Sunday, July 14, 2019

Meatball


The dragon of the Spaghetti-Bowl Forest
With the ragtop trees, to the northeast of Houston
Where the highways swerve and fly--
Let's call him Meatball, a spicy flame
Hidden among the leaves and trunks, his breath
Inaudible beneath the susurration
Of all the fire-bellied cars. Let's say
Dragons sometimes find a patch of leafy heat,
Warm, bright shadows, and nap.
Meatball has slept three years
Since the waters made a moat around, washed
The city down these highways,
Now, opening one eye to dreams
Receding quiet; Meatball finally wakes up
One restless, cloudy Saturday
Hears the highway groaning,
Cars growling like a row of hungry dragonets
Crying in the nest.
And there's something new
In the forest. A couch beside the road, empty.
One talon pokes at it;
A long slash releases the smell
Of old water, of maybe--people.
There's a couch in the highway wood
With a dragon crouched behind. There are stories
Racing through a fiery nostril
Like cars, like thunderclouds
Lightning in the dragon's neural highways
Where dreams condense like breath.

So this is weirdness and oddness and written while one of the dogs calls for someone to come lay down and keep her company while her arthritis acts up and the clouds clotted from too much heat and a hurricane a state away pile up outside the windows. This particular couch might be perfect for the kinds of the stories that keep all the rest of the swirl and storm quiet, for a moment. Linking with Poets United and The Sunday Muse

-- Chrissa

20 comments:

  1. If i were the dragon, i would curl up on the sofa and have another nap. Smiles.

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  2. What fun! Meatball! What a delightful name for a dragon who slept through the disasters.

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  3. This really took me in with its stream of consciousness! Fascinating flow of words.

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  4. This is such a riveting write, Chrissa! 💖💖

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  5. Luv the one upon a time feel of this dragon poem. Thanks for dropping by my sumie Sunday today Chrissa

    Much❤🕊❤love

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  6. You, my wild-dragon-birthing-storytelling-decorating-darling, totally rocked this prompt. That couch, particularly under that horizon, breads a mixture of lived fairytale and dreamed surreality. And you poem shows exactly how. Yum!

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  7. "fire-bellied cars" That's poetry.

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  8. I am in love with Meatball! I would like to play with him, and curl up and listen to his stories too.

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  9. I do like anything that references dragons. I would like to hear his stories racing through a fiery nostril. I imagine it as a magic couch.

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  10. I so enjoyed this wonderful read … the kind of piece I get … unquestioningly … lost in … and love it.

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  11. i loved how you can weave a story around an abandoned couch. how did it get there in the first place? you have to go back there and train the dragon. :)

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  12. I love the way you let the words flow from you as the poem creates itself in your mind. I really enjoted the read.

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  13. Fascinating use of imagination and talent. i so much enjoyed reading this.

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  14. What a trip and what a name. A spicy one.

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  15. Such a fun and wonderful story poem Chrissa. I do love the name Meatball for a dragon. Magical and made me smile on this Monday. :-))

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  16. Love your take on it. I am so jealous you saw a dragon!

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  17. This is my kind of odd! I'd love to hear the stories Meatball tells.

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  18. "There's a couch in the highway wood
    With a dragon crouched behind. "

    Wonderfully unique and imaginative!

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  19. This was so much fun to read. Creative genius!

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