Sunday, 8 May 2011

One Potato. Two

The pink sugar paper tears easily.
The tea bags seep into its cells.
Wiping out the words.
The sweet plan.
April disintegrating into May.
I remember when the top of each letter started with a delightful young lady.
Now the syllables are troubled and bruised.
I lie in bed picking up radio waves.
Wondering how time could have gone so wrong.
How it soaked right through me.
A stain.
I remember what it feels like.
To wait for the plane.
To jump from the platform.
I want it so badly that noise soaks through me.
A stain.
You can’t make the letters change or the paper disappear. Not really.
I spin amidst the dotted lines.
The cash register the beat of my heart.
One potato. Fifty beats.
Two potato. Gone.
The sweat collects on my neck.
No tissue to damp it down.
Two worlds orbit my place in the queue.
I try to show them but no one rings up the total.

If I cut off a single lock of hair I won’t be able to stop.
Pink sugar paper and hair collide.
Take it out on Tuesday.
Tear off the yellow page.
Form the words again.
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26 comments:

  1. Tulika Verma8 May 2011 at 05:14

    "I spin amidst the dotted lines.
    The cash register the beat of my heart."

    Poetry to you is so effortless! Loved this! :)

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  2. annell48 May 2011 at 06:01

    Jae, I wish I could say I understand....but this one has me stumped. I'm not sure what you are writing about. I feel I am a block head, and you will probably say, but it is so simple....I'm sorry I am lost. What is the "pink sugar paper?" Is the "pink sugar paper" time? And if it is, maybe I understand better? And maybe it isn't important that I understand...I love the "Take it out on Tuesday. Tear off the yellow page. Form the words again." Thank you Jae.

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  3. Old Egg8 May 2011 at 06:08

    "I want it so badly that noise soaks through me"
    Every now and the when I read your work I find a phrase that incomprehensible as it is, makes sense. I wonder whether that means I too have been woven into your words. Perhaps that by you writing them and me reading them you have invaded my mind?

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  4. Jae Rose8 May 2011 at 07:00

    Thank you Tulika - it doesn't always feel effortless..

    Hi Annell - the pink sugar paper is just that -pink sugar paper with words written on it...I guess it's not entirely simple and may seem a little cryptic..in a way perhaps it is time..the words come and go like months..they get left behind and re-written like a ticking clock..not sure how helpful that is? Thank you for reading as always..

    Hi OldEgg - I hope it's not a bad invasion (not that any invasion is good)..you have been reading for quite some time so I guess you must be used to my idiosyncrasies..I am glad that some bits do make sense to other people..thank you as always for coming back

    Jae

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  5. Amanda8 May 2011 at 07:36

    Wondering how time could have gone so wrong.
    How it soaked right through me.

    Oh, I love this.

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  6. Unknown8 May 2011 at 08:12

    Time fades, passes, dissolves ... into the next bit of pink, papery time. Always love your imagery, and I look for your weaving of common threads with something completely new. You don't disappoint.

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  7. Jae Rose8 May 2011 at 08:29

    Thanks Amanda..

    Thanks so Kim..glad there was something new..much appreciated..

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  8. Kate8 May 2011 at 08:35

    "now the syllables are troubled and bruised"-- wonderful, vivid, disquieting.

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  9. Alicia8 May 2011 at 10:48

    As always beautiful and original imagery.

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  10. Jae Rose8 May 2011 at 10:52

    Thank you very much Alicia..

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  11. LeiffyV8 May 2011 at 14:26

    I'm listening to one of my favorite doom metal bands while reading it and the music matched up far too well with your offering. I have to say, well done! The pink paper screams out here and your ability to take these snippets and make them fly is wonderful, as always.

    Devil's Spine didn't fit in with the theme this week but I have the next segment posted. Get some tissue, you might need it.

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  12. Dee Martin8 May 2011 at 18:49

    time, plans, words, coming and going and sometimes leave us so befuddled. Sometimes flying and sometimes so slow you can almost see your hair growing...I love the light pastel touch to this though - and now the one potato rhyme is stuck in my head. And I want a cup of tea :)

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  13. Abigail Bunting8 May 2011 at 19:05

    'Two worlds orbit my place in the queue.
    I try to show them but no one rings up the total.'
    The world of what is seen often interferes with that which glides just under the surface. You may see a person, but never register the whole of them.

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  14. Altonian9 May 2011 at 05:16

    I am trying to come to terms with the concept of April DISINTEGRATING into May. So at odds with our usual idea of the two spring months; so bleak and despairing. Difficult, Jae, dfficult.

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  15. Jae Rose9 May 2011 at 06:56

    Thanks for the warning Leiffy - maybe I should have issued one too! Pink isn't a very J colour is it..it screamed like doom metal in my ears too..hope you have switched to something more calming..death metal maybe..not that I know the sliding scale of metal..

    Sending you a cuppa Dee..that rhyme is catching isn't it..hope you have shaken it away..thank you..love the idea of time being so slow you can see your hair grow..and fall out..

    Absolutely Abigail ;) Maybe those two worlds never mix together all that well..thanks for picking out the word 'register'..

    You're right Altonian..winter is the time of discontent..nice weather throws up some troubles though..all the world springs out the front door ready for fun..maybe J should buy a beachball instead of being stuck at the check-out sweating over the beans..

    thank you..Jae

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  16. Anonymous9 May 2011 at 08:17

    April certainly disintegrated into May with all the tornadoes in the US! Your writing is very dark and emotional. You express it well; it hit me deep!

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  17. Sweet Lily9 May 2011 at 08:58

    Absolutely incredible!
    The best of the best!!

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  18. glnroz9 May 2011 at 09:15

    Very Complicated,,,

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  19. Hyde Park Poetry Palace9 May 2011 at 09:38

    lovely.
    masterful writing.

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  20. Laurie Kolp9 May 2011 at 11:09

    A deep and reflective piece that drew me in.

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  21. Cynthia M9 May 2011 at 15:23

    Hi Jae,
    I enjoyed the reference to each letter having a 'delightful young lady' who dissolves it brings a vision in my head of some virtuous ideal of femininity slowly fading and that made me smile. Time does indeed blur these days!
    Love ya' work :)

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  22. Jae Rose10 May 2011 at 07:12

    Thank you very much 'grace'..

    Thank you Tame Lion..much appreciated!

    A complicated little soldier indeed! Thanks Glenn..

    Thank you so Promising Poets..

    Thanks as ever Laurie..

    Thanks Cynthia - that showed me something new in the words..hadn't even thought of it as a femininity issue..more..such a shame..she used to be 'nice'..Glad it raised a smile..thank you :)

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  23. rel10 May 2011 at 17:03

    Jae,
    Sometimes it's not what is meant by the poem but what the reader feels by reading the words.
    Time; days, months,seasons come and go and come again and we decide what we'll make of them.
    rel

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  24. Jae Rose11 May 2011 at 04:03

    Thank you Rel..it's always important to remember how it might be read..I forget that at times..thank you..

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  25. linda may15 May 2011 at 04:37

    I enjoyed my visit to your writing world.

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  26. Jae Rose16 May 2011 at 06:40

    Thanks Linda - I always enjoy visiting your world too..it never fails to cheer me up!

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