I've been beating around
the edges of this poem
for seven days,
waiting for something to take shape -
about an old woman named Hazel
smoking gnarled cheroots
and holding forth
on important things;
about the way her silver hair
was stained along the edges,
brown as the tar
on the lip of her ashtray.
I've been trying to come up with sets of words
to help you see her as I did,
to hear her rasping voice,
and to feel, as I felt,
the truth of her words:
"You ain't nothin' but
the beginning of someone's ending."
This morning I turned the last page
of a tattered paperback I've been reading -
"Veritas" -
and I realized that the poem was already written.
A contest entry
- EVERYTHING by Juno101.
452 points, ended July 17, 31 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 8 of 8
-
Fucking brilliant. I knew I'd find you again, eventually. So glad I did.
-
I like the constant intertwining between thinking about writing the poem and the poem itself, the descriptions in the nooks and crannies. The imagery is pretty awesome too, and the ending is slightly unexpected but satisfying... I have no suggestions.
-
Well hell, now I want to know what was on the last page of "Veritas." Hell, now I want to know what that book is, and who wrote it. Anyway, I enjoy poetry and about the process of writing poetry, when it is not contrived -- for it is the artist explaining what makes him/her to be such. Whatever the ultimate denouement from "Veritas," the description of Hazel, and how that description came to fruition, make for their own outstanding exposition. As always, a supurb piece Scott.
-
-
It really wasn't the last page that set up this poem (in fact, truth be told, I hadn't actually finished the book, yet). The book is by William Lashner - it is, ostensibly, just a legal thriller, but it is also a sort of modern "Heart of Darkness". whenever I read a book, I constantly look for layers, for ways that the story feeds back to the title, ways the anangrams that begin the chapters build different levels. Mostly, it was the idea of "truth" that really sets up this poem - something I have long held as a very "important thing".
Hazel is a real person (although I never knew her name) who I have written about before. She had a junk shop in Venice, California.
-
-
Yo, I really liked this Poem but why did you expect the poem not to be written? I have a lot of questions and I feel like I'm missing something big but that's my fault. Overrall I really enjoyed this and it is smartly titled. thanks for joinng my moresome.
-
Well done! Maybe could have had a few periods to break things up a bit, but that's quibbling, don't you think? The ending, by the way, is superb!
-
This piece engendered strong images for this reader.
The first stanza is awesome.
The second stanza could maybe lose its first and second lines or be combined somehow:
I want you to see her as I did,
to hear her rasping voice,
to feel, as I felt,
the truth of her words:
"You ain't nothin' but the beginning of someone's ending."
The third stanza stands fine and proud on its own.
Lilac Moon
-
...written, read and enjoyed!
Adding your comment:
1 - 8 of 8
