Wheezer

~ qbit 
This morning I am a shuffleboard disc – 
shoes scraping across cheap playground asphalt, 
lines weathered and flaked 

I try shoving over a copy of The Waste Land, 
see if I can make points with ”hyacinth,” 
or bump off “lilacs” with ”lilies” 

But I'm too sleepy. I still have goblins 
in my fingers from last night's dreams, 
my maw dry and filled with peacock feathers 

Better, my game of folding grief like origami – 
I tear pages from the book, crease poems into 
surprise! A crown of thorns 

Forget about forgetting, 
memory steeps in tea bags of the past, 
dried peels and scabs of 1970 in tiny paper sachets 

"Are we having fun yet?" 
Outside again, the sun slowly slides 
Into scoring position, aloft 

Above the mirrored river, 
wings choppy as waves, 
geese wheeze south for winter

For Shay’s Word Garden and The Sunday Muse

25 thoughts on “Wheezer”

  1. This puts me in mind of some kind of Halloween killer clowns horror movie set in an old age home, but with a literary twist. Forget about forgetting but I can’t forget that I don’t remember what, as Cohen sang. Fly on, geese. There is only 1970 origami grief down here on the ground.

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    1. “There is only 1970 origami grief down here on the ground.” And 1974, ‘82, 90-96 and on and on. I had a stanza where the years were a collection of teas, but couldn’t make it work.

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  4. I wasn’t able to do anything for Shay’s list this week, but you have certainly come through, in a totally characteristic and fascinating fashion.Should there be a ‘language of teas’ as there once was a ‘language of flowers? Or is the skill of folding grief-shaped origami sufficient to the task of reconciling time, our words and our fertile if turned over hearts?

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  5. Above the mirrored river,
    wings choppy as waves,
    geese wheeze south for winter

    A great close qbit! You created a wonderful connection to the goose in the image!

    Hank

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  6. I love “I still have goblins in my fingers from last night’s dreams.” And “folding grief like origami” is amazing. Wonderful writing! I loved it.

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  7. I’m in awe, especially of this: “my game of folding grief like origami”. Enjoyed too the second stanza’s playful tone with seemingly offhand allusions helping define the persona’s mood.

    Liked by 1 person

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