April falls early this year
She likes a tumble
We giggle
Huddled together
Holding the pain
Singing the spell
We are warm
Not burning
We get lost like this for hours
Toffee moulding to the roof of our mouth
A sugar steeple
Sure and strong
Full of spare little blessings
I found a pin
I say
A propos of nothing
It grew big as the moon
On the bridge of my nose
I pressed and debated
Swooped and swirled
Then like a riddle
I pulled it right out
She shrugs
She can do that
Cut me down to size
Quick sticks
Drink up tight
They spilt the milk
We cried
All night
Are we following the signs
I am bored says Alice
Let’s leave town
Skip trip
Rise and shine
Grab our coats
Comb the goat
There are things we need to remember
You are a strange little girl
She pokes her tongue out
The bandages ooze like melting ice
It makes me shiver
Why did you choose a rose
Because it is strong
And red
And pretty
Like blood
Or ruby slippers
I try and sound easy
Distressed
With flair
Not flare
I know
She says
Let's colour ourselves in
My hands are curled
Stuck frigid
As plans go
It's not so bad
She grabs the pencils
Lines them up
There is order in everything she says
Hours
Stars
Cakes
And sugar
Twelve little pennies
On a zodiac wheel
We get lost like this for hours
Falling through the floor
Slipping through the lines.
Hmm loved this one and all the things I can relate to...toffees and honeycomb, colourring in pencils Can identify with the order thing....cannot function in chaos..personal environment is the ony part of my life that I can control...apart from my thoughts i.e.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of colouring ourselves in....blank slates armed with coloured pencils:)
A Story
When I was at school there were wonderful colouring pencils called Derwent which had a monotone shade of every colour...so beautiful(gasp) They were very expensive at the time...only the really wealthy girls had them...at least at the school I attended the ethos was -you had to share - ( this would probably be considered to be child abuse now in our pc world) - so I remember the great pleasure I had using them. Apropos of nothing I bought some a few years ago..because I could...and thought ...it seems to me that I have to wait a long time for everything that just seem so ordinary and immediate for everyone else...And I don't know why I'm telling you this but because your poems sometimes inspire me to do ramble on...I usually delete the ramblings but this time I wont...:)
Oh please never delete Rallentanda - I love your comments and i can smell those expensive pencils..and the desire to have what the wealthy girls had..i bet they didn't even see colour as wealth..but we do..that's good i hope..part of our personal environment the selves we can colour in just how we like! Thank you :)
DeleteWhat great word play there is in this piece Jae. Your writing paints a picture and emotions are laid bare for us to find if we are explorers.
ReplyDeleteThank you Old Egg - for bravely venturing into our world so loyally and generously
DeleteI had a friend once that I trusted this way--I love the close here--the freedom in it --sometimes I miss that
ReplyDeleteThank you Audrey yes falling and slipping can be liberating but probably good to be a few steps away from the gap...i look forward to missing it too maybe? If that makes any sense :~
DeleteThere is order in everything, and a rhythmic un-order as well. Beautiful poem.
ReplyDeleteYes the two often coincide - thank you very much Amrit
DeleteFalling through the floor
ReplyDeleteSlipping through the lines
... what a way to get lost!
Maybe not the best way! Thank you kindly thotpurge
DeleteThis is beautiful!! Especially love the closing lines :D
ReplyDeleteLots of love,
Sanaa
Thank you very much Sanaa :)
DeleteThis fits quite beautifully :D thanks Jae
Deletexoxoxo
I like your poem, quite vivid :)
ReplyDeleteThank you ladyleemanila
DeleteExtraordinary.
ReplyDeleteThank you Marilyn!
DeleteThank you so much for linking this gorgeous piece with Prompt Nights Jae :D Have a fabulous week ahead.
ReplyDeleteLots of love,
Sanaa
Thank you Sanaa - have a great week also
Deleteyou certainly have flare - Jae Rose and your streams of consciousness are full of imagery, random rhyme and memories - look forward your turn to be interviewed at poetry pantry so we can see behind these imaginary lines!
ReplyDeleteThank you telltale - much appreciated - not wishing to be vainglorious but if you look on the right of my blog banner my PU interview is right there ;)
DeleteI saw and read with interest after I'd posted but its 2016 now so there's bound to be an update!
DeleteI saw and read with interest after I'd posted but its 2016 now so there's bound to be an update!
DeleteNothing good sadly - older and wider - as opposed to wiser :~ thank you!
DeleteYou know, if I were to skip town, I wouldn't bother to comb the goat. I'd simply flee and let the old goat ( it IS old, isn't it?) fend for itself!
ReplyDeleteHonestly neither would i but i had to get that blessed goat in there somewhere! Thanks Magical :)
DeleteChoosing a rose because it is strong and red and pretty -- good reasons, I think. Smiles. Enjoyed the wordplay with 'flare' and 'flair,' and sometimes just skipping town seems like the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteOh yes it does carefree with flowers in our hair and a roomy pair of flared jeans on! Thank you kindly Mary
Deletei like this one. I sense pleasure and pain.
ReplyDeleteThank you spirit - yes there is both perhaps
Deletean intriguing piece, love the rhythm and rhyme scheme
ReplyDeleteThank you very much melinda
DeleteLet's color ourselves in - what shades would you choose..in the spectrum there are many choices to fit the mood. I say color yourself in bright hues to match the morning sunrise. There is order in everything as everything is sort of connective but, sometimes it is good to color outside the lines.
ReplyDeleteLet's skip town the borders of our mind...there is so much more to find..
Oh I do like that idea thank you for the invitation thank you Truedessa - I like blues but maybe orange would help
DeleteAlice is a tease really... But the best of friends can always be that, and there we find ourselves in falling,
ReplyDeletePerfectly put - thank you kindly Bjorn
DeleteAlice must learn that it's rude to poke out her tongue - and no a pretty sight with a mouth filled with toffee! As I am almost OCD when it comes to lining things up, it appears I do have one thing in common her!
ReplyDeleteVisit Keith's Ramblings!
I shall have a word...I suspect it may fall on toffee filled ears...right with you in lining things up..I think all of us have a little something in common with Alice..she's a universal kind of girl! Thank you Keith
DeleteSometimes it it the only way to keep sanity...by controlling what we can....
ReplyDelete'She grabs the pencils
Lines them up
There is order in everything she says
Hours
Stars
Cakes
And sugar
Twelve little pennies
On a zodiac wheel
We get lost like this for hours'
Fabulous Jae Rose!
Donna@LivingFromHappiness
I think so...heaven knows we have a thin thread of sanity to hang onto as it is! Thank you very much Donna
DeleteWhat I have really come to appreciate about your poetry is the controlled chaos of it all. So many stories, asides, narrative threads, thoughts, comments... all coming together, and then going apart. And yet, at the very end, you get this overall impression, an image, of what this poetic scene is all about. I admire this, and look forward to seeing the final scene of each poem. The big picture.
ReplyDeleteAnd I very much appreciate your perceptive comments thank you Matthew - controlled chaos sums things up perfectly..thank you
DeleteYou always create an intriguing tension between the narrator and Alice. I love Alice's suggestion:
ReplyDeleteI know
She says
Let's colour ourselves in
Internal tussle! I think she came up with a very good idea today though - thank you kindly Kerry
Delete'On the bridge of my nose' sounds very evocative for me (glasses) and getting lost in time playing not the bad thing at all!
ReplyDeleteNot bad at all and wearing glasses means you can see all the fun! Thank you humbird xo
DeleteI like the way you played with words in this one, kiddo........and especially like "holding the pain, singing the spell......we are warm not burning." I enjoyed the toffee steeple too. I adore toffee. The pin being pulled from the nose made me wince. Yikes! As always, your imagery is vivid, and your poem probes the depths. A strong closing couplet in this one, my friend.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sherry - chewing is meant to be good for many things - pain, anger, anxiety..albeit maybe toffee isn't best for your teeth though! But yummy I agree...thank you kindly Sherry as ever xo
DeleteI loved the flow of this poem...it took me there!
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written :)
Thank you Purba - hope you got back again ok! :)
DeleteWonderful imagery.
ReplyDeleteZQ
Thank you ZQ!
DeleteI love that in the first line, I'm led to read that April is a girl who "falls" a lot. She tries to make it as far into the year as possible before all her resolutions crumble, but this year, she's falling even earlier than usual. :)
ReplyDelete"We are warm
Not burning" ... I think this is the safer temperature to be. This ties in especially well with the title, basically saying that you and April are flares. Hot and fiery, but also a cry for help AND a warning all at once ... despite the cover of sweetness in the toffee and giggles. Even church (sugar steeples).
My mind can't help but change "pin" to "pen," on the tip of your nose ... like you're trying to (re)draw yourself, but it's rather hopeless.
These are my favorites:
"
The bandages ooze like melting ice
It makes me shiver
Why did you choose a rose"
"Twelve little pennies
On a zodiac wheel"
Thank you for your wonderful comment - pin to pen is a great metamorphosis shall bear that one in mind thank you
DeleteOh my, this evokes strong memories in me and such great imagery. I like the sense of underlying confusion that somehow speaks of creativity.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much - hope those memories have passed a little and i appreciate that in the confusion you see a sign of creativity
DeleteOrder and color and rhyme and getting lost for hours--all held together with toffee and two voices. Sassy little Alice. I love the zodiac and the pin. Don't ask me why, but imagination had something to do with it.
ReplyDeleteShe is sassy at that! Thank you Susan...and glad you liked the Zodiac and the pin - sometimes there need not be a reason why
Delete"She grabs the pencils
ReplyDeleteLines them up
There is order in everything she says
Hours
Stars
Cakes
And sugar
Twelve little pennies
On a zodiac wheel"
loved that line - it is the calm that quells the chaos.
"We get lost like this for hours
Falling through the floor
Slipping through the lines."
Respite from the storm - for there must be respite.
Another awesome piece of writing.
Thank you kindly Wendy - yes respite is definitely needed...however fleeting
Deleteamazing flow of thoughts and images. evokes a chilly reaction from me. you nailed it Jae.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much James!
DeleteWhen I read your writings, I can't help but wonder how Alice can ever be bored!
ReplyDeleteI concur thank you J Cosmo - the devil makes work for grubby little fingers after all ;)
DeleteWe get lost like this for hours
ReplyDeleteFalling through the floor
Slipping through the lines.
There is always the obstacle to whatever one has in mind. Spoil-sport but it is of our own undoing.
Hank
Always of our own undoing - thank you Hank ;)
DeleteWhat a fun romping rap. I think you should both perform it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Colleen - doubt I would get Eminem quaking in his Nikes but thanks for the thought!
DeleteDear Jae, you are a talented one indeed, you write in a delightful way, things that may not be delightful to experience....only in your work....you are a magician, turn a pin prick into another delightful situation...and Alice likes it all, isn't that what a best friend is supposed to do...like it all? The good the bad and the goat?
ReplyDeleteDear Annell - I think we have a story in the good, the bad and the goat..yes Alice is a good friend who tries to hang onto the light - and me...thank you xo
DeleteGuess we can all relate to getting lost in time with thoughts - some rational, some not but all expressing a part of our subconscious. I think that's where your poems take me. The images you create are like ink blots for me to see, then allow interpretation.
ReplyDeleteSplendid writing Jae. I like the play on words here. I like it all.
Ah yes ink blot tests.. I suppose we do leave our grubby little ink spills..I am glad you can see the playing..thank you kindly as ever Myrna
Deletethe escape to fantasy a great way to deal with pain, for there in fantasy land the roof of mouths can be toffee lined. Sure
ReplyDeletemuch love...
What a lovely way of putting it - although soon enough the toffee runs out ;) thank you Gillena
DeleteWow. Surreal and intriguing read. My favorite phrase, "full of spare little blessings". SO fun to see what different writers do with the same set of words!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Puff of Smoke! Yes the variety is a little blessing in itself ;)
DeleteVery sweet. Reminds me so much of my girlhood days.
ReplyDeleteI am glad they were sweet days! Thank you Rommy
DeleteI went through a phase of writing April poems. They tottered between a Northern Hemisphere Spring and Southern Hemisphere Autumn - my heart was confused... This poem resonated with me.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing more unsettling than a confused heart - thank you Nicholas..and for understanding the tottering
DeleteThis poem reminds me of some of my own huddles, not always joyful, but life is there. I enjoy your work very much.
ReplyDeleteYour poem reminds me of past huddles of my own, not always pleasant but a part of life, I admire your writing very much and always enjoy a visit with you.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Linda - much appreciated
DeleteLove your personification of April. I, too, always imagine her giggling and at play. :-)
ReplyDeleteI think she is the fairest month too...not the cruellest thank you Magaly :)
Delete