Check Out Poem by M.J. Lemon
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today i watched
ronald reagan pay
for a few stalks of asparagus
and a small bag of brussels sprouts
with a roll of nickels
as he counted out the coins i fought
the urge to ask him about gorbachev and
air controllers and walter mondale's
charisma
after a few minutes i heard the cashier
say
thanks Don and see
you next time
at least for a few minutes
i could be
somewhere else
as he counted out the coins i fought the urge to ask him about gorbachev and air controllers and walter mondale's charisma after a few minutes i heard the cashier say thanks Don and see you next time......impressive presentation. Beautifully penned poem.
i approve of the use of lower case letters throughout EXCEPT for capitalizing Don. i very much 'approve' of that. bri :)
Very clever. It never ceases to amaze me when I see people who a spitting doubles of movie stars or people I personally know. Although after reading Richards comment I spent a few moments thinking about my favorite subject of parallel universes and probable lives.
Thank you, Simone. There are times when I think the only answer to these kinds of encounters can be- - somewhere in parallel universes.
M.J., I agree with both Susan and Sandra. And I wonder what Robert would say about the mind's role in this poem. I am so happy to see that you are creatively engaging your mind in even mundane tasks. And what great results! You actually had me believing that it was Reagan. And maybe Richard Bach would say that it was a parallel life. Maybe Don chose not to be president. And Reagan chose not to be Don. You see where I'm going with this, M.J.? Gotta go now. A poem about parallel lives could prove to be a huge challenge. Let me see now: am I M.J. Lemon or Bukowski or maybe even, William Blake!
O wow! Richard, you've actually opened up new possibilities for looking at this poem. Parallel lives- -that has me thinking that Don may actually have that relationship with Ronald. Perhaps there is a forum, a universe. Alternatively, the doppelganger scenario....Dave, Moon over Parador...And yes, not much actually did happen that day, standing in the grocery line. But for a second even I thought it could be the ex-president...at least, that's where the brain went for that one nano-second, that split second. Thanks so much for reading, and triggering so many thoughts, Richard.j
You don't waste your time standing in line, do you? You not only think and muse, you time travel! I had forgotten Reagan and the air controllers' strike- -had to stare at that line for several minutes before the brain cell hiccuped and spit that memory out! I have learned a lot about writing poetry from reading yours. Your imagination alone is a stellar course in How-To-Poet. 10++++++++++++ P.S. Walter Mondale had a personality flatter than Brady's football, didn't he? [I'm joking here, just joking, oh, gosh, I hope you're not one of those die-hard football fans... I cheered for the win at Super Bowl... does that help? Yikes, I better flee the coun- - - - - ]
Hi Susan, Wow, thank you so much, Susan! I think in a way this poem was a challenge. I've been trying to write about real life, daily life. I've been told that was dull. And some people claim to write about daily life and produce work about high politics. So I addressed this with....what is unique in the seemingly trivial. It was written a few days after the #40 doppelganger found his way right in front of me at the check out. So I suppose there is inspiration in the smallest of things. And thanks for that laugh...the Brady ball. O yes! And I do love football....West coast teams and the CFL. As far as I can tell, no flat balls there. Now is the Brady ball a source of inspiration? ? Thanks again.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/18/2024 5:57:10 PM # 1.0.0.1119
Poets have the weirdest imaginations, That's one of the things That makes them, true poetic sensations. A truly different sensation was created by this poem. At least for me. I saw and felt your, I think day dreaming, heard the cashier too. A very good piece, thank you.