Poetry Lesson
Well, I did the first poetry lesson. It was sort of fun, but I feel so inadequate. Here’s the poem I came up with after our exercise. It’s from the perspective of an aging man. I don’t know… I’m not terribly satisfied with it so, of course, now I feel talentless and sad. I wish I could DO something… I mean DO something REALLY WELL!! I wish I had some sort of genius talent — even if it was never recognized and I was a penniless artist — I just wish I had some sort of burning brilliance.
Sometimes I watch those guys on TV who try to teach painting, or I watch those folks that stand on the sidewalks and sketch the buildings. They seem to know exactly what they’re doing; their hands move with skill and confidence. They have an instinctive knowledge of where that next brush stroke should go… they know how heavy it should be, they know the colors that they need. Why can’t I do that with words? I love words. I play with words. I think in words. Sometimes I feel like I have a special unity with words… then, other times, I feel totally unable. I have to shovel through all these letters and punctuation marks just to come up with something that feels tepid and phoney. I don’t know.
No More
Does it show?
Im going bald beneath this thinning hair
Dont look at that, my mind is sharp
Im ready for this fight
hunters blood flows through my veins
I am confident and strong!
Fist strikes wood – but
then I catch a quick reflection in the mirror
reddened face and shaking jowls, snowy hair combed carefully.
Wheres that well-dressed virile statesman that I thought I was today?
And I look out at the creatures, young and angular and sharp
Carnivorous and hungry, poised and ready to attack
to demean and to discredit then to slide into position
Oh, I know that look from somewhere long ago
Then I see this face Im wearing
That’s not me! Thats old and weaker
almost finished and yet trying
to appear as most imposing
Secret silent awful quaking
that Ive hidden in my heart
Dont look at that, I must stay sharp
Stay ready for this fight!