Entry 398 — “The Tide,” a Poem Poem
. The Tide
. A long stare smelled its way
. past the lantern’s purpled lisp
. against kerosene mares radiant in
. the prenatal barn storm
. that Poem
. was tearing the petals off of.
. Behind him, the Hawaiian sidewalk
. sidled dangerously into a canasta game,
. like misspelled lemonade
. remembering where the jewels were.
. The tide was later than usual.
.
I threw the above together so as to have something here. Believe it or not, I then revised it! I only changed a few lines, though.
I’m beginning to think I’ll never have a blog entry with any real content again. A real disaster, Kevin Kelly is now prowling this here territory, lookin’ for poems to throttle, and he’s brutal. I could deal with him back when he lived in or around Port Charlotte, but he’s gotten a lot meaner since he moved.
You know that Kevin Kelly guy always reminded me of Surllama for some reason.
I’ve always suspected they were one and the same–the two l’s in Surllama are strong evidence of it. And, of course, they are both maximally crude fellows. . . .
Ha, ha! Remember Todd Russell aka Huck Finch? He told me before I moved to California, something to the effect of: “Don’t let California change you, Surllama, I mean Kevin” and I remember thinking, “Nothing can change me!” … and then I became a snob. It happened about four years ago, to be exact. I’ll have to admit, it felt good to give in, like a warm bath of salt.
But seriously, sir, I’m trying to ONLY comment on the stuff I like (hence, the scarcity of any comments … I kid!) … and I like this here poem. I have to admit, I’ve always liked your poetry when you start talking about the tide and the phone ringing to itself, etc. My favorite line by far: “like misspelled lemonade” Good imagery! So there.
Well, I’ve always said negative comments are more helpful than positive ones, but your positive ones have definitely been helpful. As for Huck, we’ve exchanged e.mails since you’ve left. He’s sent me invitations to the parties he yearly has, but I’ve not yet been able to get to one. You should e.mail him, or facebook him. I think he’s on Facebook.