Staying on couch
Staying on a couch in the midst of a move
It’s as if the apartment were unclothed;
I cannot put on enough blanket
To warm bared walls.
It’s as if my daughter’s Beatles’ posters had been
Fringed comforters, stacked bookshelves
Quilts, photos pilot lights, paintings
Hearths, the cozy chair a cozy
Chair.
Remnants of tape crust surfaces–blank nails–
Fossils of sea creatures found in desert shale–I, unmoored, grow increasingly less sure
Of what to make of them; why were they
Here, who
Do they signify?
Huddle under the slump of remaining coverlet.
*********************
In the midst of a move and staying in my vacant apartment, which has inadvertently lost wifi, so writing and posting from the iPhone. It is a great device but has limits in these circumstances. For example, it does not heat a February-chilled space! (I am truly sorry to be so whiny but it is really really cold in here! I’m not sure why.)
Poem supposed to be for dverse poets open link night.
Explore posts in the same categories: poetry, UncategorizedTags: manicddaily, moving poem, whiny poem
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ManicDDaily 
February 27, 2013 at 12:24 am
Aww … Your daughter moved out? Go get warm. Good short poem.
February 27, 2013 at 12:44 am
Ha. I’m moving myself, but really any interpretation fine. K.
February 27, 2013 at 4:34 am
The melancholy of empty nesting after so long is captured so well here, Karin.
February 27, 2013 at 4:54 am
It’s as if the apartment were unclothed;
I cannot put on enough blanket
To warm bared walls.
Astounding thought. It captures and communicates something that when you experience it seems indefinable.
February 27, 2013 at 6:52 am
Thanks,Dave.
February 28, 2013 at 12:24 am
I also loved the stanza about the apartment unclothed. It reflects the barren box we inhabit before we make it ours. Before we rub off on it. When you take it all away, its back to the barren box. Im sure its cold in more ways than one….Thanks for sharing this.
February 27, 2013 at 6:37 am
ugh…i know the feeling…our place in MD was the same….could not get warm…it was ridiculous…..dont freeze your elephants off you know….giving me shivers this morning k…
February 27, 2013 at 7:51 am
You really portrayed your experience of moving vividly. It is all the treasures that one has sitting about that make a house a home. Bare walls just don’t do it….and blankets can’t do it all!
February 27, 2013 at 10:21 am
Our artifacts take on a potency here that we seldom think about, how they affect our view of the world and ourselves, how we stake out our little portion of the universe with them–this is a very vivid piece in its brief but intense picturing of what warms a life–I hope you can find some way to stay warm, k, till you sail on to your new island of sanity and self in the sea of confusion.
February 27, 2013 at 11:00 am
Ha. Thanks. The no-internet doesn’t help! But I think I will get it back soon for the interim. k.
February 27, 2013 at 11:19 am
Oh, I empathize with you; I can’t stand to be cold! That’s why I live in east Texas!
February 27, 2013 at 11:22 am
Yes, I’ve been there. My brother lives there, you know, in Bryan, now. His sons seem to live in shorts! It is a bit difficult for them when they come to visit here – in January–
On Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 11:19 AM, ManicDDaily
February 27, 2013 at 7:18 pm
Why do they do that? Go there in January.
February 27, 2013 at 2:21 pm
Karin, you do capture the desolate feel to moving. I am not fond moving for those exact feelings, and also because it is so much work. It must be horrible to move in the very cold weather, I haven’t done it in quite a few years. Good luck in your place.
Pamela
February 27, 2013 at 2:22 pm
*not fond of moving* my typing stinks…
February 27, 2013 at 2:36 pm
Ha. Mine too. Thanks, Pamela. k.
February 27, 2013 at 10:14 pm
I interpret it to seasons in my life at present; deserted with boxes of memories, moods, matchless hopes. I’m always intrigued and wafted thru your writing like a breeze, wanting to touch ever cornered word. Thank you again ~D
February 28, 2013 at 8:30 am
Thanks so much, Deborah. K.
February 27, 2013 at 10:55 pm
It ‘s miserable being cold. You’ve really made the most of it with this write. Well done!
February 28, 2013 at 4:06 am
I’m sorry you’re so cold, but I love the poem, with its other-worldly quality.
February 28, 2013 at 2:56 pm
deep thoughts come to the surface when alone and cold and had to be written down..good luck in your transition and and feeling at home soon in your new surroundings..
February 28, 2013 at 7:07 pm
good luck with the moving. hope it is a wonderful new adventure =)
March 1, 2013 at 10:48 pm
You captured that change in environment wonderfully. Best of luck.