Saturday, May 23, 2009

eyes down

five minutes to home
she found an odd button
that we put in the jar
for such things

her eyes to the ground
everywhere we go
oh, what she’s found
the jars are filling

she’s found money, buttons, badges,
chain, earrings, hair clips,
combs, pendants, knobs, hats, balls, t-shirts
and kittens in a tree

flying back this time
she stood up in the isle
bent down, picked up a quarter
others didn’t see

no matter where we are
don’t have to ask or remind her
whatever i need, i wait a bit,
she’ll find it
at Saturday, May 23, 2009
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9 comments:

Annie said...

I enjoyed this poem. I wrote a short story, where it is pivotal, whether a character will pick up a penny from the ground.

Saturday, May 23, 2009 6:06:00 PM
TomC said...

Now wait a minute... everyone knows you pick up a penny only if heads is showing. Tails is bad luck. Everyone knows that. Don't they? You have written before about Meri picking up buttons in Rome. It appears her skills are much broader in America. Thank you for the poem Jack.

Sunday, May 24, 2009 1:12:00 AM
jack sender said...

thank you, annie

darn it, tom

if you send me the date i wrote the other button poem then i won't have to spend a lot of time trying to figure where it is.

i want to look at both of them and consider... i don't know what i will consider until i look at both of them.

Many poems are in files in one location and sometimes I forget to go back and move it to another location when I use it.

another thing:
it is all a lie about her finding buttons in america.

you see, on earlier drafts there were two references to Roma in the poem and i wanted them out because i thought it was too distracting or unnecessary for the poem, so the easiest fix was to take Roma out.

i had to choose between truth and poetry - and supper was nearly on the table.

Sunday, May 24, 2009 7:29:00 AM
jack sender said...

tom, how it happened and how i first wrote it - we were flying home from Italy and she stood up and immediately found a quarter in the isle.

Sunday, May 24, 2009 7:32:00 AM
TomC said...

Jack... not sure how I would go about finding the other button poem.. you have been so prolific for the past year it could be a little like finding a button in a haystack. Not quite as hard as finding a needle of course.

Sunday, May 24, 2009 7:04:00 PM
jack sender said...

tom,

i've posted over 600 poems since january of last year.

after a few more i may stop and sort them out a bit.

thanks to you for being supportive.
and thanks also to annie king.

my comments on comments made have been weak. I can say i do spend my time thinking about and writing new things.

let us all move ahead taking it a day at a time, and do the best we can.

Sunday, May 24, 2009 9:52:00 PM
Annie said...

Hi Jack,

I remembered your other button poem, too, when I read this one. And I've found it! (You can thank Google, and my skills as a librarian!)

You wrote an enjoyable post on "An American in Roma" on Friday, December 19, 2008:
http://blockspot.blogspot.com/2008/12/button-finding.html, which led me to your poem on "A Warming Trend" on Tuesday December 2,2008: http://warmingtrend27.blogspot.com/2008/12/buttons-up-and-down-dancing.html, where you will find a lovely comment from Julie.

Regarding choosing between truth and poetry, in my opinion, even if we change a detail to make a poem better, we're still capturing the truth.

Hi Tom,

I never considered the heads or tails concept- maybe I should take a look at the story, and see if it should figure in!

Monday, May 25, 2009 12:34:00 AM
Annie said...

Hi Jack,

It's 2 AM in the morning, and I just learned something I never knew: We can search our own blogs.

All you have to do to find your "button" poem is type the word "button" in the search box at the top bar of your blog, and it brings up every post you ever wrote containing the word, "button." Amazing!

Monday, May 25, 2009 2:03:00 AM
jack sender said...

Annie King,

Put a big gold star by your name.

One: for finding the button things, and that was a trip back in time for me;

and two: for the blog search button (there's that word again) that was tucked hidden away on the top of my page that TomC or i would have eventually stumbled upon in another twenty or thirty years, perhaps, perhaps not.

Monday, May 25, 2009 8:29:00 AM

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