Pop Art – Serious Poem
Andy with Elephant
I am posting this in response to a dVerse Poets prompt to write something about Pop Art. My illustration above has (ovbiously) quite a bit to do with Pop art, but nothing with the poem below. (I couldn’t resist it.)
The poem has less to do with Pop Art, I suppose. My excuse is that the prompt talked of writing about a cultural phenomenon. I don’t know if this qualifies, so my second excuse is that I think of Pop Art, some times, as complex juxtapositions flattened out upon a page. Here goes:
Train of Thought
I am thinking, as I sit upon the train,
that the person who invented rubberized eggs,
that is, those eggs that are scrambled, squared,
and then somehow boinged, for easy sale,
should be shot, or at least, forced to eat them, when
a woman with a rubbed-out face
steps onto my car. She’s been burned badly,
her face segmented into angular wedges of scar that
web from one ear to the opposite cheekbone.
Hard to read the history
in the hieroglyphics.
An explosion on a stove?
Acid thrown in warning? Retribution?
Her skin is tan, hair dark, but any particulars
of ethnicity scratched out. I go
for the acid, knowing that whether or not she is a woman
purposely victimized, there are such women.
She stands, her face turned
so that I can see only an edge of eye (though her eyes
are almost all edge).
I want to give her my seat, but the gesture feels
intrusive, a stare made physical, so I do nothing but wonder
about a world in which eggs are turned
into seamless elasticized squares, women’s faces into
a stitching of stiff triangles, and how our minds can hold such things at once–
the trivial, the tragic, this train.
(All rights reserved.)
Explore posts in the same categories: elephants, iPhone art, poetryTags: Andy with Elephant, Elephant, incongruity of things in world, iPhone art, Karin Gustafson, manicddaily, poem about burned woman on train, poem about rubberized eggs, Pop Art with Elephant, tomato soup can with elephant
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ManicDDaily 
October 1, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Your poem for dVerse had me coming and going. Glad I was able to jump on your ‘train of thought.’ LOL.
October 1, 2011 at 7:55 pm
I actually think this feels of the pop-culture inspiration. A sporadic mix of well placed visual imagery, enjoyed this write! ~ Rose
October 1, 2011 at 8:12 pm
A unique POV on the pop culture time; trains, acid, egg like squares. Very well written. ENjoyed your post very much.
October 1, 2011 at 8:23 pm
damn. great verse…from eggs to an acid faced lady…i have so many questions about her now too…i probably would have talked to her…but that is just me…great capture….
October 1, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Pop art is a firework explosion of ideas where thesparks depend on which your head is turned! Especially loved “Hard to read the history
in the hieroglyphics” and the tragic last line! .
October 1, 2011 at 8:58 pm
wow, that ending really pulled it all together. My mind definitely works this way, sometimes too much this way. This was unique, and I enjoyed your original take on the prompt.
October 1, 2011 at 9:14 pm
what kind of world is this becoming. fake eggs are scary.
October 1, 2011 at 10:14 pm
I agree that this has a sense of pop art about it…the compare/contrast between the eggs and the woman and, especially, the matter-of-fact conversational tone of the writing. Very cool.
October 1, 2011 at 11:27 pm
This is brilliant. Creative, finely detailed, I could go on and on.
October 2, 2011 at 12:50 am
reminded me of a story i read about women in india..love the contrast in here and the emotions you paint
October 2, 2011 at 6:02 am
A wonderful synthesis of art and life on the endless river of a train-ride. Abstractions are bloodless in the art and so cruel inflicted on the living. And our brains are at fault, pressing so much meaningless nonsense into jellied squares. – Brendan
October 2, 2011 at 12:52 pm
This is yummy,
Happy Sunday.
October 2, 2011 at 3:45 pm
I loved this, a juxtaposition of the absurd, irony under the surface, and cruelty on it, with empathy on the side well done.
October 2, 2011 at 9:36 pm
Thanks, Anna.
October 3, 2011 at 10:30 am
Pop world was bizarre, so your write nailed
the times and details with a very casual
and easily read work. Thank you.
October 3, 2011 at 8:32 pm
“Though her eyes are almost all edges……” What a powerful description of a scarred woman, always looking down or away from others….. wow…… Powerful emotion there…. I don’t know anything about pop art, but i know good poetry when I see it…. its strongly emotional, and sometimes abrupt, like finishing with meshing thoughts of the day, new with old…… Kept me on the edge of my seat to the very end…
October 3, 2011 at 9:26 pm
Thanks very much. I don’t know too much about pop art in poetry either. I’ve been very busy this weekend so didn’t really get to think about it all as much as I would have liked. Thanks for reading and commenting.
October 9, 2011 at 8:52 pm
FLAT GOOD.