Unassigned Poetry

Our assignment was to write poetry that wasn't assigned (I shouldn't say it was an assignment, it was more of a suggestion...), so here are three that I composed this week.

Halloween

I only got to say it three times tonight.

I’ve been waiting all year

I bought the candy a couple weeks ahead

Of when I really needed to,

Sifting through the bulk candy at WinCo

Trying to decide if I’d rather give out

Tiny jawbreakers or Double Bubble bubble gum,

Then deciding I’ll add both

To the large bag. It was already straining

With the effort of creating my imagined scene

Of tiny children coming to the door

And chiming trick or treat in their tinny,

But altogether not unpleasant voices.

Maybe I’d even guess what they were supposed to be:

Ballerinas, Spiderman, Princesses, Serial killers…

I even dressed up myself- teasing my hair, donning

Pearls, wearing heels, and a dress, and an apron-

A 50’s housewife complete with a sparkly glass ring.

But for all my work, I got six.

One devil, two ninjas, one Batman,

One ghoul-ish looking thing, and one-

I don’t know- was he Iron Man?

And so I gave them a huge handful each,

And they all said thank you,

And I said Happy Halloween!

And they trotted down my stairs

To the next apartment building

With the orange trick or treat label that means

We’ve got candy inside.

And now it’s 10:43,

My makeup is smudged,

And the last person to knock on the door

Will be my boyfriend.

And I know he’ll want candy.

It’s Inevitable

Yes, it’s like looking through glass

At an aquarium. On the other side

Is a scene unfolding- something is about to get eaten-

But try as you might, you can’t save

That poor little fish.

You’re sitting down at the movie theater,

Restraining yourself from throwing popcorn

At the screen. You know that it will end

Badly if she goes for that guy. You tell her

Not to do it. But, of course, she does

It anyway. You can’t save her from herself.

You could hurdle things at a brick wall,

But that won’t stop it from being a brick wall.

Throw an iron through it.

Now it’s a broken brick wall.

Now you have to fix it.

Greek Food

The garlic is so thick in my mouth,

If I breathed on a vampire, it would pray

For its immortal soul. Candles flicker,

The air is heavy with conversation

That rumbles like a volcano building

To eruption. The paper tablecloth

Smell like wax. The light is just bright enough

To barely see. Paul dips a spoon in the hummus.

Mom copies him. I inhale. There’s that

Garlic again. Silverware is clattering

In the kitchen. So I distinct, I can almost tell

The difference between the utensils.

I can hear enough of the music to hear

It’s a guitar. How wonderful to be on a double date

With my parents. Sneaky fingers keep

Finding their way back to the plate.