Wednesday, September 16, 2009
My Papa’s Waltz, Theodore Roethke
I read the obituary
With a clenched jaw
In hopes that I can forget about she
My nostalgic lover’s law
Coffee, paper,
Strangling both
Every morning without her
Mourning I loath
Word plus word
Equal sentence
Looking for murd-
er, ghost hunting her presence
no plane crashes
still alive
last sip of coffee dashes
my smile takes a dive
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Wow, so many people I know associate plane crashes with relationships. I have had so many different versions of plane crashes in my dreams.....totally against my will, too.
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ReplyDeletethe line "I read the obituary
ReplyDeleteWith a clenched jaw" really captures that moment of disbelief.
and the homonym in " Every morning without her
Mourning I loath" adds to the emotion in this piece.
The second stanza with "Coffee, paper/Strangling both" managed to capture even something really mundane as something to struggle with when the narrator's target is gone. It was a very strong image there.
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ReplyDeleteThe second stanza
ReplyDelete"Coffee, paper,
Strangling both
Every morning without her
Mourning I loath"
stayed with me. The image it brings to mind and your use of morning/mourning really caught my attention.
- K De Melo
Wow. I loved this. I was really inspired by the intensity you could feel and see radiating off of the man with the paper. You could feel his every emotion.
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