Saturday, November 26, 2011

Big Trampoline

            I miss our sundays at the park by the lake
            With the motherly banyans in more than one place
            The indigenous palms that could bend and not break
            And the ones that had trunks like papiermâché
            It would come unglued when they started to flake
            And the baby manatees that swam there by mistake 
            Swimming right up to the sad little shoreline of clay
            Considering their options and then swimming away
            Afraid of the tangled ladies laying in wait
            They were just some old mangroves, and nothing to hate
            I miss these beauties like the leaves and their sway

            And the people who lived there like humorless gods
            I don’t miss them or their shimmering façades
            The towering fortresses that kept us at odds
            Purveyors of solitude, a circle of frauds
           
            They decided that the trees were obstructing their view
            So through much litigation and reddening hues
            They changed how the word “preservation” was used
            The bulldozers came and made everything new
            I hate new things when the motives aren’t true

            So the next time we have our sundays together
            We should go back to the park where the beauties were gathered
            And return something old to the glistening water
            And honor the ghosts of arboreal mothers
            We’ll fly in the face of the powers unseen
            And then we’ll make love on their big trampoline

26 comments:

  1. Ooooh, trampoline sex. Nice!!
    Well done as usual!

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  2. Finally the trampoline is a surprise :)
    Lovely.

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  3. exquisite elliot, of similes, metaphors, & symbols. the beautiful place i can picture though i've never been, & even if any of us tried, it wouldn't be the same. would it? the 2nd paragraph is my fave, for it feels so universal.

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  4. Great poem, as usual. I wish I could write poetry. I'd just sound off about the suburban hypocrites, but you can make a great poem out of it.

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  5. I think I stayed at that condo, last time I was in Florida.

    Nice. I thought the rhyming was going to be forced; but it wasn't. Great narrative and imagery.

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  6. Awesome. The imagery is outstanding. I've only been to a mangrove swamp once, but goddamn if this poem didn't make me remember it with fond nostalgia and then bitter recriminations at those who would ruin that.

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  7. Lovely! God, how I wish I could write (good) poetry! + Followed you back!

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  8. You have a tender soul. It's obvious in your poetry. Is it okay to say I much prefer this poetic blog to your other satirical one? I know this one does not have as many followers or comments but it feels more true to me. And gentle. I have the feeling you feel more yourself after having written here. I could be wrong. Just a guess.

    Well done.

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  9. I wrote "feel" far too many times. Sappy. Sorry 'bout that. :)

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  10. You are absolutely right, Crystal. My passion is for poetry and serious fiction. The other blog is just to draw attention to myself. I started Appellate Sky with the purpose of building a big audience and then directing them to my poetry. That's why I now put a link to this blog in every Appellate Sky post. You'll notice I don't do the reverse.

    As far as your second comment, I didn't get that all and I appreciate what you said very much.

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  11. Also, all the poems I've posted here were written a while ago. I'm just copying and pasting.

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  12. I echo Disgruntled's sentiments. The poem made me fondly remember kayaking off Key West, and I hate to think of that natural beauty being destroyed.

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  13. This is so beautifully written, I'm so glad to have discovered you.

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  14. Hmmm. I appreciate that you appreciate my sappiness. :) I can't seem to help myself.

    Write something new.

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  15. Absolutely wonderful writing again, Elliot! This one really touches the heart with it's topic ~ too much bulldozing in our society ~ very sad . . .

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  16. Holy shit. You're like, seriously brilliant.

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  17. I know someone else who is brilliant. Her name rhymes with...something that eludes me at this time, but basically it's you. And I am quite serious about that.

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  18. Lovely imagery. What a sad story yet you put a great twist on the end. Thanks for giving us some hope there. Awesome.

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  19. I usually go with Bejeweled, only because technically "Reschooled" isn't a word.

    Oh, and just so you know, it's because of you that the evening of December 23, 2011 will forever be known to me as "The night I spent cursing my parents for not conceiving a more eloquent offspring."

    And I am serious about that.

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  20. What a cute story, yet with a sad twist.

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  21. i like your description in the first stanza - the mangroves and the manatees feel like home to me, too. and thanks for visiting my blog and leaving your kind comment - it's always nice to get encouragement from a fellow writer.

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