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Open Poetry #28
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wranx
Member Elite
since 2002-06-07
Posts 3689
Moved from a shack to a barn

0 posted 2003-08-06 12:33 PM



In the parking lot of the Sundown Motel
a Gypsy moth struggled,
dying amid the cigarette butts
bottle caps and the hard-scrabble grasses
that take refuge in the cracks of asphalt

In room 111, a woman
no longer young, no longer married
and no longer.....loved
sits at her laptop, plying her trade

Sifting through the internet
Looking for men of the “lonely” persuasion
from which she ekes her hollow existence
Subsisting wholly now
on the undeserved kindness of strangers

And on the emptiest of evenings
she’ll summon a favorite
with whom she spins the fantasies she lives

One hand, active on the keyboard
the other, busy beneath her clothing
Or, “call me”, she’ll say, “so you can hear me”

Night finds the moth, finally succumbed
to the August heat of Amarillo sunshine
It’s wings beat only, by means of scant breezes

And the make-believe heiress
emerges from her dark room to dance…
Pirouetting on the pavement
In the manner she fancies, a princess would prance

Unmindful of the moth
that she’d just ground into paste
beneath her unseeing sandal

Unmindful, that both Gypsy and moth
share a similar fate…

To be crushed by the weight
of an imagined tiara

"I've lost all I can...now, it's your turn"


© Copyright 2003 E.F.Rose - All Rights Reserved
MARK V SHELDON
Member Elite
since 2001-06-21
Posts 3015
In a corporeal internship...
1 posted 2003-08-06 01:13 AM


Vividly surreal...  Excellent imagery and jarringly powerful.  You have a sharp talent for visual which you keep honing...

-MVS

You CAN make a difference:
http://educate-yourself.org/

brian sites
Senior Member
since 2002-06-25
Posts 1475
usa
2 posted 2003-08-06 01:31 AM


this is sharp....

and needed

and
one of your
remarkable ones

wow

Kahlil
Senior Member
since 2003-04-12
Posts 1881

3 posted 2003-08-06 01:39 AM


Vivid yes, you took me right to the place.  Now you can just write the rest of the book!
~K~

Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
4 posted 2003-08-06 08:44 AM


To be crushed by the weight
of an imagined tiara

~*~

to be ground down by dreams
is just as wounding
as being ground down by realities...

stark, vivid - always exceptional
as your writing is...
you never fail to pull out an ouch...

Susan Caldwell
Member Rara Avis
since 2002-12-27
Posts 8348
Florida
5 posted 2003-08-06 11:05 AM


This was so good...and scary..because you just never know...
Excellent detail!

Susan C.  


serenity blaze
Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738

6 posted 2003-08-06 11:16 AM


Wow...

oh my.

grin...

plying her TRADE?

*wince*

oh STOP me...

This is quite a portrait Ed.

Sad and true and yes, SHARP.

and have to laugh at me too, 'cause I kept thinking, "b-but, but, but--I NEED MY tiara!"



Loved this.

Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
7 posted 2003-08-06 11:18 AM


LOL at Serenity...

where can I get one, m'dear?  I've not been that fortunate[?]

[This message has been edited by Sunshine (08-06-2003 11:19 AM).]

littlewing
Member Rara Avis
since 2003-03-02
Posts 9655
New York
8 posted 2003-08-06 11:50 AM


Ed,

Good Lord, you do know how to take me there, don't you?  This made me feel disgust, pity and sadness . . .
truly amazing power in your words
as always
xxoo

KristieSue
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Senior Member
since 2003-01-31
Posts 1460
PA, US
9 posted 2003-08-06 01:15 PM


how vivid!  Loved this!  I could imagine it the entire time...saw the whole thing in my mind....

Failure isn't failure if a lesson from it is learned ~ KS

Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
10 posted 2003-08-06 01:26 PM


wranx

Sharp and vivid portrayal...and so human and real.   You're good at seeing, my friend!

Tiersdin
Member Elite
since 2000-11-17
Posts 2364
east coast
11 posted 2003-08-06 03:59 PM


Excellente!


~Tier

Kaoru
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Member Elite
since 2003-06-07
Posts 3892
where the wild flowers grow
12 posted 2003-08-06 04:05 PM


Bravo..
Dark Angel
Member Patricius
since 1999-08-04
Posts 10095

13 posted 2003-08-06 05:14 PM


O my my, this is superb writing m'friend. It's so real, so vivid, amazing and powerful.

I'm keeping this to read over and over again.

m'friend.

Maree

fate is not just
whose cooking  smells good
but which way the wind blows

(Ani DiFranco)


WhileIWasGone
Member
since 2002-07-18
Posts 486

14 posted 2003-08-17 06:14 PM


Kisses

Amore
H

vlraynes
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-07-25
Posts 8229
Somewhere... out there...
15 posted 2003-08-17 09:33 PM



OH...wow...this is powerful, Ed...and I agree...SHARP.

Much insight here, my friend.

Hugs to you...

"My friends are my estate."
~Emily Dickinson

serenity blaze
Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738

16 posted 2003-08-19 05:56 PM


*bump*


icebox
Member Elite
since 2003-05-03
Posts 4383
in the shadows
17 posted 2003-08-19 06:02 PM


I bow to you, Sir.
Ratleader
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Rara Avis
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026
Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass
18 posted 2003-08-20 09:39 AM


Almost missed this gem! Beautifully done, my friend....you captured her.

~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>   ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>  ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº>    ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº>
______________Ratleader______________

Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
19 posted 2003-08-20 09:54 AM



Reading...

again.


icebox
Member Elite
since 2003-05-03
Posts 4383
in the shadows
20 posted 2003-08-20 09:08 PM


This needs more time at the top.
Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA
21 posted 2003-08-20 11:48 PM


This could stay at the top forever in my book...

Absolutely excellent, Ed...some of the lines you use are so effortless and yet when I try to reproduce them in the same way in my own mind I fall way short...

"Subsisting wholly now
on the undeserved kindness of strangers"

how many people does that fit???

You weave the perfect atmosphere, Ed. Reminds me of a scene from any one of Orson Welles' earlier movies....black and white/stark/gritty...you have a real style...

angelblueyes
Member Elite
since 2003-07-19
Posts 2148
Oklahoma
22 posted 2003-08-20 11:55 PM


You always amaze me with your imagery and words.It paints a story forme everytime.
Crystal

Bill Charles
Member Patricius
since 2000-07-11
Posts 10619
highways, & byways, for now
23 posted 2003-08-21 12:26 PM


wranx - I'm glad I stopped by to read this, it's awesome in its scope and meaning...

BC

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