She swings her little black shoes
When did your feet stop growing
When I got stuck I suppose
I don't know what or how I feel
I have a headache she says
Your head is far too full to sleep in
Like an over ripe melon
Desperate to fall off the tree
Do melons grow on trees
How should I know
I’m only your fantasy
Systematic failings
Catalogue of errors
Wear heavy on my bones
She touches her shoulder
Spits out the sugar
Hits the ground
It is half past ten forever here
She moans
Far worse than deja vu
The hour is stuck
The gear is stuck
We are stuck
Trapped in an oubliette
Same dark lane
You are quite able to get out you know
Just call upon the elements
And the door will open
There is no door
Because you are comfortable here
Sometimes I wish she was my sugar buddy
Not my voice
Wholesale
Market
Mania
Sell
Sell
Sell
They measured mine
I remember the board and strap
Not that I was allowed to grow
Then we truly are alike
Frozen in little scuffed shoes
Crossed legged in the front grow
A front row gap in our teeth
And that was before we hit the sugar
She teases
She flicks the pink pill in the air
For maximum strength
See
It is easy to be nothing
Fall to the demons
Or grow
It’s all a choice
A theory
Why can't I control time
Because it is a whorehouse of wonders
Say hello
Cut the cake
Pass the test
The vanilla kisses rattle on her tongue
I guess I was smitten on the first touch
You've got to battle if you want to win the war
What war
Who cares
It’s all a choice
A theory
Perhaps this is perfection
The right song
A comfortable angle
Sweet gas and dust
All things coming together in piss and harmony
What I don't say
What I will never say
Is the powder
Is my dressing gown cord
Can you keep a line open
Why yes
In many ways I can.
If that dressing gown cord is all that keeps you together that is a problem. Alice is becoming so wise despite being forever young and I sense that yearning of wanting to start all over again is something we all do. Once so desperate to grow up we now see the lost beauty of innocence. What a great observer you are Jae.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Old Egg...she is getting a bit more grown up isn't she..i wonder who is leading who these days..i think she maybe onto something..now to turn observation into action...but first a little lie down
Delete'Sometimes I wish she was my sugar buddy not my voice' How often do I think that? Alice seems to be thinking things through more now, I don't suppose it will be long before her little feet stop growing.
ReplyDeleteJae, my Devonian friend - thanks so much for being the first to comment on my numero uno! I knew if I waited long enough someone would.
Thank you too Keith - right with you on the sugar buddy thing although i suppose we all need an Alice or a Rosey to rustle up a conversation in our heads (what do you mean we're not real!) - and Devon - the ultimate Oubliette - shudder
DeleteThese make me downright giddy:
ReplyDelete"When did your feet stop growing
When I got stuck I suppose"
"It is half past ten forever here"
"The hour is stuck
The gear is stuck
We are stuck
Trapped in an oubliette
Same dark lane
You are quite able to get out you know
Just call upon the elements"
"Sometimes I wish she was my sugar buddy
Not my voice"
"It is easy to be nothing"
"Why can't I control time
Because it is a whorehouse of wonders"
"The vanilla kisses rattle on her tongue
I guess I was smitten on the first touch"
So awesome.
Thank you - we're glad we made you giddy - in a good way of course!
Delete;)
DeleteTrapped in an oubliette.... We are all looking for a way out. Hopefully poetry helps.
ReplyDeleteTrapped in an oubliette...we are all looking for a way out. Hopefully poetry helps.
ReplyDeleteI think it helps a fair amount although not practically - thank you kindly thotpurge
DeleteThe hour is stuck
ReplyDeleteThe gear is stuck
We are stuck
Its strange and so often that we feel like we are stuck in time.. the hours pass at a speed so slow... similar to how descends the snow. Beautifully executed.
Lots of love,
Sanaa
what a lovely comparison..when everything goes still for a moment..soft at first then sludge we could rather do without! Thank you Sanaa
DeleteThe word oubliette is really intriguing... and then:
ReplyDeleteThere is no door
Because you are comfortable here
I think to be in the company of yourself is so dangerous.. especially with the dressing gown cord.. how can it still be so beautiful?
Thank you Bjorn - put simply it is not...i think you go past a point where familiarity no longer breeds contempt but rather resignation...a half-hearted acceptance..that is far more dangerous..anger is a catalyst to change..resignation keeps you locked in..thank you for your insight
DeleteYes, it is full of wonderful lines. The one I found most striking / liked best is, 'All things coming together in piss and harmony.' The whole enthralling, as always.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Rosemary - that was one of the lines i almost deleted so glad you liked it! Nothing wrong with a bit of harmless vitriol i guess
DeleteHard to feel stuck, stuck, stuck! And, oh, those melons!
ReplyDeleteYes stuck is an uncomfortable feeling - melons were hard to fit in so oh those melons indeed! Thank you Mary
DeleteIt is like a wonderful children's story...and yet it is for us...all grown up, stuck in our scuffy shoes. Thank you Jae.
ReplyDeleteThank you Annell - you remind me grown up can be magical xo
Deletewhoa, sure is badly stuck. trapped in an oubliette with a headache the size of a ripe melon. calling upon the elements helps? :)
ReplyDeleteNot really but we had to fit the word in! Thank you ds
Delete"The hour is stuck
ReplyDeleteThe gear is stuck
We are stuck
some days are just like that...as if nothing moves...
stuck, stuck, stuck..sucks..sucks..sucks..need to get out of the rut, rut, rut ..get momentum going again...there is always a door it just needs to be open..where it will go who really knows.
always an interesting trip here..
Thank you Truedessa - it's a shame our trips don't involve getting out the house..but we yes unstuck unstuck we must become
DeleteThe lines that jump out at me : "There is no door because you are comfortable here", and the fear that I can intuit "what I will never say". I love Annell's comment - we do love to read your poems about you and Alice. Alice makes us feel like good children. Smiles.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sherry - good but with adventurous souls...yes your intuition is right..fear certainly plays it's part in keeping us stuck...the ways out undesirable
Delete'there is no door because you are comfortable here.'
ReplyDeletethat line says so much of the human psyche.
Thank you very much Stacy
DeleteLove all that "stuck" repetition. I have been there.
ReplyDeleteThank you De - most especially for the hope that is possible to move on from that place which I am very glad you did...with much effort I am sure
DeleteAwesome as usual :-)
ReplyDeleteZQ
And thank you as usual ZQ ;)
DeleteOh yes this speaks to me and many....the opening line hooked me and I knew where we were headed....being stuck....shoes not growing and oh those invisible doors because we are comfortable in our stuckness.....I am working from a stuck place and I feel this so strongly...
ReplyDeleteDonna@LivingFromHappiness
Thank you kindly Donna - maybe knowing others are stuck too makes it feel a bit less lonely? I feel that reading other peoples work and comments..thank you - and for the add!
DeleteOOOO you made me work today. I had to look up the oubliette word, and then that became the center of the poem for me--the brain as a secret prison the narrator is stuck in or tries to keep Alice in. Stuck, stuck, stuck! Whatever we feed our body, we feed our brain. Good Grief.
ReplyDeleteGood grief indeed Charlie Brown - sorry to have made you work on this one Susan - but thank you as always for explaining it to me as well..the secret prison of the brain..yes indeed..now to find Marcie's 5 cent booth!
DeleteHahaha ...
Delete'I don't know what or how I feel' ...some time required...to understand yourself.....how long? how to measure? should we? maybe just drop the control and let feel the relief...next morning...a new breath, a new day, a new thought ~ Much Love...
ReplyDeleteThere is something to be said for not thinking too hard - but it is a skill too...thank you humbird..there are indeed sometimes no answers..which is an answer in itself perhaps? :)
DeleteWe all get stuck. We all seek comfort. And comfort becomes the rut we get stuck in. Wonderful endless circle. That's why we need an Alice. She is definitely growing in wisdom. She may even start daring you to leave that comfort. Then what do you do?
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
Yes a wonderful endless cycle - but only if we make the wonderful bit actually comfortable! What would i do indeed..maybe the fear is something better - thank you kindly Elizabeth
DeleteI love your tales of Alice. It reads wonderfully, Jae. I hope all is well with you.
ReplyDeletePamela ox
Thank you very much Pamela..we are still going..sometimes that's as good as it gets - hope all is well with you too and Flaubert has shaken off his ear bows..my ratties had to have pink litter this week..they were not amused..
DeleteVery cool! Layered reveries and perceptive impressions, sketched with a contemplative, relaxed edge ... weighty delectables like: "It’s all a choice" laid out ... to be scooped up ... and digested.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Wendy - good to be cool...we rarely are in the real world - shudder! And a relaxed edge..no doubt the sugar helps soften that one out ;)
DeleteI always wanted to write something using the word oubliette. Such a pretty word for an unpleasant object. You do seem to be giving Alice a little more maturity, or is she growing on her own? I would send you a rope. You and Alice climb up to the sunlight and bring me some of those vanilla kisses! I love chocolate but vanilla will suffice in a pinch!
ReplyDeleteConsider it done...and thank you for the helping hand and rope...oubliette was thanks to its inclusion in the Sunday Whirligig...i discovered it in 'Labyrinth' - oh so many years ago and still..it is a pretty word...for a dark place..thank you kindly Dee
DeleteThere is no door
ReplyDeleteBecause you are comfortable here
Very philosophical here Jae! Yes, one gets numbed with comforts that the initiative gets blunt. There is a refusal to better oneself
Hank
Perfectly put! Thank you Hank
DeleteTaught me a new word, Jae! I love all the traps, sweet gas, and dust.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Purple - although can't take all the credit for oubliette ;)
Deleteexcellent.
ReplyDeleteThank you Madeline
DeleteAlice developing a soul? She tells of calling on the elements. Counsciounsness is creeping in and the whimsy of the wonderland is dying. Maybe its time to consider a new series
ReplyDeleteHave a nice nice week
Much love...
Yes it feels like it's a good time to start something different however small thank you Gillena..perhaps Alice has always been my soul..hopefully it is developing
Deletewe wish and hope for that day when we realise the door has always been able to open - thank you kindly Loredana
ReplyDeleteThat moment of realizing we keep ourselves where we are because its comfortable is so eye opening.
ReplyDeleteYes it certainly is - thank you very much GL
Delete"All things coming together in piss and harmony"
ReplyDeleteKind of where I am at the moment with a family issue.
Looking for harmony but the tension makes me take trips to 'the loo' too often :)
Oh I hear you Jules...though not pleasant..good luck and thank you as ever for your knowing comment
Delete