The coffee is off
Bitter on our tongues
What did you expect
Vanilla kisses don't stay fresh forever
You know
There is a knock
Identify yourself
Now there’s a tough one
Easier to stay still
Empty on the floor
Let’s climb the cherry trees
Narcotic flowers fall
We eat them
Crave them
Devour them all
Why did you teach me this
I didn’t
You learnt what you needed to know
We all do
I try to roll over
The carpet absorbs me
Tears
Flesh
Blood
Love
The spider comes
Inevitable as the rain which brings her
We are trapped in
Boiling over
There is a knock
The sound of our health declining
Ding dong bell
Pussy isn’t well
I think we need a candy jar
Even better a candy bar
She giggles and burps
If I stop
Will you stay or go
Who is real
And who is not
She eyes me carefully
All our heads on a butchers block
She sings and sighs
We need a new adventure
This one’s getting dull
There was a black cat in the spaghetti shop
Perhaps she knows what to do
Now I understand
She is my certain
My constant
Inconstant
Companion
There is a knock
Identify yourself
I am J and this is Alice
Narcotic flowers fall
We eat them
Crave them
Devour them all.
Black cats certainly look wise but not sure I would trust one. Sweets are sweet but they are not good for us. The whole of life is a puzzle except that knock on the door which always means trouble. Another great picture you have painted here Jae.
ReplyDeleteThank you Old Egg - yes, knocks on our door always seem to spell trouble - i see you have caught our rhyming bug..thank you..although run away quick sticks before you get stuck here forever
DeleteTHis saddened me a bit. The knock of the door being a sign of your declining health. More doctors coming, more people. Also the edge of the drugs they give you to keep you comfortable, make it manageable - oy, their craving scares me too a bit.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, some of the side effects of our meds - sheer craziness - maybe only slightly better than what it is curing.
Thank you X - spoken as one who knows..for which we appreciate..more people come but it's the wrong people and they never know..meds..crazy..sane..although they can sign forms ..sigh
DeleteAlice could teach would teach
ReplyDeletecould jump of the pages of her book -
such an addictive tale.
And then according to the story she wakes up.
Do we ever really wake up or are we dreaming the whole time?
Hugs, Jules
Indeed - thank you Jules for jumping in the story with me and Alice..i suspect in some circumstances being fully awake is more scary than dreaming...maybe the curiousity and magic is we never know...or we candy out the truth!
DeleteI love these sections:
ReplyDelete"Vanilla kisses don't stay"
"Why did you teach me this
I didn’t"
"The spider comes
Inevitable as the rain which brings her"
"Ding dong bell
Pussy isn’t well"
"Narcotic flowers fall
We eat them
Crave them
Devour them all."
Thank you Hedera
DeleteHow clear the truth here that we learn to swallow the most certainty:
ReplyDelete"Devour them all
Why did you teach me this
I didn’t
You learnt what you needed to know
We all do"
I remember students who refused to try something new, wanting to be graded on what they knew they already did well. In this case, answer the door to those who dispense meds ...and I believe that is necessary until it gets too boring. It certainly pleases the authorities. It also seems to please Alice who fears losing her host. But that may not be true. The host may get to choose what she wants to retain once she gets up off the floor. I think of your poems as art and both teaching and learning, as a getting out into the world. What a blessing, something to hold onto when feeling cornered.
Thank you for your insightful comment Susan and relating it to your teaching - hadn't thought of it as a life long habit but it is true...I hope that in reality I will get up from the floor and let Alice rest peacefully under the tree..thank you
Delete"You learnt what you needed to know".....this is sometimes dangerous for the learner and beyond the grasp of the teacher specially if the path deviates from the mainstream ....
ReplyDeleteDefinitely...I think I may indeed be the proof in that pudding..thank you Sumana
DeleteHmmmm, it seems to me that the cure may be worse than the disease! Poor Alice is having a terrible time in Wonderland, I think...
ReplyDeleteSome amazing word-painting there...
Thank you very much Nicholas yes cure or disease...neither much fun...and poor Alice she deserves better doesn't she...thank you kindly
DeleteJae, terrific story telling ~ I specially admire this part:
ReplyDeleteMy constant
Inconstant
Companion
There is a knock
Identify yourself
I am J and this is Alice
Thank you very much Grace - the first version wasn't that so I am glad you liked it
DeleteThe repeated stanza is effective - and ominous, somehow. I can hear that knock on the door, and the stillness inside the room. FeIt sad at "the sound of our health declining." I loved the spider wandering in from the rain and "you learned what you needed to know. We all do."
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly Sherry - there are different kinds of stillness aren't there..some easier than others...we hope we return to a brighter kind of still thank you xo
Deleteit's hard to understand the world we live in. Knocks at the door often usher in things we don't want but we can adapt and whether what we need to, just hold Alice close and hang in there the storm will blow over and the sun will come out again.
ReplyDeleteI do love your hope Sheilagh you are welcome to knock on our door any time...many thanks
DeleteFabulous write!! These lines are still ringing in my heart:
ReplyDeleteNarcotic flowers fall
We eat them
Crave them
Devour them all.
Beautifully executed!
Lots of love,
Sanaa
Thank you kindly Sanaa always a pleasure to see you
DeleteCherry trees with narcotic flowers? Now you have me hooked! Where can I find them?
ReplyDeleteA little to the left! Actually until you pointed it out I didn't realise they were narcotic flowers...we are obviously hooked...it was a typo but maybe better that the word I meant!
DeleteWhat could be better than what you wrote?
DeleteA better life...but that would be one hell of a detox from those narcotic flowers and candy stars ;)
DeleteDear One...just when I think you have done your very best, you out do yourself...love this one...heads on the butcher block, and pussy in the well, or in the spaghetti shop, what a wonderfl image...I love this one, though I don't like some of it, when you say you are not well....but oh, the cherry trees and the narcotic flowers, just the best!
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly Annell - as long as there are words there will be cherry trees even if things are a little bruised - bestest to you xo
DeleteGuess Life itself is The Great Teacher
ReplyDeletemuch love...
I think so although sometimes it is hard - thank you very much Gillena
DeleteI get the feeling that knocking isn't going to stop any time too soon. Or maybe it would be a bad thing if it did.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is a mixed blessing..until our mind is made up...thank you kindly (other) Alice
DeleteYour mastery of imagery and language never cease to amaze me, J.
ReplyDeleteI only wish the images represented greater loving and care.
Thank you very much Kim - most especially of that wish...if only that was that thing that absorbed
DeleteIdentification is one of the earliest lessons we learned at school.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is engaging but has a tinge of sadness and desperation, Jae. Perhaps because of the current situation that needs more medical / personal attention. Visitors / advisers can be overwhelming at times.
I really hope you and Alice are fine.
Thank you kindly Totomai - we are fine as we can be - we missed out that lesson in school but maybe we are exploring it now...better late than never!
DeleteThis makes me sad--we do learn what we want, but not always what we need--every time I read your work, I am struck by the images and emotions you pull from me--it could be me rolling on the carpet I think---beautifully written!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Audrey - i suppose we have all had rolling on the carpet days (unless we are very lucky) - very true that want and need can be far apart and often work in contradiction not harmony
DeleteWe need a new adventure
ReplyDeleteThis one’s getting dull
There comes a time when one needs to reflect on how best to continue. May even be relevant in a stormy marriage
Hank
Yes I suppose stormy marriage can imply several different relationships..reflecting on how best to continue can perhaps be a good thing if we choose to move forward..thank you kindly Hank
DeleteThis, "Why did you teach me this
ReplyDeleteI didn’t
You learnt what you needed to know
We all do"
Is what captured me most of all...so much wisdom in that.
Thank you very much Hannah - much appreciated
DeleteHello J and Alice, pleased to meet you. I like that acceptance at the end. And really love "you learnt what you needed to know", we all do but oh so slowly, yes?
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
Hello Elizabeth - we are very glad to meet you too..yes it is slow and hard but that you know..and we have learnt from - thank you
DeleteJust wanted to say thanks for stopping by my blogspot.
ReplyDeleteI am having trouble getting your comment to post -
even though I told 'it' to publish.
Thank you Jules for all your comments - I use moderation - well in some ways!
DeleteHi Jae... Don't think I've had the pleasure of reading your poetry before now... Wow... I think in a word - eclectic - marvelously so. Your poetry is a cornucopia of excitement and thrilling turns... It left me feeling refreshed and exhausted at once! Glad that I found you.... Wish you were on Wordpress so that I could follow- John
ReplyDeleteThanks very much John..glad you visited..I think you can follow but I'm not good at the tech stuff..
Delete"Now I understand
ReplyDeleteShe is my certain
My constant
Inconstant
Companion
There is a knock
Identify yourself" ....Oh, it is possible to experience an awakening of this kind.. but, mental process can also be confusing, disorienting. Hope Alice is feeling better now,
Thank you Panchali - confusing and disorienting certainly apply..hopefully we will find solid ground at some point
Deletelove the blending back and forth.... as a thread that seams effortlessly through material.... some unraveling.... loosening the whole... changing everything... love too how the tree / nature weaves around us affects our dreams....
ReplyDeleteThank you pie...I love the way you have explained it - that tree is outside my bedroom window...it must have weaved it's way in without us even noticing the connection
DeleteHoly cow--those words aloud in my empty house. I love the flower theme which is repeated at the end. I felt a little like Alice in Wonderland and the Cheshire cat taunting me.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. Wow!!!
http://myscatteredstones.blogspot.com/2015/10/anup-could-say-that-it-was-not-bad-day.html
Thank you very much Chris...yes the Cheshire cat can be cruel...although Alice held her ground...phew!
Deleteding dong bell
ReplyDeletepussy isn't well
not surprising
devouring
all those narc flars
time for alice
to set sail
in her little paper boat
out into the ocean
to the land where the bong trees grow
bye alice
nemo can be your new friend
plenty of exercise
avoiding sharks all day long
Thank you for your poem in a comment...very much appreciated Rallentanda..yes Nemo may be a more benevolent companion...and whatever happens he will forget in three seconds anyway!
DeleteSometimes you fair break my heart!
ReplyDeleteOh we are sorry Rosemary - but very glad to see you and thank you
Deletebeautifully written using the three words,
ReplyDeleteMy take on 3WW : Haiku - Tolerance
Thank you very much Cifar - good to see you again
Delete