Saturday, December 24, 2005

Tin Soldier

There is an almost-life-size tin soldier by my parent's fireplace.
Different angles reveal different soldiers:
a docile creature or an angry Nazi. Perhaps both.

A clown. Laughing on the outside crying on the inside. "Seen not heard."

Monday, November 28, 2005

Drink Order

“Hi!
I’d like an . . .
in-house
grande
decaf
extra hot
skinny
iced
orange-
cranberry-
toffee nut-
white chocolate-
mocha
sugar-free vanilla
peach
mango
latte
with extra whip!

Oh, and can I get a piece of non-fat
cinnamon-apple-streusel layered coffeecake to go?”

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Punctuation Erotica

My boyfriend is a comm. major with an exhilerating interest in language. We were talking the other day about our favorite punctuation marks. His is the interrobang (!?), while I prefer the semicolon. What does this mean, for us--for the way we communicate, internally or externally?

!?: A question and an exclamation. In life, not only loud questions. Questions that come with something, some sort of expectation, perhaps. I don't know. Important questions can be whispered, but should be whispered with enthusiasm.

Invest in your questions. Invest time and thought into your questions. Invest words too.

;: The semicolon is a quiet mark. Subtle. It fuses the comma and colon, and it also fuses sentences. It involves bringing ideas together. I like the idea of that. Fusion. The interrobang also fuses, but more explicitly.

Perhaps I am an introvert. I'd like to think that interrobangs are a part of my being as well though.

Next time I see my boyfriend, I think I'll whisper a question to him, maybe about fusion.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

my poems are all autobiographical

Bellarmine University hosts the Guarnaschelli Lecture every year and this year (at tonight's event) their lecturer was Salman Rushdie. Rushdie is hysterical. He talked about the novel as autobiography in disguise. He also talked about the parallels between good (captivating) oral narrative and good (captivating) writing. (Hint: juggling is a good exercise to try, but it undoubtingly requires much practice.)

I must read more Rushdie. I've read "At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers" in East, West. I must read more. I have a feeling Rushdie has a lot to teach me about freedom and religion, and freedom from religion, and about this thing called writing.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Musings on a Placid Day in September (9/28/05)

I leave you for a while to
sit in Theology class
and scribble lines,
trying to remember who I was
before I arrived
at this temporary
exchange of lives.
I press my tongue to
the knight in winter,
hoping to extend this process
by fleshing it out a little.
This is not high school,
I tell myself.

You should know
that I take pills
for the condition
you put me in.
The male species
overwhelms me and
you rhythm quite lovely
against this thick stretch
of mind gaping.
My slow beat, my feet
drip against
your webpages
full of words.

You remind me of songs
about staying in all night
cause baby, it’s cold outside
and where are you going anyway?
Off again to
envision me as if my
rhythms matched your speed.

You should know
that only the poets move me.
(Honey-tongues stick together.)
And you,
you got up there
like God,
a hard thing
to get over.

I have tasted winter knights--
like galvanized dreams
that condense off the
tongue—and
sometimes it’s hard to
let them go.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Screenwriters and Movie Stars

If I see them one day,
walking somewhere,
shall I thank them for
telling me such great stories
over the years-
Or curse them for
lying to me for so long?