well, Wicks, hi, i’d shake hands but
obviously, you’re moving too fast
i’m jack, but i’d prefer you call me grandpa
no one else does
well they do once in a while
but they live a half a planet away
grandpa jack is what they say, but
plain grandpa is more enduring don’t you think
my grandparents lived thirty minutes away
but people didn’t drive as much back then
a half century ago, one i’d see one once a year
the other i’d see Christmas and Easter
anyway, doesn’t matter to anyone now does it.
say, my sister Nita taught me to drive
when i was eleven in her old Oldsmobile on Rye Beach Road
i’ll have to ask her if she was married then
parts of the story are unraveling
and half the cast have gone away
i’ll look into that, gone away stuff,
someday, won’t we all
listen, Wax, you don’t mind if
i keep talking to you, do you?
not out loud, in my head, think talk like
blink if you can hear me
Thursday, September 24, 2009
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4 comments:
Hi Jack, I like this. It sounds like a performance piece, meaning a monologue in a play. It expresses so much, and tells so much, in both the words and the way they're conveyed. It captures perfectly what it's like when someone introduces themselves, or says, hi, how are you, and then they're gone; but the mind keeps moving. "Parts of the story are unraveling, and half the cast have gone away..." Poignant, too. And Wicks becomes Wax by the end of it.
What Annie said.
Wow. I agree with Annie, too. I love the voice and the internal monologue. The Oldsmobile is an excellent detail, and I love how you transition from that to the story unraveling. I also love Annie's comment about Wicks becoming Wax. The final stanzas made me think of someone on life support. Very powerful.
Thanks Annie, Tom and Julie.
Wax and Winks - they sweep in and put their names out so fast, sometimes I don’t catch it.
and they never ask our names.
the life support - ha - when lines are loose you can read in what you like. i was thinkin' that it was going on inside my head.
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