Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Helix #1

an arthritic finger
a quonset hut hulking in January drizzle
a teardrop tattoo

a chowder shack in Bodega Bay
a misty November afternoon spilling over with gulls
a flagstone walkway

a cigarette butt in a puddle outside the hospital
you are older
a coil of barbed wire breaks thru pasture snow

a dish of paella in Baltimore
it was January you should have been elsewhere
a peony blooming next to concrete steps

a pair of chipped bifocals a pair of frayed black sandals
a kestrel preening in the willow
a star tattoo a daytime moon

a purple cyclamen on a San Francisco patio
a string quartet a picnic dinner on the lawn
an archtop guitar

a game of croquet a storm approaching from the south
a Council, Idaho July 4th parade
a dogwood blooming like laughter

a cottonwood’s seedpods exploding amidst May’s bees
a future loaded with blanks
where have you been all this time

Jack Hayes
© 2010

12 comments:

  1. Beautiful, Jack. "a dogwood blooming like laughter" is delightful. Thanks for the smiles.

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  2. Hi Willow: Thanks! Dogwoods are beautiful, aren't they?

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  3. This is a new feature? I look forward to seeing it unfold.

    "You are older" That really hit me, especially with its position between the soggy cigarette and the barbed wire.

    This is YOUR Pillow Book, John.

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  4. This is really nice, Jack. I love the accumulated images and the inserted address,
    "you are older"...
    "...you should have been elsewhere"...
    "where have you been all this time".

    Really nice to find her amidst the imagery.

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  5. Hi Kat & Karen

    Kat: I'm not sure what it is--once I put the #1 at the end of the title my superstitious self immediately thought I'd jinxed myself! I do hope for more. & by the way, John is fine--Jack is the name on the poems & it's important to me for it to be there--but most people I know call me John. I answer to either one!

    Karen: That's an interesting & helpful observation. Thanks!

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  6. I really enjoyed this rich, one-man collaboration.

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  7. Hi Dick: Busted! Yes, I know the title really doesn't fit the form--I'm still not 100% sure what I'm up to in this/these(?) Thanks!

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  8. What are you cooking up here, it's quite interesting. Hoping you'll try another "joint" venture it's quite exotic really, John. Reminds me of thoughts in the key of G. More please.

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  9. Hi Cathy: I do think I'd like to cook up some more, tho I'm not sure I'll stick with this title for whatever sequence develops. Thanks!

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  10. Gorgeous.

    ...

    That last line sealed it.

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