Friday, December 7, 2007
Poetry Friday: Don't
Don't
It's not like a glass of milk.
Wouldn't you rather have
new pajamas? You can't think
it's going to stay there
on your nightstand after
you put it down. It's worse
than pepperoni pizza for heartburn.
Snakes! Those lines will become
them, you know. In your dreams.
I'm warning you. Or ropes.
You'd be better off with a nice blanket.
Curl closer to the one you love.
Don't read a poem.
You might as well hire
a band to play outside
your window all night.
----Sara Lewis Holmes (all rights reserved)
NEW: Hear me read it at my other site, A Cast of One (QuickTime or MP3 format) And I'm warning you: I sound grouchy. I have a cold and a hoarse voice, and yeah, I think the poem sounds good that way.
Poetry Friday is at Becky's Book Reviews today.
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Love it, Sara. Although if it becomes snakes, they are the nicest sort of snakes. Unless you've been reading some sort of bewildering experimental stuff.
ReplyDeleteStrange: when I read 'those lines will become them' I thought for a moment of lines of cocaine. (For the record, never seen one except on TV). And on re-reading it seemed to be a not inappropriate image. Poetry as a dangerous drug.
ReplyDeleteA poem can make you see things that aren't there. Maybe that's even what they're for; maybe that's what makes a poem a poem. (Which is why it's not good to go to sleep on...)
Kelly, I think your link to the Gertrude Stein rap got to me.
ReplyDeleteNick, I love it when a reader finds new meanings in a poem. Especially this one, because one person's experience of a poem might be snakes while another finds a band. And one might LOVE snakes and hate bands. Or vice versa.
This is why I wake up early in the morning to read poetry. Beautifully said!
ReplyDeleteI love this ... poetry infiltration.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I love this. Poetry can keep you awake. I am signing in on my ggogle account as blogspot won't let me sign in with the school account. Weird.
ReplyDeleteMs Mac aka Jone
Bwa-ha-hah!
ReplyDeleteYour warnings shall go unheeded, ma'am!
I love that "You can't think
it's going to stay there
on the nightstand after
you put it down."
Nope, no chance of that. This one will follow me today. Thanks, Sara.
I love it!!!
ReplyDeleteI love the last three lines. But the whole thing's a trip to read (this is a good thing).
ReplyDeletejules, 7-Imp
Argh. I did have to stop by and read this just moments before turning in for the night.
ReplyDeleteQUIET DOWN OUT THERE!
Terrific--those last three lines say it all. Maybe if we show kids the dangers of poetry, it'll become trendy?
ReplyDelete