I’ve begun to restructure this blog.
Under the title GREAT DEBATE is now a menu with links to the major categories I write about. [(Ha, ha, or lol? Psych-girl, two sessions ago, pointed out to me that I have “a tendency to categorize everything.”) She’s right. She usually is.] So far I’ve listed two. There will be more. Such as Sports, Politics, Colorado. Maybe Poems, too? I used to write poems.
In fact, I took a course in poetry way back in the late 60’s at Colorado State University. Oh my … . I think I got a C. Notwithstanding, I took it up again when I opened a bookstore in Evergreen in 2001. A poetry group, hosted by a retired English professor, would meet there every Tuesday. I joined in, as it was “after hours”.
This poem, Toppling Over, I wrote after I closed the bookstore. It seems appropriate now. Seeing as to the way things are. Or, way worse than you think. Without further ado:
TOPPLING OVER
Throat, eyes, ears itching
Nose running
Breath short
Can’t find what I’m looking for–
A marker, a maker
A friend, a lover,
Purpose or home
Nothing but losses–
One on top of another.
Stacking up like cordwood
the pile is too high
And it’s starting to lean–
One more will do it
Bring the whole damn thing
Down.
Just a random jumble
Of sticks and logs
Untidy and disordered
Hardly matters anymore
It’ll burn just the same
And the ash doesn’t care.
~~~
First published in SOUNDING OFF IN ECHO HILLS (2004)
Great idea to have sections. I kind of write all over the place, too.
Your poem strikes a cord. I lost my dad in January and health issues plague my step-mom. Makes me think of the line from Indiana Jones 4 where he says he’s reached an age where life stops giving you things and starts taking things away.
Yep.
“Your poem strikes a cord.” You did that on purpose, right? 🙂 Indeed. Sorry for your loss. It’s a clique, but true. A person’s health is paramount to everything else. That’s my number one priority now – to “take of myself.” Which includes check-ins with Psych-girl, along with “don’t drink too much.” And so on.
PS
Hit that ‘like’ button. cheers
Love the analogy.
Thanks! Be sure to hit that like button.
~ Funny how poems stand the test of time, isn’t it?
I wrote this over twenty years ago, posted it here two years ago. Five days later (today) my brother, Jack, died. The irony is strong. He was my biggest fan and supporter. He was my friend, too. These past two years seem like twenty. I miss him so much.