Sunday, January 16, 2011

"Poem" of the day #2

"Object Lesson"

it's a plush chair to sit in

the comfy spot under the bridge

the paperbacks you'll never read

they are all you'll ever need

it's a dirty coin to pick up

if someone will make change

collecting the odds and ends

dissecting the fads and trends

it's a plastic toy dump truck

the child would never grow up

a sad reminder of the past

but happy days are here at last

it's a ticket stub from a show

back when the band played cheap

wrote your name with your young blood

before you saw the grave was dug

a soiled scrap of twisted paper

the thoughts that came and went

the missing moments that didn't come back

from the void where they were sent

a rusty can, a ripped-up shirt

a soiled mattress in the dirt

a pickle jar and broken sticks

the thoughts you lost and found again

now you forget what they meant

Your humble blogger has been scribbling words of varying degrees of coherence in countless spiral-bound notebooks for many years. This is one small sample of them.

5 comments:

Laura said...

Wow, Matt! I like it. I must admit, I'm not sure I really get it, but that's what makes poetry awesome.

Tankfos said...

I really like this poem. I don't really have any idea what it means but I think I do because created an image and an emotion. In my opinion that is what poetry is all about. Rock on.

Matthew said...

It's just some words I scribbled in a notebook years ago after a few G&Ts. Kind of mopey. I just made up the title when I posted this. But I'm glad y'all liked it, thanks.

As far as what it means, I could make up some crap about it being an existential meditation on aging and mortality, seen through the metaphorical vehicles of random detritus and self-symbolic talismans of the postmodern age. But I'd rather people just discover their own "meanings" in it, and leave it at that.

Mark said...

Love the poem. Love your interpretation. Give us more.

Laura said...

I think I understood the poem better than your explanation! :)