’ ?
Yes.
It’s a frilly phrase..
But ….
Kill your darlings.
So what do I do?
Regroup. You can fit anything into 100 words.
‘War and Peace’?
Yes, even ‘War and Peace’.
John Malone 