If you don’t remember
or weren’t subscribed at the time of Charlapalooza, the quick and dirty
description is me against another poet writing quick poems about suggested
topics.
In response, I would say, “Because you all told me what to
write about!”
There was a large and glaring difference between the poems
that Danielle Rose (my last competitor) wrote and those that I wrote. Mine were shorter, condensed and more literal
translations of the suggestions. Danielle’s
were more creative, more outside the box.
Here’s an example.
My poem read:
Seashells have sensual secrets
Tickling temptations and tonal tendencies
Undertones of the undersea
Vestiges of the voluptuousness
Wanton and willful
X-rated and exhilarating
Yummy
Zing
Danielle’s poem read:
The cool touch of it
against my ear
Screamed with the
sound of the
Waves crashing high over my head.
Instantly brought back
to the summer,
Those moments with my
feet in sand
Like snow, sun like charcoal on my hair.
What I wouldn’t give
to be there again,
Listening to the water
racing on the shore
And racing back again. The unending cycle.
What I wouldn’t give
to be back there,
Lost in the sound of
that seashell.
Softly slipping water, sliding over
Shells and sounds of
the seashore.
What I wouldn’t give
to see him once more
On the softly sliding slopes of the dunes.
The secret slippery slope of a seashell.
Secret desire – By Danielle
Rose
~suggested by Dahlia Ramone
There’s a door in the
forest
Covered by trees.
If you look carefully
you’ll find
 |
| Photo by Kely Luzio-Cardona |
A mound of sweet purple blooms
That have no business
in that shaded
Grove, basking in rays
of sunlight
Covering an oak slab
door.
What I wouldn’t give
to give up
The meatloaf for dinner, the emails
For work, the laundry
needing folding.
I’d run to that grove, sneaking into that
Streamer of sunlight,
breathing in the
Blossoms, escaping forever into the
Unknown of that oaken secret door.
And mine:
1:23 AM
The dogs are barking again
Nudge Jon without hope
Swing legs over the side
Toss on a robe and slippers
As the dogs dance in excitement
Glad I’ve acknowledged their need
To bark at stuff probably
Trudge downstairs
Dogs leading the way
Open the sliding glass door
Rush to talk to their imaginary mid-night
friends
Open the pantry and look for chips
Try and get them down quietly
As if
Nothing’s quiet in the sleepy silence
Sit on the couch
And gently crunch a handful
Let the dogs in and
Grab just one more – handful that is
Share the last couple chips
Begrudgingly with the dogs
One to each
Creep back to bed
See what I mean? We
think differently. And that’s what makes
the world awesome. Our differences. If we didn’t have differences, the world
would be monochromatic, monotonous and boring.
