Anti-Poem
I don’t write of time,
At least not since my watch was stolen.
Apportioning the day into three minute
Intervals with the egg timer
Has possibilities of being a mathematical nightmare.
And if I may deviate,
As I believe most poets
Mythologize themselves to be,
Remedial math was the proverbial nemesis
Parenthesis, (“nemesis” is poetically
as self-indulgent as these parenthesis,
end of…)
Of my short termed college career.
Which I believe brings the subject matter
Back to time, which is
Not the subject of this poem
As I don’t write about it.
I, also, do not write about food.
Not that I am incapable
Or even unwilling,
But as the imagination spreads out
Through vast space,
So does the waistline.
Therefore, if my thoughts crave
Food, let them forage
Off the fat of the land.
Whatever that means.
Another subject I deem unfit these days
Is sex.
“What’s wrong,” you well may ponder,
“With sex?”
Well, I guess I can say not wisely
But too loudly,
I’ve partaken of most of the four letter
Words and a few of the
Five and six letter words with
The best of them,
But either you have done it or you have not
And if you have, you do not need to be told,
And if you have not, nothing I
Say is going to take the place of
The real thing.
No matter how graphically
I spell it out.
I do not write about my son,
Because for one,
Doting parent that I am,
Who the hell wants to hear about
Someone else’s kid?
Even if he is as smart, cute
Strong, precocious, lovable, witty,
Advanced, coordinated, sweet,
Darling, etc., as mine.
AND for two,
Because he is special,
He is sacred.
And in the eyes of this cynical bitch,
When God politely but
Rather pointedly withdrew from
This desecration of his creation,
God did not leave much that was sacred.
The Man I love also fits into the
Category of unfit subject matter.
Because as Sandburg wrote,
Love is something you put away
For a keen keeping.
Because paper tastes lousy when
You are forced to eat it.
Because ridicule shrivels the backbone.
Because spilling out my inner
Feelings for other to pick
About in, like bag ladies through
Garbage, does not appeal to me.
Besides any trendy person knows,
Silence is far more mysterious
And mysterious equals sexy.
Other nonacceptable subjects are:
Nature – quite eloquent without my aid
God-yes, well, either you do or you don’t
Or he/she or it does or doesn’t
Abortion-The Supreme Court handles that now
My pets – which have four feet, fur and tails
Whoopee!
Which brings me to the point
Of this particular poem
This is a fairly old poem. Is so dated that it should be retired?
Sorry, you cannot respond to an archived poemReviews
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This is probably the most fesh, original thing i'v read on here yet. It started out quite light hearted, and i felt it gradually got more serious. I would love to see you work on this and to see how it ends up! I can't think of any suggestions, purely because it's such a personal poem and was obviously written with alot of passion. cheers!
. Rewarded 6
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From A Garbage-Sifter...
please accept, my proboscis stuffed within your intimate gleanings espousing a wondrous array of quirks and quandries immediately available in your terse yet evocative script, Eosmia.
This is like a collation of ardent aphorisms.
I´ve barely begun to assimilate them within my querulous cortex but let me say that, through initial impressions, your words wind up this psyche to a whirligig of impressions thankfully stricken of mundane gravity.
Warmest regards
gG
. Rewarded 8
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Just puddlin'
All too often I take myself seriously. To my horror others believe my pomposity. I am so glad to be found out for the windbag that I am.
May the raindrops tickle your fancies,
Eosmia
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I will NOT comment on the deliciously wry sarcasm and anti-matter that matters in this poem. I have nothing to say about its insinuatively delightful dismissal of that silly thing called Time - in three-minute segments, no less - and I'll be mum about remedial math's uselessness for a fundamentally intelligent poet, as well as silent about the poem's gleeful trashing of poems about food, sons, whoopee pets. I'll even shut up regarding this most underhandedly right-on imaging of sex and love - either one knows them or doesn't, and imagination, a poet's usual ally, is of no use with those two ringers. And it's useless imagination which brings me to the point of my comments which I'm not commenting on this fantastically sly loop of a poem wonderfully written as a loop of nots, not that I'm commenting on that loop
Lad
Nothing you've written, which I've seen, has been as utterly enjoyable for me to read, J. One of your very best; it says more, much more, than it doesn't say, and with brilliant reversability, creating a droll something out of nothing, which was where I started this postscript, not that I'm postscripting...
. Rewarded 8
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As always
Hello L.
I love this comment. What else can I say. Also someone who actually gets what I am doing is such a relief.
Hope all is well with you.
Eosmia/J
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A delightfully anti-climactic non-poem
Having come out of retirement on occassion as financial necessity demands, I am grateful that you brought this whitty work out of the desk drawer where it languished in isolation, among those snooty pro-poems. It is a delighful whimsy.Ascerbic, but neither bitter or shallow. Just a pinch of gall. Even breaking the "rules" on capitals is expressive of this non-poem.
Keen keeping indeed.
. Rewarded 8
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hah. I like it =) very refreshing.
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It is a fairly good poem. I feel that there is too much opinion based wording. In some aspects the discription flows. I feel that maybe you need to rethink the title. As with most of my poems the right title is the hardest to arrive to.
. Rewarded 4
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Definition please
What is "opinion based wording"? Sounds very collegiate.
eosmia
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Metafictious
Funny/reflexive/laconic/poetry-on-poetry/poet-on-poetry/great!
This took me by surprise from the egg-timer moment. Most are boring next to this -- mine included.
I love a reflexive piece! A piece that explicitly speaks of itself is rare.
Lad knows: he cleaverly, cheekily added some to his to his meta-comment. I try to write in that manner, but seeing it in others' work isn't a frequent occurrence!
. Rewarded 8
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thanks so much
I haven't been on much lately but will stop and take a look at your work.
Eosmia
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March 2
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