[Role Modlin]

Originally Posted by Nate

hahahaha. I actually really like the idea.

If you were really careful [or bored?], you could make the lines form an acrostic.

Now that would really be something.

I may try something like that tomorrow.

Here is today's poem. It was rushed and poorly thought out...but I have a ton of things going on today (including the birth of a new nephew) and little time to do them all.


4-17-09

---

Office Assistant Needed

somewhere, in the mess upstairs
the clerk runs to and fro
desperately trying to file
the day's activities away
breakfast conversation
is tossed into the bin
with sixth grade recollections
my coffee and toast
now sitting in the darkness
huddled together
on the bleachers
Sadie Hawkins Dance, 1982
the honey-do list
jotted down for me
on Precious Memories stationary
buried under a mountain
of confetti, courtesy
Fourth of July Parade, 1993
most importantly
your sister's new phone number
on the day of her child's birth
is drenched in beer
laying on the coffee table
of the Red Roof Inn
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Spring Break, 1988

[ryan a johnson]

I was born before the turn of the century,
before the modern times really took
hold. As progressive as I might be
in my later years, my views will always be
a little antiquated. Although, there is the question
of when they ever were quated in the first place.

I was born too far away from all the 60's.
Those are the decades when things really change.
The 18th century moved a little slowly, but
it’s always like that in the beginning. After the 60's,
after everything has gone back to normal again
(as it always does), they will look at pictures
of us just after the turn of the century.

Us in front of houses, on porches, against
cars, near water, in booths, and they will
wonder, “Why were they smiling in every picture?
Did they know nothing of unhappiness?”

[Nate]

Originally Posted by ryan a johnson

I was born before the turn of the century,
before the modern times really took
hold. As progressive as I might be
in my later years, my views will always be
a little antiquated. Although, there is the question
of when they ever were quated in the first place.

I was born too far away from all the 60's.
Those are the decades when things really change.
The 18th century moved a little slowly, but
it’s always like that in the beginning. After the 60's,
after everything has gone back to normal again
(as it always does), they will look at pictures
of us just after the turn of the century.

Us in front of houses, on porches, against
cars, near water, in booths, and they will
wonder, “Why were they smiling in every picture?
Did they know nothing of unhappiness?”

Very interesting.

It has a totally different vibe from your other stuff.

Much more transparent. Much more fluid. More forward thrust.

I really really like the treatment of all eras as if they were present.

Like this:

"As progressive as I might be
in my later years, my views will always be
a little antiquated. Although, there is the question
of when they ever were quated in the first place."

That bit makes this "later years" future seem like it has already occured.

Then there's this:

"Those are the decades when things really change.
The 18th century moved a little slowly, but
it’s always like that in the beginning."

Which makes it seem as if we're standing at this 18th c. "beginning" to a new future.

It's a very neat effect. I can't recall having seen something like it executed so subtly.

If you did it just a little more carefully (use verbs with more ambiguous forms), it would be sublime.

"As progressive as I might be" is close, as it can be taken as "as I might be [now]" or as "as I might be[come]".

[ryan a johnson]

Thanks,
it had been some time since I had written a straight-forward poem and it was nice to go back to it for a while.

and here's today's.


We keep the fish in the freezer so that we never have to eat it. We watch the salt and discover the meanings of life. Children, love, forgiveness, sex. Sometimes, the front door does not latch and the breeze comes in with those who steal. Then there is only fish anywhere and we become so hungry.

[ryan a johnson]

So, forgetful, the badness has happened. You must have seen the deer there, in your yard (the front one), behind the fence that keeps the street out, standing where the grass is the yellow type of green. It was there, and you left all the apples inside, on the table (the kitchen one), in that old basket you keep, and they shined and were waxy, not yet washed. You must have seen it there, eating the roses near that small fence. The roses you keep for yourself. The roses that would stay forever. The roses, so easy to hide behind. They were beautiful. Like a doe in spring.

[Nate]

Originally Posted by ryan a johnson

So, forgetful, the badness has happened. You must have seen the deer there, in your yard (the front one), behind the fence that keeps the street out, standing where the grass is the yellow type of green. It was there, and you left all the apples inside, on the table (the kitchen one), in that old basket you keep, and they shined and were waxy, not yet washed. You must have seen it there, eating the roses near that small fence. The roses you keep for yourself. The roses that would stay forever. The roses, so easy to hide behind. They were beautiful. Like a doe in spring.

Very nice.

[Role Modlin]

4-18-09

---

Beside Myself

I got a funny feeling
not really sure
where it comes from.
Someone looking
over my shoulder
sighing with each
and every word.
My biggest fan
and worst critic
all rolled up
into one.

[Role Modlin]

4-19-09

Haiku #1

ants marching
potato salad spilling,
June arrives

[Role Modlin]

Man...these are freaking hard.



4-20-09

---

Senryu #1

wide-eyed little boy
unwrapping empty boxes
best gifts of his life

[ryan a johnson]

I found a cabinet between the bank and the fountain. I opened it and found clothes. Smelling salts, leather belts, tortoises, cloth handkerchiefs, sea weed, pink cardstock, limp hands. It was a long weekend. I looked at my watch and decided that we do not need holidays for self-destruction. There is plenty of oil and pine to last for centuries.

[bananasmurf]

I want to ... but don't know!
I want to write a poem
but I don't know what about.
I want to be heard
but don't want to shout.
I want to catch a fish
but don't know about trout.
I want to drive somewhere
but I don't know the route.
I want to do something
but I don't want to pout.

[ryan a johnson]

The wind sets bugs in my hair and I forget to smile. The man over there says he has been doing better since he first discovered that the president is trying to kill him. He drinks gallons of iced tea and leaves most of his salad uneaten. The first sunburn of the year shines with lotion and speaks in quiet, forceful words.

[Role Modlin]

4-21-09

---

Krispy Kreme

slick sugar suicide
melts in the mouth
far greater than
the sum of its parts
violently washed down
ice cold glass
filled with bovine
mammary secretions
I think I need another

[Role Modlin]

4-22-09

---

Gulf Song

We wade out knee-deep into the Gulf. Warm water splashes our faded jeans and we feel so alive. The stingrays dance around our feet as God sings to us on the breeze. Fifty miles away, in a slum outside of New Orleans, children join in on the chorus as they kick balls in the street.

[Nate]

Originally Posted by Mr. Role Modlin

We wade out knee-deep into the Gulf. Warm water splashes our faded jeans and we feel so alive. The stingrays dance around our feet as God sings to us on the breeze. Fifty miles away, in a slum outside of New Orleans, children join in on the chorus as they kick balls in the street.

Pretty much.