Artist of Intent
I
have a basket full of good intentions
Teasing out one strand is goal for today
to-write
to-sing
to-day -- also a verb
Setting: dark stage single spot on wash tub
Hesitantly mime appears
peeking over rim of wash tub
fearful tentative movements
peering and ducking
Excruciatingly slowly mime emerges
finally in a graceful bold step
leaps from tub
Sudden cringe ducking as if -- what
Nothing happens
Then stepping with determination to discover ankle chained to tub
humiliation anger despair anger frustration
investigation of chain
puzzlement discovery
opening link of chain
triumph elation
Striding away only to look back
hunches over
creeping return
re-gathering chain around leg
crawls back into tub
Spot fades
Teasing out one strand is goal for today
to-write
to-sing
to-day -- also a verb
Setting: dark stage single spot on wash tub
Hesitantly mime appears
peeking over rim of wash tub
fearful tentative movements
peering and ducking
Excruciatingly slowly mime emerges
finally in a graceful bold step
leaps from tub
Sudden cringe ducking as if -- what
Nothing happens
Then stepping with determination to discover ankle chained to tub
humiliation anger despair anger frustration
investigation of chain
puzzlement discovery
opening link of chain
triumph elation
Striding away only to look back
hunches over
creeping return
re-gathering chain around leg
crawls back into tub
Spot fades
***********************
Vertigo
One crystal with improbable charisma
takes my body out on wildcat strike
with no demands or path to settlement.
Motion impossible, sight skewed,
Motion impossible, sight skewed,
stomach in turmoil
I surrender immediately.
But no matter if I resist or not, chaos overwhelms.
At last I find a train of thought,
I surrender immediately.
But no matter if I resist or not, chaos overwhelms.
At last I find a train of thought,
mostly negative,
but coherent.
Three days lost.
Today, the fourth, late afternoon,
I pick up pen and start to negotiate.
Three days lost.
Today, the fourth, late afternoon,
I pick up pen and start to negotiate.
************************
Binary Paths
Alternating patterns
The on-off of clock ticking, water dripping
dappled shadows traversing the yard
defining time passing.
Moment by moment
either marking time
or finding a holding pattern until the end
Or? Rather? Perhaps?
Looking with philosopher's eye
living in the moment
aware of the subtle and fleeting
Seeing an image of a vase or
am I looking at the profiles of two women
both are there
alternating possibilities
inevitable movement towards the invisible
Cassandra tells and we do not believe
The on-off of clock ticking, water dripping
dappled shadows traversing the yard
defining time passing.
Moment by moment
either marking time
or finding a holding pattern until the end
Or? Rather? Perhaps?
Looking with philosopher's eye
living in the moment
aware of the subtle and fleeting
Seeing an image of a vase or
am I looking at the profiles of two women
both are there
alternating possibilities
inevitable movement towards the invisible
Cassandra tells and we do not believe
***************************
Reminders of limits and mortality keep pushing me to create -- memories are mined and up-cycled. A mime performance 30 plus years ago, Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" revisited over the years, and a severe case of vertigo experienced this last October all give me motivation. Writing poetry is my answer to everything.
