Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Metaphorically Speaking, Of Course

















A request made by a friend of mine.: I guess writing in this manner makes me feel the writing is forced, or too wax poetic, of which I was once accused of over using by my ex-husband. That is why I try and stay away from it. Is it painting too much of a picture. Truth be told, I found it difficult to write and keep a straight face. Meaning my eyes wrinkled up as I pushed my fingers into the very tight inkwell hole and began to make the third to the last line. Metaphorically speaking of course.

Growing up in Carrollton, Texas we had this painting my mom bought to go with the seventies Spanish Iron furniture they also bought; it was of a still life...a peeled orange next to a vinegar bottle, and had a glass of red wine off to the side. Man was it a dark fake. I was always puzzled at that painting. You know how we place things like a picture in specific spots, but do you ever really look at them after you made the choice? Do you really LOOK at them, study them, or do you just dust them off each week as it blends in to our surroundings. Sort of like a photographers musings along their path.

In anticipation of Lil'sista, I found it hard to go to sleep and woke up early, as usual, and began thinking of how I could lay in bed all day because I was just plain tired. Of how things would still change around me, even if I continued to lay there. I also watched 'Stripped: Greg Friedler's Naked Las Vegas', by David Palmer before I fell asleep. Must have impacted my thinking. Or was it Greg's blog, and his still life's of fruits and such? Hmmm, does art really imitate life...

Still Life
as requested by Jeanne

I sit, quietly on the edge of an island
of blankets as the world turns
spinning schedules before the day

ever begins. Morning shadows start tripping
across my lap, stretching obscure minute men
who under your nose steal the thunder

aimed at hearts filled with memory
and pain. A shelter of hoarding rises up with
empty vessel lined shelves; in waiting

they mirror me, ready for random target practice
when an ocean of tears breaks free of its barriers
and keep me prisoner in this spot, where day began.

On this black leather sofa planet crust
evenings darkness meld and break me free.
Floating along the red hot lava of desire

I scavenge up nourishment, and exercise
the will to bend my legs. But it all pulls me under
sinking what I was crafting as a get away boat.

Metaphorically I am like my photo, many flavors, layers, and what you see is not always what you might get. Ha!

Jeanne how was this? and it is a first draft, not sure there will be another...I will let it simmer in my mind pot...

4 comments:

Debbie said...

You mean you take requests for poems! :) I won't do it to you, but this one was nice . . .nice writing and nice of you!
Have a wonderful time with your sis!

Jeanne Estridge said...

I like it! Get some input from Jessie, but I think this is a direction you should move in.

When you asked for an example this morning, I remembered a line from one of your food poems, about the Thanksgiving dishes "lying in state." That's a great one--it suggests that this meal is more than a meal, also an occasion. It also brings up images of death and silent mourning.

That's what I'm talking about!

Toon said...

I really like "Morning shadows start tripping
across my lap".

I took a writing class with Nicole Hollander yesterday and it was a blast. (She's the creator of those "Sylvia" cartoons)

Jim K. said...

That's an epic piece!
The drama in the everyday.
Nice finish to it.