I nearly rang you tonight.
I stopped myself
Just in time.
On a dime.
Like those supermarket deliveries that come (JIT!!)
Just in time;
As Mrs McIntlock reaches for her Bird’s Eye Peas,
And sees
(No! Please!!)
The emptiness of the Frozen Section
Stretching out like Arabia to Lawrence (of.)
That is when I must stop myself;
And I did.
Life without you’s been just fine,
(I tell myself.)
Fine.
(It just takes time.)
Yet
This compulsion
To call
Steals over me sometimes when I’m all
Tired
And tonight I’m tired
And scared
And feeling so lonely
And regretful,
So I become forgetful
Start remembering
The times we had weren’t always
Bad
That we laughed
Late
Into the night
And did all those things that lovers will.
Well.
But I remembered
Just in time
That if I call
I will get nothing from it
At all
But words
Your words.
And though words can move mountains
Rouse armies
Alert a sleeping populace
to a Birth
or Revolution
Sometimes,
They’re no solution. Sometimes,
Jeez.
They’re nothing but frozen peas.
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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A favor retuned!
It takes reflection to find hilarity in situations we put ourselves in and it takes wisdom to know that no matter how funny, it's not worth our time or heart.
Wonderful. -
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Glad you liked it.
Best RA
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Droll, low-keyed, delightful, RA.
The subtle skill in this one, tying in Mrs. Mclintlock's despairing search into the 'desert' of the frozen-food section, like Arabia, and the poet holding himself back from a call, "just in time," is very enjoyable to me.
Adding to the pleasure are those parenthetical sidebars, especially "(of)", which left me laughing with its light touch. Now, THAT's poetic skill: deft strokes that add up to a glow.
And yes, the poet, I think, is right: sometimes words can change the world, but "Sometimes / they're no solution. Sometimes / they're nothing but frozen peas." Very, very nice, and they bring the poem around from beginning to end (as a good, meditative anecdote should) to a reader's satisfaction. The whole is quirky, revealing and imaged in detail - just as all our old flames are...and ever pulling us back to them, if only for an instant.
Excellent in every respect.
Lad -
River, at times reading this I thought I was reading one of my own poems (which may be self-aggrandisement or insult or both) so I feel it difficult to comment objectively, believing you clearly have this poetry thing cracked! Joking aside, I love the use of short lines to pace and move it along which it does - right along. I love the subtlety of the internal rhymes and the punchiness of the obvious ones
' I stopped myself
Just in time.
On a dime'
which dust the poem nicely with humour (Jest in Time), particularly the punchline. The subject, though universally recognizable, is nicely handled with a tone and balance that make this all your own, not ranting or triumphant...realizing, awakening . It was light, intelligent and highly readable. Loved it . Congrats. Your new fan. >W<
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