Tuesday, November 13, 2012

terminal 2

(for john ashbery)


im looking past roses
in bed
from kitchen dreams
at cold tile mornings
a hard mattress wall
makes nuclear physics nights
paltry you know

very paltry indeed
and restless
as a bus ticket
a road that
runs between
young souls and
the terminal
random ruminations
what do you think
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4 comments:

Susan Scheid said...

This is a beauty, Russell. A wonderful homage to JA, and particularly "Some Trees."

5:25 AM
Russell Ragsdale said...

Hi Susan, in his 2000 book Your Name Here Ashbery invites the reader to participate in the poems frequently. In the poem Terminal, he invites us to make a poem about the wall in the garden. So I did, using basically the same non-narative approach he used. I love his mysterious pronoun use and the way seeming other grammar errors open the poem out so the reader becomes more creatively involved i what the poem is able to do. I tried to incorporate those things plus the themes that seemed important in his orriginal poem.

As a poet, it is important to learn how to do things that are usefull in good poetry. I'm always afraid my early attempts will seem a little clumsy. I appologize if they are.

7:49 AM
rinebird said...

I like your poem,especially
the words "from kitchen dreams
at cold tile mornings"

I looked up paltry,a new word for me & I will use it.I am in Mod Po with Al & the gang.Regards,linda

3:20 PM
Russell Ragsdale said...

I'm glad you liked those lines. Thanks for leaving a comment, it is always great to know what people think. I'm honored to have introduced you to a new word. I hope its use brings you pleasure.

6:31 PM

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