You need to get out of the house, they said
When I explained that my college Shakespeare had started ticking.
I bumped the desk--we're excavating our lives
Because the unending and impossible twist of infinite quarantine
Renders our home itself an Escher of no-place.
Every souvenir book and towel, every blanket and knick-knack
Is thankful to not be buried under summer
Shopping. They discovered the world while he wrote those plays
And we're supposed to buy it, piecemeal.
Possession's the heat that anneals broken pieces swept together,
Plastic jerked like gear in a child's car,
Sets it loose, running across the land. Water? Fire? Who cares!
As long it gives lift. You need to go,
They said. Rev the engine. Leave the house. Wear a mask.
Greetings fellow beMused. :) I love the image Carrie provided but my brain is deep, deep in the re-orderings of books and paperwork and things that were going to be used for decorating a booth at the local author fair (rescheduled, perhaps cancelled) and whether there will be room, if the hurricanes playing tag in the Gulf decide to head for the city where my parents live, for a few additional air mattresses or sleeping bags wedged in between tottering stacks of What the Ever-Loving Heck, 2020? My spouse says he's glad that I instigated this mess because it keeps him distracted (by wondering where all the new bruises and scrapes came from? by the book he read when he was ten and is just going to glance through...just for a minute? by being annoyed at me for being on the computer while he's corralling calving stacks of books?) and that helps. By the way, who picked an eye over Texas the week before a hurricane? As a Gen-Xer, I'm contractually bound to applaud the irony.
Sharing with The Sunday Muse & Poets & Storytellers United. :)
-- Chrissa
It has been a crazy time my friend, and yes what the ever-loving Heck, 2020? Is a question for us all!!! I love all the images you have evoked in the poem, and I think we all can relate to the feelings within them. It has been a great disappointment with the local author fair. Hopefully 2021 will have more positive vibes in store for us all.
ReplyDelete"an Escher of no place"... yes, time to rev the engine and get the heck outa Dodge, at least for a bit. Wear a mask. Wash your hands.
ReplyDeleteI've spent the summer dispatching things that had taken useless root in my house, like fifteen year old handbags and cd's long since replaced my music files. However, I find books harder to part with. Out of necessity, I have begun purging some, to make room for the new, but it's hard. No contract though! ;-)
ReplyDeleteLove those first two lines with their surreal introduction to controlled chaos...also like the Escher reference and "...Possession's the heat that anneals broken pieces swept together.." When I first went into quarantine in March, I too had a frenzy of clutter-grinding, which has subsided into a dull throb of annoyance at all the things I can't seem to part with...our possessions are like tribbles, constantly multiplying the more we love on them. But you can never have too many poems like this one.
ReplyDeleteVery cool. I love Shakespeare ticking like a bomb about to go off. And the Escher of no-place, that is exactly how it feels. Perfect. The enjambment of "buried under Summer... / shopping" is great too.
ReplyDeleteI love "What the Ever-Loving Heck 2020?" LOL. And your being contractually bound to applaud the irony. You are such a gifted wordsmith.
ReplyDeleteI really love the idea of a Shakespeare ticking. I shall walk around with an ear towards my bookshelves to see if I can hear it. The closing is very appropriate, too. It reminds me of the sign we stock to our door at the beginning of the pandemic... Just to make sure no one forgot anything.
ReplyDeleteOh, trying times indeed! May you come through! (I don't know if I'll ever unclutter my own piles of books and paperwork; yes, they are distracting.)
ReplyDeleteI like this a lot, go girl, go. Chrissa, if you had a college Shakespeare class or more I will kick myself harder. When, after 11 years of college, I graduated for my last time I made a vow. But I loved school, that was why I taught college for 22 years. Kicking, the vow was to take all the Shakespeare colleges here were offering. I did not take a one. I did once in England buy the Complete Works of Shakespeare, same as I did for Robert Burns when in Alloway, South Ayrshire, Scotland, but I never read a one from that book. Later I bought a paperback summary of all Shakespeare work with two or three pages per title. Probably still not to late to start but my short term memory is pretty bad now for a class grade.
ReplyDelete..
I love Shakespeare had started ticking and "an Escher of no-place' of course as I am a fan of this Dutch artist Great poem
ReplyDeleteWell were are writing and sharing poetry and (what not) so yeah, our Shakeaspeare ought to be ticking.
ReplyDeleteBe safe the mask yes if we must leave the house
Thanks for dropping by my blog
Much💝love
I’m keeping this poem somewhere safe.... so it can add to the historical account to my grandkids - of what 2020 had to offer.
ReplyDeleteThis is great. Unending upending. I especially love the line about the house as an Escher of no-place.
ReplyDeleteLove, the Escher of no-place. Quite astute of you to notice that eye over Texas!
ReplyDeleteIrony noted. So many wonderful lines, I refuse, yes I refuse to choose one. Thank you for writing this. I love it.
ReplyDeleteI think we all are feeling the need to go. Unfortunately, it's safer for some than for others (and I am among the others).
ReplyDelete