Why so down, figgo?
Has your love-life flopped?
Is your bosom hot to trot
and it is getting you down
not having anyone 'round to tango with you?
Perhaps it is those two impossible words,
“with you”
that leave the empty feeling when you're alone and blue…
...or maybe you've seen a different snappy color
that has left you in a fit of envy;
Let me tell you something, figgo, ol' chum,
if I may put my invisible arm around you while I ponder-
life looks better straight ahead, out there,
than through any reflection
that can be conjured from this plate...
So buck up, figgo,
you’re not fat, you’re not wrinkled,
you’re not ugly inside, or out-
why, you could even pass for me-
and I am just peachy!
(without the fuzz, of course…)
(you don’t see any fuzz on me, do you, fig, ol' bud?)
Oh, I think I see it now-
you need to pass through another depressive stage…
Ok, figgo,
I suppose it’s like getting several good night's sleep
after which you’ll be bouncing around again,
just like me…
but you know what, figgo-
and I’ll bet you a six-pack of prune juice on this-
that when you’re up and bouncing around again
I’ll be the one with my face on the plate,
incomprehensibly down, lost in reflection,
and you’ll be the one trying to cheer me up
with a futile serving of wisdom and mirth…
...and something tells me, figgo, ol' chum of ol' chums,
that as long as there is a plate beneath us
and time to pause and give reflection,
we will forever be completely out of phase with each other.
Isn’t that a cheerful thought!
Author notes
Is there poetry in the prose? Perhaps in the delivery and sentiment...
A contest entry
- fig(ure) it out by Nicolette.
2200 points, ended October 7, 2008, 16 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 5 of 5
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This sounds like something I tell myself when I feel in a "funk":
I suppose it’s like getting several good nights sleep
after which you’ll be bouncing around again
The picture of the onions is great and made me laugh at that being the idea as a good reason to cry
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oh, thanks, that reminds me- nights should be night's... onions- no, those are figs...! (but they do have layers, being sensitive souls...)
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that makes it all the more funny.
I first thought them figs due to your "figgo/figaro" ref, but then I thought nahh... perhaps he is just trying to be a smartarse
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I think it fits the contest requirements very well and it leans more toward poetry than prose.
Thank you so much for this entry.
~ Nicolette
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Yep, there is poetry in this prose-like piece, my friend, and I'm sorry you didn't post it in my contest (or were you too late?). I liked the reflective quality of this, as well as the personification of the fig. The stanza that stood out for me was this one:
"I’ll be the one with my face on the plate,
incomprehensibly down, lost in reflection,
and you’ll be the one trying to cheer me up
with a futile ride of wisdom and mirth…"
Nicely done - a lovely mixture of humour and reflection. And I'm happy my contest inspired this.
~ Nicolette
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