A Curse Upon
A Curse Upon
A curse upon my make-do heart,
that pursed-lips part
that controls the whole,
taking its toll.
A hex upon her
who sets the bar
barring the exit ramp,
sits her double-knits
in the collection booth
(taking the toll).
The make-do heart
that makes my s-peg parts
fit
the square hole,
makes my whole
be still and be quiet,
binds me to a diet
of regurgitated shell–
she means well,
like a brooding mother–
but when, as moving dot
on that fixed spot,
I hear the knell
of hours passed,
whole years–
oh, I feel the toll.
Tube lights buzz above her/me,
while in the distance we
see glow.
************************************
A draft poem of sorts for Izzy Gruye’s very interesting Out of Standard prompt on Real Toads to write a poem as a curse.
Tags: cursing self poem, cursing the make-do heart, manicddaily, s-peg in square hole., toll booth poem
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ManicDDaily 
May 29, 2014 at 6:10 am
Cool perspective on this one!
May 29, 2014 at 6:55 am
ha. i like the play on words that sound the same like hole and whole, bar and barring…i think the heart has our best interest, or at least preservation in mind…and will pull us along to places we may never have gone otherwise….s Peg…i found a few meanings on line from growth rate to cell production…interesting goose chase it sent me on…
May 29, 2014 at 7:11 am
Such a great play on words, fun read.
May 29, 2014 at 9:29 am
Setting the bar … THEN barring the exit ~ curses! (love the drawing)
May 29, 2014 at 10:18 am
There is the acceptance of personal fallibility, and fallibility in others, and there is the railing against the things that will not change.
May 29, 2014 at 11:15 am
I resonate with setting the bar, the make-do heart, the brooding mother……….wonderful poem!
May 29, 2014 at 11:57 am
ha – no idea what s-pegs are but sometimes it’s just rough when people set the bar high and we feel we have to run that race too
May 29, 2014 at 12:04 pm
An introspective reflection that leads one into a lot of different personal thoughts(for me) about that toll-taker inside, the one who both bars and protects the way(after all, tolls pay for the highway.) Really innovative word use in this, k, and lovely sounds as well, to make a whole about the holes in our wholeness.
May 29, 2014 at 12:14 pm
Thanks. I was trying to get at the idea of overly compromising, but not sure that came out. k.
May 29, 2014 at 1:16 pm
All that time wasted trying to fit into the wrong hole because we think it’s what we “ought” to do, that we should “make do”!
I loved this, k.
K
May 29, 2014 at 3:07 pm
Great, k; I could relate..like the acceptance part, yet sense the self talking many of us have to do in order to finally get over a hurdle.
May 29, 2014 at 3:49 pm
We do judge ourselves too harshly, expecting far too much “perfection.” In trying to be good enough or make ourselves behave, how much do we have to swallow our natural personalities and inclinations? We become our own mothers — that is to say, when they stop mothering us, we take over the job. Before you know it, we’ll be dead. Will we regret the “proper” roads we’ve chosen?
I like your word play — the homophones and repetition. Love this line: “curse upon my make-do heart”
May 29, 2014 at 11:34 pm
Great drawing…Love the wordplay….sets the bar, barring the exit. I have a problem with accepting…I grumble at it
May 30, 2014 at 1:01 am
for some reason…I want to respond in the sassy voice of a drag queen crowned Miss Universe…”ohhh, grrl. thisbrings the shade, hunty” Or something just as amazing. I really enjoyed this from the first line to your last. Well done and viva la
May 30, 2014 at 7:45 pm
I enjoyed the repeated but varied use of ‘toll.’
May 31, 2014 at 3:21 pm
I hear the knell
of hours passed,
it’s this part that chills – the silent, quick passage, without note, until it’s behind us ~
May 31, 2014 at 3:52 pm
Yes. Pretty awful. K.
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