It's Only Darkness

“The poem was great, and your word pictures are vivid!” ...


Beautiful words ... and greatly appreciated ... coming, as they were, all the way from Kansas ... and from LOREE herself, speaking, of course, about last week’s S&G.


And while her words were greatly appreciated, I had to take into consideration that she was in the throes of a hunger attack induced by reading S&G. Sorry about that. 


I should include a “Read at Your Own Risk” warning, I suppose.


-S&G-


So those rumblings you may have heard about this time last week were coming ... not just from Ohio ... but from Kansas, too.


But let’s let Loree put it into her own words:


“I found myself getting hungry while I was reading S&G today ... and I had to wonder if those were real pangs of hunger, for real food, incited by your power of suggestion.


“I had to stop reading for a bit ... got up like some programmed zombie, and headed for the kitchen. Alas, the cake was gone ... the banana nut muffins disposed of (Loree! Now you’ve got Professor Squigglee saying he’s hungry, too) ... I finally settled for a temporary, but quick fix ... a package of those crackers filled with peanut butter! (The Professor is nodding emphatic agreement here).”


-S&G-


And the signs of the onset can come at the most inopportune time, Loree points out:


“Like when I’m out in public ... like talking to a friend I bumped into at Wal-Mart. 

“What in the world is that noise?” she exclaims, looking around in near-panic.


“I have no idea,” I respond, crossing my arms across my tummy while trying to stifle the protests coming from there.


-S&G-


OH, and at night, too.


“Psycho Dog sleeps with me,” Loree relates, “and when those rumblings deep within my tummy make it to the surface and set up a persistent growling, she doesn’t know whether to bark ... or just shove her legs into me, forcing me to at least MOVE, while she is no doubt hoping that will stifle the noise.”


-S&G-


Now ... if that leaves you hungry for another of Loree’s poems ... a structured composition with a rhyme scheme (something that I’ve had to admit repeatedly that I simply can’t do ... no matter how hard I try ... in fact, the harder I try, the worse I get in that realm) ... well, here’s a link to one of her latest creations:


http://www.poetrybyloree.com/434.html


Please take a look ... and a listen.


-S&G-


TODAY’S QUOTE: “There was a time when I was so proud of my VELCRO memory ... I could hear a person’s name, an address, an important date ... just once ... and it would stick in my memory, seemingly forever ... but now my memory seems to have gone TEFLON on me ... and nothing sticks. I’m fairly sure I’m not the first person to say that ... but, so help me, I don’t remember where I first heard it.” - PROFESSOR SQUIGGLEE


-S&G-


A FEW NIGHTS ago, Phyllis and I had tickets to a play ... a big event, even in our busy whirl of things ... so, though it was raining a bit ... but not quite freezing ... we hopped into The Little Red Car and headed out into one of the darkest nights I’ve witnessed.


That includes a night ... many, many years ago ... when I was jogging ... actually, I had shifted from jogging mode into high gear ... really making tracks down that DARK country road ... when I drifted off the graveled path and into a cluster of creek-side willows ... ka-WHAM! But that’s another story.


Fast forward to a few nights ago. We were almost there. I was, in fact, steering Little Red toward our favorite parking lot.


Suddenly, ka-WHAM! REALLY LOUD. I must’ve hit something. Little Red tilted, hesitated, then went on. I found a parking spot, quickly checked Little Red ... at the very least expecting to find a right front tire going flat ... but found no damage.


During the whole play I sat there watching the action, listening to the lines ... and thinking about Little Red. 


Afterward ... Little Red was fine ... still fine ... in fact, seemed to have enjoyed the rain and had shed a ton of winter grime.


-S&G- 


TODAY’S POEM - Speaking of darkness ... Sometimes I think it's best just to let the poem speak for itself. This is one of those times ... although I'm tempted to say something about so-called Daylight Saving Time ...




I always have a comment or two ... mainly to myself ... as I make the rounds ... twice a year ... setting the clocks back ... or forward ... and back ... then forward ... no, back ... My usual thought is ... why do we have to fiddle with the clocks? Why, if we're so intent on "saving time" ... can't we just adjust our work schedules ... to have a work schedule for the summer months ... another schedule for the rest of the year?




Wouldn't that work just as well? Or would we not be able to remember ... Oh, now I report in at seven, instead of eight ... ?


I usually end up commenting ... to myself ... that it's all just a ruse to provide farmers with more time to play golf in the afternoons (and I'm kidding about that, kidding!).




Don't get me wrong ... I'm all for saving energy ... especially when it's costing us all an arm and a leg ... But I'm not going there today ... because ... well, actually, the poem isn't about Daylight Saving Time ...




The poem:




IT'S ONLY DARKNESS


There's such an absence
of light this morning,
it's like scaling a wall
of darkness as I rise
slowly on familiar stairs.
My feet seek supporting
places, my hand searches
for a railing I know
is there, but still hiding
from my straining eyes.
I’m a child again, bad dreams
still haunting me while my
sleep-numbed brain struggles
to convince me there’s nothing
to fear: It’s only darkness.
My hand reaches for a hand
no longer there and I pause,
listening, waiting, almost
expecting a touch, a word
to guide me in my climb.


(originally published in ICON)


-S&G-


COMMENT? Feel free ... below, if you like. 


Or if you prefer e-mail, that's fine, too ... especially for more detailed observations, to


rbrimm@peoplepc.com


... and it helps if you put "Squiggles" or "S&G" ... something like that ... in the subject line (just remember, no religion or politics ... please!)


-S&G-


Oh, and if you’d like to see what’s up with my other ... DAILY blog ... here’s a link to it:


http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/


Thanks for paying a visit.




-S&G-


UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!


-S&G-


© 2010