Saturday, November 03, 2007

cartoon

if i could put this night in a cartoon
maybe we could have a good laugh
sad and lonely faces
drawn as if in some other places
in cars and trucks
down some dark streets
in the illusion of motion
campy as someone else’s sorrow
who can only be painted
or drawn
a geometric form
long on the floor
motionless
as a vodka bottle
a discarded cap
a small stain
a stubbed out cigarette
in an empty sardine can
a puzzling circumstance
bags packed
the phone
scratched in pencil strokes
always silent
like a clown face
the phone
broad like
a clown’s frown
not capable of tragedy

10 comments:

Ruela said...

Very interesting poem.

arch.memory said...

"campy as someone else’s sorrow "--that is such a great line!

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Ruela! This is the paintin I would paint if I had that skill. I thought of you as I was writing it! I wondered if you would enjoy its non-linear geometry.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Ashraf! I am absolutely fascinated by the way a medium (photography, film, cartoons, painting) changes how we feel about what we look at. Glad you enjoyed the line, it is the central position of the poem. Thanks, my friend!

Sue hardy-Dawson said...

That's so sad Russel

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Sue! Looking for a little distance - glad you responded to it, sweet lady!

Deborah Vatcher said...

I enjoyed this piece. The imagery,so still, yet vivid. I especially liked "phone broad like a clown's frown."
http://snakeinthebasement.wordpress.com/

Russell Ragsdale said...

Hi Debora and Welcome! Thanks for noticing that. I enjoyed your comment very much.

G.Naraah said...

"...a clown’s frown
not capable of tragedy"
really like this words. It shows the pain and sadness inside the person. And it's cool, that poem written in such an interesting way.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks G-naraah! That's really the issue isn't it - I mean we simply transfer our sorrow to some other medium and we can look at it as if it was somewhere farther away and not be destroyed by what we are looking at. Welcome and thanks for the comment. I hope to see you here often.