Friday, May 01, 2009

Does Anyone Else Feel that Bittersweet Twinge

Of sadness now that April, month of poetry, is over?

A fabulous 30 days journeyed with fellow poets at POETIC ASIDES. Take time to peruse the more than 25,000 poems posted over the month.

I'm exhausted, from writing and reading.

What will May bring? I sense MIDDLEMARCH, a debut book review, maybe some good publication news, and writing focused on PURE...

Even before the acrid-sweet smell of urine and cedar assaulted me, I knew. No usual scurry and rustle of rodents swarming to greet me, their provider of food, water, and amphetamine. I dropped my bags at the door, cracking it open. My eyes adjusted to the crimson glow bathing the room, intended to keep the animals in a preternatural state of sleepy calm. On the left counter, caged white mice; Deepak’s last four metabolic syndrome controls plump from gorging three times their weight every day, bumped up sleepily against the Plexiglas.

But not my mice. Even in the diffused light, I could see all eight anorexic manic rodents curled into each other, shuddering with shallow exhalations of sleep. But when my gaze traveled to the second cage, I couldn’t discern any shadowy humps or sleeping forms. Just smaller shapes, chunks larger than droppings and food pellets but smaller than animals.





Back to business...

Peace, Linda

9 comments:

  1. i'm chipping my way through MIDDLEMARCH. i find all it takes is dicipline. and that the increments we divided it into are very, very helpful. i need only hit page 112 by Monday!!! it nearly seems manageable.

    :)

    i went to a poetry reading last night. it was actually the only one i went to in April. (funny, since i normally go to at least 2 or 3 a month.) it was awesome.

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  2. wow, that's a total lie. i went to that staging of TS Eliot on April 8. and on April 12 i went to Small's poetry club.

    my synapses have all misfired.

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  3. Ah, Moonie, lucky you to be smack dab in the middle of poetry heaven. My writing group read poems (our own), and I carried a cople around yesterday and tried to get my colleagues to enjoy. Sigh.

    I am on page 32 Of Middlemarch, and finally getting into it. Pretty stiff writing. Peace, Linda

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  4. Other than the last day of April being my anniversary, I was glad to see April in the rear view mirror. For the opening of spring it was cold, damp, and dreary. I'm hoping for a better May. Still don't have my garden in!

    Congrats on the poetry, though. Sounds like you had a good productive month. I did a fair bit myself this April. Just wish the weather would have been more poetic.
    ~jon

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  5. Jon, April showers bring may flowers... here's to warmer weather and abundant crops - of words and veggies! Though I hate to tell you what we've got in ours... yum... Peace, Linda

    Oh, and Happy Anniversary!

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  6. We did a poetrython. a 6 hour read by fellow poets both their own works and some others, a fund raiser locally.

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  7. Ooh, Paige, I like that... Something to think about for next year, maybe in conjunction with my local Indie bookstore.

    BTW, your poems rocked this year. Your farewell poem - super. Peace, Linda

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  8. Linda,
    Nice job touching up the intro paragraph. Much leaner, tighter and visually sharp.
    -Steve

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  9. Thanks Steve. It's getting there. I figure I have at least another 2 years to get it right ;^)

    Peace, Linda

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