“Mismatched”
(Doesn’t completely suit the poem, but you get the idea. And it’s cold!!!!!)
Mismatched
She skidded
along the surface of time.
He dug his heels in.
Either way time flowed, bunching around
his ankles, splashing about
her curves.
Feet flexed, he leaned
into his wake, barely ahead
of inundation, while she, without
suavity of surf or ski, lurched
through her glide. They tried
to hold hands,
but it was difficult.
Even side by side,
a stretch, and when he dug in, and
she swerved, great
elasticity was needed.
************************************
Posting the above, a re-write of an older poem for dVerse Poets Open Link Night, and also for Magpie Tales (where Tess Kincaid posts a pictorial prompt.) I don’t think my poem completely fits Tess’s picture, but it did give me the idea of returning to this poem. My awkward rendition below.
Tags: 1 Mississippi, elephant and dog on ice, Elephant painting, ice skating illustration, manicddaily, mismatched, what we don't talk about when we hold hands
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ManicDDaily 
January 22, 2013 at 3:22 pm
smiles….all relationships could use a bit of flexibility…elasticity…and its not pretty at times…but keep ahold of that hand and i think you stand a better chance….
January 22, 2013 at 3:23 pm
Agreed.
January 22, 2013 at 3:43 pm
oh i get this…needs a lot of elasticity…on both sides… and i hope they make it …somehow…i know it’s possible…ha
January 22, 2013 at 3:53 pm
Thought the word play and rhythm heated the piece up nicely…never let go! Loved the read a loud
January 22, 2013 at 4:59 pm
NOTHING you do is awkward My Friend.
Loved this Karin!!
January 22, 2013 at 5:06 pm
You are very kind, Galen. k.
January 22, 2013 at 5:51 pm
elasticity is very hand-y, cute elephant !!!
January 22, 2013 at 6:19 pm
Ohhhh, just look at the elephant and the dog ~ they’re fab ~ do they have names, k?
btw, great poem 🙂
January 22, 2013 at 6:23 pm
more than one meaning here… I envision my grand daughter and her dog trying to sled down my back hill… smiles
January 22, 2013 at 7:24 pm
I got a vivid image of two people trying to downhill ski hand in hand–now *that* would be an olympic event! Someone is always lurching into my glide when I am leaning into their wake, it seems to me. This is very you, karin, and quite a satisfying read.
January 22, 2013 at 10:20 pm
hehe i do rather get the point 😉 – k, i love how you manage always to write your poems so tight, no extraneous words
January 22, 2013 at 10:22 pm
Thanks, Ruth. It doesn’t feel that way to me, but I appreciate your kind words.
On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 10:20 PM, ManicDDaily
January 22, 2013 at 10:54 pm
This is sweet with vulnerability infused throughout. Very nice 🙂
January 22, 2013 at 11:06 pm
Thanks, Lori.
January 22, 2013 at 10:55 pm
WHAT a picture, Karin. “….great elasticity was needed.” Indeed. I’ve been married almost 40 years; we’ve about worn out several packages of rubberbands, if the metaphor holds….
January 22, 2013 at 11:06 pm
Thanks, Jody. That’s very sweet! If you have a blog, I would visit it, but don’t see a URL. Thanks again for your visit. k.
January 22, 2013 at 11:11 pm
Indeed! Elasticity a must … a fun poem and delightful artwork. I like.
January 23, 2013 at 12:36 am
hands rendition pretty nice i think 😉
esp liked,
“time flowed, bunching around
his ankles, splashing about
her curves”
something about the conjoining, mismatched or otherwise, seemed very much to fit 😉
January 23, 2013 at 1:14 am
…sometimes, relationships really ended this way… really nice touches here Karin… smiles…
January 23, 2013 at 3:57 am
nicely penned Karin. love the second stanza and it’s freezing here as well. Thanks
January 23, 2013 at 5:26 am
Life, burdensome, demanding, yet worth all the effort.
January 23, 2013 at 6:09 am
Stupendous. Great fun — but am I reading too much into it when I see more than fun?
January 23, 2013 at 6:44 am
Very nicely put together. And appropriate to the prompt, which is simply meant to stimulate a response, whatever that might produce poetically.
January 23, 2013 at 7:37 am
“and when he dug in, and
she swerved, great
elasticity was needed.”
I love the vivid images throughout. A clever piece 🙂
January 23, 2013 at 7:44 am
Thanks.
January 23, 2013 at 9:10 am
Girl, you got that right! The need of elastic! And some bondo at times!!!
Good poem….
Lady Nyo
January 23, 2013 at 9:18 am
love this. your “suavity of surf or ski”
this rings home on so many levels. I can picture and feel this quite vividly. seems like I’m always feeling for the elasticity.
January 23, 2013 at 9:28 am
A little stretching keeps on nimble at least haha and having a hand to hold doesn’t hurt.
January 23, 2013 at 9:44 am
And why is it that we seem to do the opposite of what our partner is doing when what we need is that flexibility and elasticity? This poem said it well.
January 23, 2013 at 10:39 am
Love this. Opposites attract and that elasticity, flexibility is what makes a relationship survive. Really good write here.
January 23, 2013 at 12:36 pm
You have really nailed this one: i can relate, which makes it even more appealing but the push and pull is really palpable which is crucial and drives the energy of the piece to the next level . . . the poetically real! 😀
January 23, 2013 at 2:30 pm
You’ve reminded me that the stretch-push-pull-contract process is necessary for the well-being of most creatures. Consider the sapling, tied to stakes, never wavering in the wind. Remove the support and it bends to the ground, unable to manage its own weight. We are trees, aren’t we?
January 23, 2013 at 2:35 pm
Well, there is a symmetry and universality about life (living creatures.) If I am a tree, I’m afraid I’m a rather scraggly one! Thanks much. k.
January 23, 2013 at 2:42 pm
You created a pleasant scene here that I very much enjoyed reading/watching.
January 23, 2013 at 5:34 pm
Elasticity. Thank God for that!
January 23, 2013 at 5:41 pm
Elasticity is needed, Karin, but what happens when two are like oil and water. I think there is no hope at all there. Well said.
Pamela
January 23, 2013 at 7:36 pm
S2 is esp strong.. love this passage –
without
suavity of surf or ski, lurched
through her glide
January 23, 2013 at 7:40 pm
Thanks, Luke. k.
January 24, 2013 at 12:05 am
“…it was difficult.
Even side by side,
a stretch, and when he dug in, and
she swerved…”
How perfectly you have illustrated this with your words. Well penned!
January 24, 2013 at 12:07 am
Thanks so much, Ginny. k.
January 24, 2013 at 9:54 am
Fun to lurch and glide through this charming piece…had to read it out loud…always a pleasure seeing you at Magpie Tales, K…
January 24, 2013 at 10:01 am
I’m sorry I’ve been so busy. I like the prompts a lot. k.
January 25, 2013 at 9:35 am
Grand free fall of a poem … love the sketches!
January 25, 2013 at 10:00 am
Thanks, Helen. k.
January 27, 2013 at 12:58 am
quite a stretch, your poetry is most elastic