It's really quite farcical she moans
We are lying on the floor of our tin hut
Waiting for the delivery of nothing
There is a list of things to do
The hot weather holds us back
The list can wait for another day
And another after that
We keep still
Little stones under a babbling brook
Try not to think
What once was
What is
She sits up
Wipes the hair from her face
Do you never get bored of making the same mistakes
Always
Then you must stop
It's easy
It's all just a habit
And all habits can be broken
She giggles and claps her hands
In her head is the answer
She has kept it safe for so many years
I wash the grime from under my nails
It really is quite funny
Still I wait
The last laugh will be worth the pain of now.
"Do you never get bored of making the same mistakes/Always/Then you must stop": This touched a chord. Can we stop? I wonder.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, I find myself leaving the list for another day too. Your words are palpable, in how they define a life lived on the fringes of commonality and daily routine. Perhaps, keeping still is not that bad after all.
-HA
Ah, if only habits easy to break by just saying them out loud. But yes, they can be broken.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope you roar with laughter! Alice is sometimes a tease but she has certainly been a faithful mentor hasn't she?
ReplyDeleteI try to make a point of making different mistakes...mistakes nevertheless. Miss Fortune has her favourites:)
ReplyDeleteLoved those opening lines which took me to the moodofthe poem... wonderful!!
ReplyDeleteI love the dialogue in this and the questions. Yes habits can be broken. So true, and yet so hard. Love this Jae!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alice that habits can be broken, even by 'Little stones under a babbling brook'. I love the way Alice 'giggles and claps her hands' and that she has kept the answer safe.
ReplyDeleteI think we all do the same mistakes over and over again... there is comfort in running in circles.
ReplyDeleteI love the stones in the brook.yes habits can be broken but it all depends on if the person really wants to do it.
ReplyDeleteYes! Yes! Yes! The ending will rock (and probably even roll) with mirth-fed ruckus. And that will put all the waiting and all the hurting into perspective.
ReplyDeleteI love the line about being stones under a babbling brook.......it is not so easy to break bad habits and I also put off my To Do list, day after day. But I love the humour in this poem, and the fact you wrote it and I am reading it. I always love reading you, Jae.
ReplyDelete