What I saw this morning
on my way to work -
red Rohrshach blotches
splattering the sidewalk
like breadcrumbs I
followed, the drops
trickling smaller,
wetter, trailing four
blocks past Sylvie's
pawn and check cashing,
the bus stop across from
Seven Eleven where my friend,
now dead, once worked,
jaywalking across to Stearns
Fine Jewelry, Starbuck's,
the Hippodrome, past nurses
and docs scrubbed blue
and green, I followed,
hound-hungry, ruby drops
sparkling in fine spatter
to emergency then bought
a latte, went to work...
--
So what did you see on your way to work?
THE READING... MIDDLEMARCH by George Eliot. A dense but fascinating read. Glad I'm reading this with the Project 100 Fill in the Gaps crew - it's tough going in spots. Finished my MAY DEBUT novel pick - look for my review later this week.
THE WRITING... Working on Chapter 2 of PURE. Putting my brain cells through this novel. Also readying shorts and poems for flight into the world.
MISCELLANEOUS... Once reason why those pre-publication reviews are often so vicious - From The CHRONICLE. And HINT FICTION makes history and gets an agent AND a deal. Yoo-hoo!
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wow. i really like the poem.
ReplyDeleteLOL...at first I was reading this as "nonfiction" and was floored, as you might imagine.
ReplyDeleteDidn't see anything quite so exciting myself. In fact, I can sum it up in a haiku:
The same drive to work,
A few more cars than last week,
Tourist season here.
--John
Moonie, ty!
ReplyDeleteJohn, um... it IS non-fiction. Peace, Linda
Nothing quite as exciting, Linda. I saw my kiddo running across the school yard, trying to make it to class before the second bell. No fussing this morning. Just "Have a great day, dad," and off he went. It's moments like that when I wonder what I did right and how I can do it again. Unfortunately, it probably had nothing to do with me and my parenting skills (assuming I actually have any).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention, Linda. To be technical, Scott's been my agent for over a year now, but I'll let it slide this time ;-)
ReplyDeleteWord verification this time around: lugaz
The poem's rhythm and momentum so perfectly capture a walk--built with snatches of the whole (like breadcrumbs!). Did you finish Middlemarch? It is pretty dense in spots, but Eliot totally gets human psychology spot-on at times.
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