Cards on the table: I know very little about humility, but it is a new skill that I am learning through life. I hear she’s supposed to be the best teacher and she’s gonna have to be because I’m not a very attentive student. It’s taken 30+ years for me to even realize that humility was on the syllabus and honestly, I feel like that’s kind of her fault but whatever, I’ll take the L as part of the first lesson. My point is I honestly couldn’t tell you what the fuck I mean by “humble poetry”; I just wanted to keep with the theme and mood and rant of the previous post(s).
This next poem is about a chance encounter for a boy with anxiety. When I told the story to my sister she said it sounded like a robot interacting with a human for the first time, no shade. I thought that sounded like a pretty hilarious short story which is what Laundry Day was originally supposed to be until Writer’s Block turned it into the poem Prepositions. I hate when he edits my shit… he’s such a dick.
Laundry Day (Prepositions)
Do not be silent stranger
For I cannot speak near you
Content to know her furtively
Lest my ears betray me
A greeting dropped through the eaves
Changes everything
Beautiful on the second glance
Quite alluring on the first
Captivating once I heard
The sweet lilt of her voice
Do not be silent enchantress
For I cannot speak to you
Her words are bewitching
No mistruths will I utter
The sharp tone of her aria
A fear I dare not risk
My speech is screeched cacophony
She paraphrases me with harmony
Her song is happy and haunted
While mine is naught and same
Do not be silent sweet siren
For I cannot speak like you
Laughter is her accent and tone
Soothing and soft like raindrops
As if a melodious giggle nestles
Forever beneath her breast
The pauses in her speech
Reflect beauty in her features
Crescendos and sharp notes
Even muted she sings
Do not be silent queen of kings
For I cannot speak over you
The dirge of her goodbye
A bittersweet earworm
Her memory a requiem
Her absence a dreadful noise
Mellifluous as the tide it flows
Rinsing me in a wave of words
Rescinding in resounding silence
Pulling my attention with it
Do not be silent my lady
For I cannot speak of you