Friday, May 14, 2010

misdirected

I.

the seasons are variable.
don’t know if it is warmer before colder,
or colder before hotter.
close the window anyway.

hah, and you think this is a diary?
it is: of disinformation and the like;
with possibility to forecast severe weather, predict
elections and ball scores. still working on horse race results.

wait a minute, the window sticks.
i know it is the weather;
any weather will do, or won’t
– as in: window won’t open.

II.

the aggregate outlook remains unpredictable,
as churning beach sand under pounding waves,
turning clouds belly up, masking out the stars.
so dark now i have to count on my fingers.

III.

hah, and you think this is a dairy; nearly so.
we drive by a field with sheep each day
where the new ones are a plenty now.
we saw a mother lick off a tiny lamb just arrived.

good for the farmers and the 4H club.
they still have a hand on the soil, thank goodness.
rains are good for them
in reasonable measure.

IV.

you think maybe I just pull these poems out of a box
ha – a thousand times ha!
i grind this stuff out
the way someone grinds bones

okay, so i don’t know who grinds bones
but i’m sure where there’s money to be made
someone is doing it. so in warning:
watch your bones.

8 comments:

Julie said...

Hello, Jack. You wouldn't give me any misinformation, would you? Heh. That stanza is awesome. This entire poem is wonderful and takes me in all those different directions. It moves me along. I love it when I can physically feel the rhythm of the speech in a poem as I read it.

Argh...that title could be the story of my life, but it's a great title. You know I like the "ha's." And the windows that stick in humidity. Part II is so beautiful.

Okay, okay. I know you hate it when I get sappy. So I'll just say thanks for another great read. Have a good weekend!

TomC said...

What Julie said! Also, stay away from bone grinders Jack... lamb lickers are fine. Now that you mention it, bone grinders could be related to arthritics, at least, it sure feels like it sometimes! I really enjoy how you go places I haven't seen other writers go before.

jack sender said...

Julie,
The misdirection, the new direction
is a result of returning to Ohio after a winter away.

Darkness having anything to do with counting
is indicative of my state of being, maybe being in Ohio.

Thanks for commenting, and let me credit you for the “Ha”, you like those. Now I’ll have to try “Argh”. That’s a good one.

And, go ahead, sap me, up and down, anytime. i can take it.

jack sender said...

TomC, thanks for your words. They are much appreciated.

The little baby lamb was bloody, that’s why the mom was licking it. I deliberately didn’t mention that detail. I tell you know so you know how fresh that lamb was, out there in the middle of the field.

Like Captain Kirk, going where no one has gone before is what I come up with when searching to bring the 21st Century to the poems. I have a poem to enter some year in the annual Robert Frost-like contest. My poem was written near the time of his death in 1963, give or take a few years. The world, the language, the attitudes were different then. It seems strange to think, yet obvious to detect when you read it, that the times are reflected in even simple constructions of phrases and choice of words in a Frost-like poem. If I hadn’t written that simple Frost-like poem back then I would have thought to copy his style would be sufficient; evidently more than I realize is captured in the times. The times are layered deep.

Annie said...

I like the comments and your responses to them, almost as much as the poem! Like Julie and Tom, said! I enjoy Stanza II as well, and I could see the lamb being licked, more so now, with your description of the blood. The title, misdirected, is great, and I like the idea of the variable seasons (which came first?)

Ruahines said...

Kia ora Jack,
This poem also somehow captures so many elements of New Zealand with the moody weather and certainly the pounding waves. And most definitely the sheep! Well done, a good grind.
Cheers,
Robb

jack sender said...

Annie, thanks for the kind words. As to what came first - I suppose everything, then the title. Doing multiple part units are pieces until I put it out the door. The title always is last.

Often time I'll call poems by the first line, that's part of the old Beat Poetry style. These multiple part pieces generally develop a title of their own.

jack sender said...

A Maori hello to you also, Robb. Someday I hope to see the coast from your part of the planet.

Thanks for taking a look here and saying hello. I notice your comment touches upon four pieces of this multiple part poem. That was agile and alert of you.

let’s hope weather settles into something comfortable, or at least suitable, for all around the globe.

best wishes to all.