ManicDDaily

Ode to Hello

You sound, to my flat-tired mind,
like Jello,
and I try to gather
some bounce from that,
a vision of myself
as a stainless steel spoon tapping
an uncracked ruby sheen,

and I try to look through
that rubyiat lens
as I say hello
to aloneness
(he goes and I
do not)
but Jello
is a rather artificial
construct
that I long ago omitted
from life, and I can’t quite come up
with faked cheer either,
so I don’t say goodbye
gracefully
and past hellos sound,
as they echo,
hollow,
though the burn behind my eyes
feels real enough–
It is not red;
it is not shiny;
it does not bounce.

And how is it, I wonder,
that love can fold in upon itself
so sharply,
when all it wants
is to lie like two hellos
in soft sequence, each fitting
the other’s hollows as flesh
pillows bone, as if we were each made
of whispered vowels, consonants,
as if we could be held
by a word.

*******************

Another super drafty poem.  Still away from home, and not thinking so clearly!  Am posting for With Real Toads Open Forum.  The pic is an older one–  sorry for any lateness in returning comments.

Also, I’ve not made a pitch in a long time, but here’s one–check out if you have a chance my books!  Serious novel–Nice— Comic novel, NOSE DIVE,  book of poetry, GOING ON SOMEWHERE, or children’s counting book 1 MISSISSIPPI.       

Also, I want to express deep gratitude to Marian Kent of Runaway Sentence for her very kind review of Nice on Amazon.  I am too shy/embarrassed to ever check my books on Amazon and so did not see the review until just now.  Thank you so much, Marian.