“Record-Keeping” (Huitain, Aging Brain) (Also Flash 55)
Record-Keeping
Aging brain blanks–record skipping a beat.
Do you, reading this, have any notion
what a record is? (Was?) These super-neat
spun disks. Blank aging brain jumps to ‘ocean,’
‘Bonnie,’ ‘sea’–the mysterious motion
of bringing back; and what does re-cord mean
but rebraiding the unmoored? Devotion
spinning us back from wayward to midstream.
*****************************************************
The above rather odd poem is a huitain, an eight-line poem from the French (or Spanish) that follows a certain rhyme scheme. I’m not quite sure where my aging brain has taken it, but I am posting it for a dVerse Poets Pub “Form For All” challenge hosted by Gemma Wiseman and Gay Reiser Cannon. For more on huitains, check out Gemma’s article at dVerse. (The picture was amazingly done on my iPhone, with wonderful Brushes App plus Hudson River.)
Also, please, tell it to the G-Man, because the poem is, amazingly, 55 words!!!!!
Also, if you have time, check out my books! Poetry, GOING ON SOMEWHERE, (by Karin Gustafson, illustrated by Diana Barco). 1 Mississippi -counting book for lovers of rivers, light and pachyderms, or Nose Dive, a very fun novel that is perfect for a pool or beachside escape.
P.S. Not sure about that re-braiding – maybe plain old re-tying –
Explore posts in the same categories: iPhone art, poetry, UncategorizedTags: Aging Brain, Bring Back Oh Bring Back my brain, Flash Friday 55, Huitain, manicddaily, My Bonnie lies over there somewhere, Record-Keeping Over the Ocean of Fading Consciousness
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ManicDDaily 
August 16, 2012 at 10:35 pm
hey i still got a couple records…just nothing to play on them..i like how you turn the meaning though with…what does re-cord mean
but rebraiding the unmoored…and a really great last line on devotion…
August 16, 2012 at 10:57 pm
nice!! i haven’t heard music from a record in ages… brings back some nostalgic feeling… i downloaded brushes to my iphone just a few days ago and started playing with it a bit…a great painting tool
August 16, 2012 at 10:58 pm
Thanks – Brushes is much much better on the iPad if you have one. I used to do a lot with it on the phone, but there’s just no comparison. (I did this on train so used the phone.) It’s very helpful to get a stylus – they are not expensive. I’ve lost mine at the moment – drat – but they make a big difference. k.
August 17, 2012 at 12:51 am
Clever jumping from words and images
August 17, 2012 at 2:32 am
The aging persona has spun a very clever “record”! Love that final, dramatic comment on devotion!
August 17, 2012 at 5:08 am
I know what a record is, I know what a brain blank is and I so love your line about devotion- it’s gorgeous.
August 17, 2012 at 5:56 am
Creatively spun K ~ I think I am having a blank memory of a brain lately ~ Nice form too ~
August 17, 2012 at 7:36 am
Very creative and the skipping record resonates…
Anna :o]
August 17, 2012 at 8:23 am
Nice one k. 🙂
August 17, 2012 at 8:32 am
MD…
I still play records!
I also have TWO antique crank up Victrola’s that work!
Nothing like that sound…Crackles and skips included!
Loved your brain fart 55 Karin…:-)
Thanks for playing…You Rock!!
Have a Kick Ass Week-End
August 17, 2012 at 8:41 am
Ah, records! Hubby and I inherited both our fathers’ collections and nothing to play them on until last Christmas. Now I just have to learn how to use this new fancy machine which will turn them into CDs for the car. 🙂
Happy weekend!
August 17, 2012 at 11:01 am
A 55-word huitain! Good for you. And I totally get the record-aging brain thing… sadly.
Wait, what were we talking about again?
August 17, 2012 at 10:07 pm
Ha! k.
August 17, 2012 at 11:26 am
A great take,K So very clever to be more in control of the situation.
Hank
August 17, 2012 at 11:38 am
I have one of those blank aging brains myself…love the reference to the skipping record…
August 17, 2012 at 11:45 am
They’re “back” again. New bands are bringing out their music on LPs as well as cds. Turntables (and good news needles/cartridges) are available again. Now they plug straight into your computer to be converted to digital for convenience sake. Love the weaving of old records and the sea. It creates its own music and I loved it!
August 17, 2012 at 1:45 pm
This certainly rang true for me all the way. I can forget something faster than I can tell you about how I forgot it. This is really rather a neat form, for being so intended for musical/oral uses–or at least it seems that way to me as I am no expert on it, but I like the rhythm it enforces, and the rhyme scheme is not sacharine, so much easier to work with. You did a great job with it here–humorous, yet also with strong, well imagined imagery. I esp liked ‘rebraiding the unmoored.’ and the rest of the ending.
August 17, 2012 at 9:59 pm
Thanks, Joy. k.
August 18, 2012 at 3:48 am
Clever- very very clever. Wordplay on ‘record’- making comparison to both vinyl and memory- I bet there is a whole generation who don’t even know what ‘records’ are- but then there’s the ageing brain and the ability to ‘record’…..love this on so many levels…the form…but the uniqueness of the write and sentiment- very very good- and thought provoking