Friday, April 4, 2008

Falling Away

The tight fist of Friday poetry informs us our word is "away."

he would prefer
to let the small day fall away
squander it on notions and frittering doodles
but the world has other plans
soccer games and casseroles
liquor stores and code

the days fall away all too readily
years fall away lives fall away
he knows this
knows the autumn wind whistling through the garden leaves
the stark trees seen through the limbs of the moon

the world knows this too
smiling like a patronizing parent
whisking him out of the door
and into the shining day

there are things to attend to

7 comments:

Mother of Invention said...

Slip sliding away!
"And the seasons, they go 'round and 'round....." Joni always said it best!
Yeah, time marches on and carries us along but we sure wish we could slow it down sometimes. Sometimes, I catch a glimpse of myself and am shocked that I am so far down life's road. I get even more shocked when I see people my own age who really look older and I almost get mad at them for having aged so much! Why, I'm just a fairly young teacher am I not? (I'm almost retired!)

Unknown said...

This line:

"the stark trees seen through the limbs of the moon"

And the last verse are absolutely wonderful, especially the last line.

Jo said...

I liked the way you used "fall away"...such a lovely cadence.

Clowncar said...

Yep, MOI, time seems like a wind in my face. Who's that old man looking back at me in the mirror?

Thanks, Nance. Actually, i was mosr proud of the internal double rhyme in "small day fall away."

Thanks as well, Jo. "Fall away" does have such a gentle feel to it. I think of the husks of corn cobs, or leaves from trees.

Mona Buonanotte said...

Your poem made me cry! Dammit! It's beautiful! And I think I need to go spend some time with my kids now before they grow up....

Anonymous said...

Well done, CC. And speaking as someone who tends to run on at the fingers a bit when typing/creating I have to say that I really genuinely admire your ability to put a lot of depth in a small footprint.

Clowncar said...

Didn't mean to make you cry, Mona. But thanks! Just trying to turn my lazy inertia into something useful. Like a poem.

Actually, Irr, I'm trying to pare down my writing style into using "a small footprint," as you eloquently put it. As opposed to the endless vomiting up of adjectives and adverbs I've been prone to in the past. So, thanks for noticing. And I'm glad it's working.