“Righting Wrongs & Wronging Writes”

[Barbie Angell’s best poems always suggest more than they tell, & here’s one that does that well: my rhyming comment for my favorite rhyming poet! This is a delight.]

Righting Wrongs & Wronging Writes

The words fall from my pen
and yet they make no sense.
The syntax is a jumbled mess,
I’ve lost the present tense.

The rhymes are all approximate.
The images contrived.
I was a fool to ever let
my conscience be my guide.

The coffee stirs up memories
and dreams I’ve tucked away.
I know I seem quite unaware
of the distance I survey.

I’m really not oblivious.
I see all my mistakes.
All the many ways I’ve given,
all the miles which you take.

Immersed within my headphones,
music breathes inside my ears.
The ink’s the blood of nonsense
and stagnant, subtle fears.

So I gather up my notebooks
and my newly battered pen.
I’d like to say I’m finished,
but I never could begin.


Barbie Angell
© 2011