The RetroLounge Daily Poem Thread (Sun 8/3/2008)

[RetroLounge]

What The Dead Fear

On winter nights, the dead
see their photographs slipped
from the windows of wallets,
their letters stuffed in a box
with the clothes for Goodwill.
No one remembers their jokes,
their nervous habits, their dread
of enclosed places.
In these nightmares, the dead feel
the soft nub of the eraser
lightening their bones. They wake up
in a panic, go for a glass of milk
and see the moon, the fresh snow,
the stripped trees.
Maybe they fix a turkey sandwich,
or watch the patterns on the TV.
It's all a dream anyway.
In a few months
they'll turn the clocks ahead,
and when they sleep they'll know the living
are grieving for them, unbearably lonely
and indifferent to beauty. On these nights
the dead feel better. They rise
in the morning, and when the cut
flowers are laid befor their names
they smile like shy brides. Thank you,
thank you, they say. You shouldn't have,
they say, but very softly, so it sounds
like the wind, like nothing human.

Kim Addonizio

*************

:hi:

RL

[lizziegrace]

1. ...

:(



:hug:

[RetroLounge]

8. ...

:hi:

RL

[xchrom]

2. ...

On winter nights, the dead
see their photographs slipped
from the windows of wallets,
their letters stuffed in a box
with the clothes for Goodwill.

[lizziegrace]

3. ...

Morning love...

that part got to me too. I fear being forgotten more than anything. :(

[YankeyMCC]

4. Hey there

:toast:

Might be a little early for a toast but I think that's the only appropriate response to this poem at the moment :)

[RetroLounge]

5. ...

:toast:

RL

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. My dear Retro...

Oh, lovely...

I do not forget my dead, ever...

They live in my memory for all time...

Thank you for this wonderful and beautiful poem...

:hug:

[RetroLounge]

7. ...

:hi:

RL

[FedUpWithIt All]

9. Time to go see Dad.

He died 25 years ago but this week he has been heavily with me. My 14 yr old Autumn kitty died this week. Just too much. It all meshes together sometimes.

:cry:

[Guava Jelly]

11. hey

:hug: :hi:

[FedUpWithIt All]

15. Thank you...

:hug:

[Haole Girl]

10. "unbearably lonely and indifferent to beauty"

The poet understood/understands death.

Though I remember "their jokes, their nervous habits, their dread of enclosed places."

:cry:

[RetroLounge]

13. ...

:hug:

RL

[BlueIris]

12. Ah, Kim.

So great.

[RetroLounge]

14. Isn't She?

I found a copy of "Tell Me" in a used bookstore the other day...

sigh... So good.

:hi:

RL