don't even think about it
'til the words pile up and
you can't stop them any more
unless you'd kill 'em,
every single one with the point of your pen,
unless you would drown or die
if you'd refuse to let 'em come and
come like lovers in tight nights - but
you got stuck, the escalator
is not moving, blank steel laughs
into the poet's face &
in your eyes - still warm,
the remnants of last night.
out in the kitchen, oldies on the radio,
no bridge to
never ending metro lines and
faceless crowds with long expired tickets -
flashdance.
you smile and i think of Bukowski's words &
take another sip of coffee - black -
the stairway starts to move and somehow -
i feel drunk
This is my entry for the one shoot sunday picture prompt over at One Stop Poetry. The photo was shot by photographer and poet James Rainsford.
30 Comments:
bit of a background... bukowski wrote a poem where he said that we should not start to write until the words pile up...
i saw the pic this morning and liked it immediately but there were no words...and i decided not to write..
during breakfast the words started to pile up...not in the way i expected but well...hope you enjoy
Interesting background .. there is a sense of dark things building, like a storm, pressures rising (or descending, so the escalator's neutral sense of going both ways is perfect), the sense of letting it all go in top- and bottomost ways, if only the friggin' machine would get out of frozen gear .. Which the poem finds a "start" button for ... Now hell (or heaven, or both) is breaking loose. Thanks- Brendan
if i "try" to write, it's always crap. the words have to pile up and fall out of my head. i really like your take on the photograph. "flashdance" made me smile.
dani
I like when you are "drinkin' poetry." I always get a sense of catharsis involved in your work among arrays of imagery. Interesting thought process in the progression of stanzas, beginning with a line that strikes me as "reverse psychology" in stating not to think about something.
hehe...and what were you drinking when you wrote this...nice play on the bukowski...esp the last stanza...the flash dance jumps off at you...
thanks for the background note. "killing words with the point of the pen" brilliant. I like the idea of piling up words...it seams lately that that is all I have time for. So busy with life the words rumble in my belly. Hopefully I will heave em up soon. You describe so vividly once again. thanks for sharing
I love the connection of the escalator and the words piling up!
my words are piling up...perhaps I should write. :) Excellent piece!
Is the escalator ascending or descending or standing still? Or perhaps all three?
Great poem, Claudia.
Whatever you had for breakfast must have comes with some brain flakes as your terms and style of your poem is simply magic.
Claudia, I LOVE BUKOWSKI! If you get the chance, watch the documentary on him. Fantastic.
I think any who write at all can relate to your words. I for one, tend to be silent with a piece, until as you reference Bukowski, "the words pile up." Then I release. Sometimes it's an entire day, sometimes a week or two, and sometimes, it's 15 minutes. Great take on the photo prompt and relating to your fellow poets.
Thanks for sharing.
-Pounds
I've only delved into Bukowski's writing recently, read the post office, and it was an experience! I can see what you mean about letting the words pile up, not a healthy way to write IMHO but some times oh so effective ;)
The words pile up ~ like a killing rage to be released in madness or in mirth. Great write
your blog is so pretty!
<3
The words are so funny about piling up, as you talk about Claudia--you think you have nothing and yet when your fingers hit the keyboard they take off seemingly on their own. I'm lovin the flow and immediacy in this one, and the flash of those swallowed and reappearing escalator steps, always on a roll.
That was a great pile-up of words on the escalator. Very emotional writing!
Those first two lines are an especially effective opener to your poem. And using the escalator as metaphor is as well. As some on our Metro have experienced recently, sometimes the escalator just stops out of the blue and the jam-up ends in an unexpected tumble. Nice write!
bukowski is onto something..I feel that way too. When I force a write, it is very painful and a waste of time because it more often than not ends up being terrible.
this, however, is wonderful - a poetic scene from your point of view - felt as those I was there...:)
bukowski and black coffee. nice:)
caught up deep in thought ~ jerked almost dizzy as the stairway moved ~ gulps black coffee to steady the swerve ~ lots and lots tumbling ~ disconcerting ~ thrown off balance ~ excellent rapid moment to moment ~ brilliant ~ Lib ~ @libithina
Excellent take on the post. I agree with you, the others, Bukowski..I have to have the words stored to begin to push them into a poem; or I have to subconsciously let a wave of them build and then flow as you did today. As always the music flows in and through your words. Gay
Something did happen to your comment on my Shadorma. I got the one about it being "eaten by Blogger" but not whatever was "eaten". No need to post this, just wanted you to know.
So pleased you allowed your words to build over breakfast. You have written a remarkable poem which enriches my photo with an intense and evocative thoughts.
"word pile up"...it seems to have worked quite fine for this one...love your use of bukowski -coffee- drunk...fabulous write ~
Certain images linger beyond the page..."blank steel laughs" begins the haunting right up to the black coffee, starting to move and being drunk! Fascinating!
fabulous ending...the movement and the feeling drunk...great take on this Claudia....thank you...bkm
Hi! Claudia...
Writer-block...Hmmm...I'am so glad that your words are starting to "pile-up" again!
After reading your poem it's so obvious that your words are starting to "pile" up again!
What a very nice post...Thanks, for sharing!
DeeDee ;-D
I feel drunk too, lol.
Great poem Claudia
Most metaphysical! Delightful.
Have a good week, Boonie
"come like lovers in tight nights"
Wicked!
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