(2013)
Two dissolving towels draped
over
The left flank of a small
steel fence,
Not eroded, but discolored,
not
Rusted.
The right, sagging, an
occasional
Nuisance to shut.
“You have to lift and jiggle
it
A bit.”
A camouflaged baseball hat
hangs
Where the wings converge,
Wedged snugly to secure as
Much as possible in this
star’s ghost.
On a Sunday morning I see
this and
Am saddened
That the man who has dirtied
the
Towels with smudges of oil
Is not sitting with me,
talking about
Baseball.
I do not care for baseball.
He is a coach for my
brother’s team.
I expected to see him,
squashing a
Half-smoked Marlboro in the
ashtray
At the picnic table,
Nearing the end of a Stephen
King
Bible.
Foolish, fresh anticipation.
I am twenty-three and still
feel the
Need to be cradled, just
A bit.
A bit.
© 2014 BENJAMIN SMITH
Lovely poem Stephen. I'm a lot older and have never lost the need to be craddled. I like your vivid descriptions and the feeling at the end. I enjoyed reading this.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we ever lose the need or desire to be cradled, to be made to feel important. Wonderful details in this. I can see that table and that almost full ashtray, waiting. He may be a coach for another's team, you may not care for baseball, but it is important that you and he talk with each other, regardless. A great sense of yearning in this. Hayes Spencer is Kanzensakura
ReplyDeleteYou write well Benjamin, but I think you would benefit even more by reading the other's poetry when you are linking up.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Björn. I have every intention of reading and commenting on other's work, I simply didn't have time last night.
ReplyDeleteGood.. I try to keep the community running and to me both the reading and writing is part of it...
DeleteGreat imagery throughout & I appreciated the little bit of self-awareness & introspection at the end. I still feel the same way at 24...
ReplyDeleteNice write, Benjamin.
Nice write. The phrase "I expected to see him" really hit me. We become so used to people in our lives that when they're gone, that expectation unrealized can be haunting. Peace, Linda
ReplyDeleteVery colourful descriptions...love how you put us right there with those towels hanging on the fence.
ReplyDeleteamazingly told ben... makes me think of my nonexistent relationship with my father...
ReplyDeletethat need never goes away. Nice write Ben
ReplyDeleteNicely written. Love the texture from the rags image.
ReplyDeleteYou are a born story-teller...you paint a picture so full of detail and emotion that the reader identifies with it firsthand. Beautifully told and expressed. I can feel this need to be cradled and I find you to be an unusually self-aware 23 year old. I hope you will keep writing. Your stuff is so exquisite :-)
ReplyDelete