I watch the
locomotion of oranges and limes
bobbing around a sunken
ladle
in a sea of grain alcohol-
realizing the more I refresh
the more intriguing the scene-

party fare disguised in a sticky garbage can
on the lawn crowned with red solos
each adorned with confident claws
lounging and laid on the
spring grass.
All the while:
consummate amateurs prey
upon the L’air du temps lambs
incessant with giggles
and Ultra Bright smiles
glow in the dark.
UnderclassMEN cannot resist
unfledged, fresh meat delivered at
their Levi draped feet.
Frat sweethearts dressed older
bolder a n d endowed
Frat brothers COCKsure,
rocked a n d cocked
BFF’s lust to view
Gamma Phi
the third brightest star
in the constellation
which takes me –
Not them
by the hand
leading
to a capricious ingénue envisage

acute bibliography for a prospective future

I wasn’t aware 
the capacious blinds overhanging the front windowpanes
 are slanted just enough to allow
the neighbors an explicit view
                                   inside my house.
the hail of heartbeats
banging against the hurricane #5 glass
must’ve stopped the rein of ricochets no 
longer taking credit for “yard of the month”. 
Questions asked
                            a n d ignored. 
Gossip and wonder penetrate the 
 radiant barrier roof.
whispers hanging from the blooming magnolia tree – 
whispers on the winding walkways
 They witnessed the tawny bricks 
 stacked ever so politely in the front driveway before
being bundled, projected– propagated into a
 perfect subway pattern meeting and greeting right angles
into shelter walls
but
hand prints were mirrored historically into the concrete foundation –
 mapping an 
acute bibliography for a prospective future. 
If the window treatments were other 
than fingerprinted ivory white -
would the pathetic shouts of mercy
transcend into lyrical verses or 
uttered contractual versions of an expired lease
 with notice of eviction?
When I peer through the glass 
front to back –the express tunnel would
polarize any promise of “good” feng shui. 
the raging fires were too close to the waves
 washing the tears over the slippery floors?
 I didn’t
want the sympathetic visitors with lustrous apple pies
                    and prostrate sheriffs dictating
 arrogant orders of intimidation 
 because
“vacancy” hung on the freshly enameled red front door – 
implementing the exorcism
for my future, my plans, my dreams,
                                               myself 

The concerns were unwarranted. 
No one asked for the unanswered prayers or 
faint echoes turning deadbolts or
disarming security alarm sirens
 
 Hollow houses do not 
require supported occupancy permits
on every killum beige wall - in every room.

 Just because I bought
 it
 doesn’t mean I have
 to live in
 it







WriteInSpace.com 2016© - all rights reserved. 
may not be reprinted without permission.



incorporeal treasures

You gifted me hope
an invaluable commodity
of the incorporeal treasures with the silver and blue ribbons
stacked politely inside pristine pyramids

resembling the mystic gild and glimmer
at Dillard’s.
The display shortened my gasp for air
they are:
largest to smallest
easy to climb – hard to grasp
unreachable flimsy filigree edges that continuously tilt
side to side
from my white bread
PH-PA polished and manicured fingers

Box #3 sitting next to a brilliant star

but as the
Aspirant – I chose Box #2
Zonked***

It repressed
shattered an d disappointed
a fragment of the hope.
The type A crown of glory and thorns
I wear impassively on my head
tilted into my brows
stopping me where I stand.
Halted from holding
both hands out,
they are now kindly
placed behind my back

The blue Olivetti typewriter

 

The blue Olivetti typewriter
Let words fall where they were
supposed to without the inhibitions and tribulations
hanging – dragging
fog
inoffensive
lyrics bounding from the swing reckoned with burnished chain
fresh from Miller Hardware.

It didn’t matter if the breeze
blew
your starched and frilly dress into your face
as long as your skinny legs continued to pump the flash into
your new life.
It didn’t matter what the neighbor’s thought – Why would I care about what the neighbor’s thought?

The blue Olivetti typewriter
Slammed unkind verses
clicked intense verbiage – the 18k watch wound tight
evidence of the spring snapping befell an uncommon reflex
inside of you.
Should I put it out there? Will everyone know I can’t tell time?
Shifty-Shifty gave it an A

doubts were winners
sanctions in bits to puzzle into logic
leadership became a vessel of easy passage – fallen bloomers outsize my capacity

The blue Olivetti typewriter
prospered expressions into an adolescent eminence
I didn’t know that I didn’t know – but it was alright with the ecosphere.
Shunning allocation due to a Hartley on a billboard
It wasn’t created to share venal sequestered contemplations
The assignment had to be presented
The class was paid for with sweat applause rattled the monogrammed oxford shirt pink souls are not for sale (can’t believe I remember using that expression)

The blue Olivetti typewriter
Became a moth ball overcoat
Heavy – loose buttons hanging from cord….

The Goodwill doesn’t even want to deal with the shamble of inappropriate technology in a humid southern state.

Who wears second hand underwear? especially last year’s model
Kevlar wrap road blocked phrases wrapped in a complicated compass-
Amplified by Jetson ways & means ringing a ca-ching, ca-ching to noisy editors

Electronically transmitted to the back of the closet
©WriteInSpace.com all rights reserved

Poetry final

 

Internet attention deficit diversion excursion

Listening to the overture for Jesus Christ Superstar, did not happen due to conscience choice. YouTube is a wealth of non-directed information.Internet attention deficit diversion A short wave of messages back and forth on Facebook prompted the sharing of a link for Low Spark of High Heeled Boys by Traffic. It is the same situation when searching in Google. Type in, “sourdough bread recipe” in the search and you will end up touring San Francisco!

The posted ads think they know you by your posts and search inquiries. My high school class found me on Facebook. All of a sudden, I’m the recipient of ads for walk in tubs, wrinkle removers and weight loss companies. I do not hold the religious or non-religious beliefs of my friends. So hold off on the Congregation of Everyone’s Immaculate Sacrilege Abundance of Plate Passing Parsonage blinkers. The political targets couldn’t be further from the truth. From the comments, it is scary to think who is running around town with a loaded weapon.

Navigation apps want to lead you on a tangent. They try to think for you. It takes me five minutes to tell the damn thing my starting point for directions IS NOT MY HOME! A frequent traveler has to constantly change the settings to not have it start directions from home. In evidently, this change is made while driving on an unfamiliar freeway going 75 mph. By the way, thank you MapQuest for sending me through subdivision hell when I was late getting to a charity golf tournament recently. I followed some lady, with curlers in her hair, out of the community to civilization. Where in the hell was she going? As a Realtor®, I did notice there were beautiful homes listed for sale. See – attention deficit diversion initiated from the Internet,

“hosanna heysanna sanna sanna hosanna…”

©WriteInSpace All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hosanna heysanna sanna sanna hosanna hey

Memory by association and other tricks to screw up your head

I couldn’t remember the name of an Elton John song that played continuously throughout my entire tenure at my first job in State College, PA. It must’ve been the only song management allowed, liked or would afford. I asked a lifelong friend of mine to assist in helping me to recall this ditty that had my gutchies in such a bunch, so many decades ago.

I told her my mind keeps going to “Alligator Rap:”. She immediately yelled, “Crocodile Rock“. She obviously is aware of my twisted brain wiring,

A common memory trick is to remember important stuff by associating it with a conjoint word or a word starting with the same first letter. Corporate ice-breakers are famous for starting a meeting with introductions such as, Julie/the Jew, Buffy/Big Boobs, Candy/Cake, Pete/Polish, Seymour/See More, Hank/Hawk, on and on. Every friend of my youngest son, has a name beginning with a “J” – Jason, Jacqueline, Jeremy, Jessica, JacobMemory by association, Jasmine, etc. Hell, no normal person could differentiate that troupe. I called them, “the “J People”. This son’s name is “Joe”. It all seemed appropriate in my head.

Working outside sales also presented the mitzvah of remembering a manifold of names and titles of clients. The use of association to the vertical or market sector sometimes worked but would get jumbled like the “Alligator Rap” did. A CEO, physically small in stature (my purse weighed more than he did) owned a ginormous collection agency. He drove a pick-up truck so huge it exceeded the size of the elementary school building, I attended. It even had a cattle guard on the front. You could fit a scout troop in this thing. His first name was Dick. You figure out how I remembered his name.

These tricks are not always foolproof. While walking around Kennywood Park, in the ‘Burgh,  with my sister, a couple walked up to me with the excitement of a teenager seeing a Beatle in person, and literally engulfed me with enthusiastic accolades of joy. They knew my sister, the names of my children and knew the fact that I had moved to Texas a very long time ago. These people even knew my grandmother! To save face, this is a dangerous tactic, I went along with it. After mysteriously galloping down memory lane with these folks, we escaped to Noah’s Ark. I turned to my sister and asked, “Who the hell were those people?” She said, “Are you shitting me?” I told her, “I never saw those people before in my whole life.” She said, “They were longtime neighbors of yours.” So help me, I don’t have any recollection of knowing them. Usually, you have a brain fart and a week later you slap your forehead or wake up in the middle of the night and say to yourself, “How could I not have recognized them.” The truth of this situation – I still don’t remember those people. Obviously, I made a positive impression on them or they remember my ex-husband sliding sideways down the snow filled driveway and landing in Roy Rogers parking lot after doing a few 180’s.

 

A negative association experience can also stick with you for a lifetime. Due to a broken sprinkler head, my office in a high rise office building, flooded. My boss called building management and asked for wet vacs to be brought in the help dry the mess up. A few minutes later, an extremely handsome man was standing in front of me with a horrified expression on his face. He asked who called for “Wet Backs” to be brought in here. At the time, I didn’t know or had never heard the expression, “Wet Back”. To this day, every time a wet vac is mentioned, this situation pops into my brain. By the way, I didn’t know it at the time – I would end up marrying the extremely handsome man with the horrified expression seeking clarification for the request made.

 

©Write In Space – all rights reserved.

 

 

Don’t let the kite fall

I found you, right there in Chuck’s house.

You’re still hiding behind your genius manifesto, just like when we were kids. I knew you were prodigy but too afraid to talk. Yes, afraid. Say what you want but a mirror answers and relays. I get you. Didn’t know if you knew. Not a prom, knew you. A person – knew you.

Premature time let me know who belonged in the scholarship sanctuary. Circles were drawn around the words not befitting. The shirt was too big and the innovation kept falling off the tracks. It was painful to witness.  The calamitous clock would progress to afford future fodder. Hoping it did.

Observation permitted me to forecast if we would be the same when we matured. Some are exactly as they were. They still dance the same dance, wear white gutchies and eat fish on Friday. I knew the good changes and the immobile but didn’t want to offend by telling. Storytellers cultivate. Writers drive a Viper. The map deviates a constant timetable.It fulfills the need to open the cage door and better yet – to share it in the feeder.

Words apportion a view of you.It is what you know how to do. It will never hurt you to look in my eyes the next time we speak. Your words convey that you know the world is not a punitive place. Rip the brown paper bag off of your gorgeous head. It’s OK. Put it on a billboard. I promise not to drive so fast that I can’t read all of it as I pass by.

I could hear your heart pounding in my chest. Don’t let the kite fall.