Do you think in circles or lines
Spirals of course
I am DNA
This is chaos
She shakes the packet
Reads the side
Instructions for making a monster
One cup of sugar
A vein full of dirt
All stirred together
In a makeshift bowl
She lost her reasons,
I never found mine
They say
I am scary
On paper
I am not paper
I am real
Nude
Underneath
Despite
The tangles
And the knots
She drops the spoon
I look up
Lackadaisical stitches and trips
Quick sticks
Stir our heart
Embroider our hallucinations
Hang them on the wall
Call it art
We can charge two pennies for all to see
She claps her hand in glee
I don’t
know
How
She
Keeps
Going
Acid on my tee shirt
Fire in the hold
I
am
drain
drained
drained
There is a grainy picture of you
Turning circles on the spot
Me
I am already gone
It’s a given
Don’t you know
A sublime equation
There's something missing
She says
Tapping a grubby finger
On the side of the bowl
I'm going to gather some glass
What for
Our heart
Silly
She lost her reasons
I never found mine.
Loved the reference to Blondie's, "Heart of Glass". What a treasure trove there is in your writing especially when we remember that fictional Alice who seems so real would amaze even Lewis Carroll.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Lewis Carroll would like Alice being in charge - maybe that's why she runs rings around me! Thank you kindly Old Egg - and for reminding me who sang 'Heart of Glass'...
Deletemonsters do have that sugary coat...i really love the idea of embroidering hallucinations to hang on walls as art...and sometimes it's good to be without reasons :)
ReplyDeleteYes i think that can certainly be true...thank you very much Sumana
DeleteShe lost her reasons
ReplyDeleteI never found mine.
Such a beautifully captivating poem Jae :D I must say this is one of my most favorites from you!! Beautifully penned :D
Lots of love,
Sanaa
Thank you very much Sanaa - very pleased you enjoyed :)
DeleteDo our audiences create us? I wonder. And yet as long as we're called to make the invisible visible through these new objects we create and hang (or not), all is well. Truly, like Sisyphus, we continue to go on, up and down and up again.
ReplyDeleteWe are certainly rolling our own stone up and down again...perhaps that is the thing - although we may say people make us it is 'us' who choose to take that arduous path...do our audiences create us...i suppose so...even if we are not clear who or if anyone is watching..thank you kindly Susan
DeleteThe first staza is a killer. I really like the visuals on it, Jae.
ReplyDeleteHow do we create monster? Do we have to paint them after? Very interesting.
Both of you losing the reasons could be a symbol of progress. That means a new chapter's unfolding.
Thank you Totomai - hopefully it is both a new chapter and progression as wel - although our expectations are a bit lower! ;)
Delete"I am drain drain drained". I can feel that energyless-ness, and have felt somewhat the same of late. Alice is so alive in this poem, you make us see her. She is an impish little girl, and very entertaining. The glass "for our heart, silly" made me both wince and smile.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sherry - oh to be young and skippy and not worry about the mess or creaking nines the next day...at least we can play in our heads and with our words ;)
DeleteExcellent, very evocative!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Leonard
DeleteShe lost her reasons
ReplyDeleteI never found mine. I am drained I am drained. such sad refrains but you can pick up Alice dust yourselves off and find happiness. It is within your grasp, just keeping Alice glowing she emits her happiness within you.
Thank you Sheilagh - she is a reason hadn't thought of that and she certainly tries to insert a bit of humour and fun - thank you
DeleteYour first stanza is delicious; the images, the implications, the structure... simply wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Magaly
DeleteAh, sometimes we losing our reasons and find a new...looking around and noticing other people with the same issues....all together in group - seems easy to solve anything...like the wall art of our imagination...it's a second writing therapy I feel....
ReplyDeleteThat's true I think we all gather in these places with some degree of commonality and definitely with imagination...thank you kindly humbird
DeleteI suspect if the vein is made of dirt then the monster is already done.
ReplyDeleteAs always (other) Alice you cut to the chase and see right through..thank as ever and most kindly for that
DeleteYour opening lines made me speechless in wonder~ "Do you think in circles or lines
ReplyDeleteSpirals of course
I am DNA
This is chaos"
Thank you very much Purba
DeleteThis is fabulous. It does rather hit home with me too. One of my great friends and inspirations seems to have lost her reasons for going on and it's difficult to see her this way. I just feel kind of adrift in life. I've never really found anything to anchor myself to. I'm in my forties, never married, no kids. And that's okay, it's just that sometimes I wonder why I don't see fit to try for those things.
ReplyDeleteLove your writing!
http://weaverandwaterbearer.blogspot.com/2015/12/imminent-disaster.html
Thank you Shayla - yes a tough position for many...I've found words a reason..not sure if it changes things but you share ideas with people who may well feel the same
Delete"I don't know how she keeps going." Such sad words, but I do think you have the answer for many....words definitely are a connector and a way to share ideas and feelings. Some days this is the most important reason to keep going on, I think. One poem at a time.
ReplyDeleteI think so too Mary thank you - beautifully put
Delete"Quick sticks
ReplyDeleteStir our heart
Embroider our hallucinations
Hang them on the wall
Call it art"
i think of the Queen of Hearts in the wonderland story, would she have allowed all of that embroidering. it would surely have ended with an "Off with her head"
much love...
Yes indeed! Thank you very much Gillena
DeleteWay too many people have monster DNA I am convinced. Alice needs to find an antidote :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Leslie - i will set her to work on that right away ;)
DeleteSpirals, but of course, like a labyrinth that lead more deeply inward and then in reverse, back out again. I have these days as well when it is so hard to be. I sigh, one step at a time girl, one step, one breathe at a time. It's a start.
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly Toni - yes..step...breath..poem...it's sometimes the only way
DeleteI like the embroidered hallucintations hung on the wall as art. Sounds like my place:)
ReplyDeleteYes full of bright and shiny - thank you very much Rallentanda
DeleteHope you find your reasons. This was breathtaking. I feel like I've just come home from a run. Thanks for the read!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much - I hear cake goes down nicely after a run ;)
Delete