If you go back and read the last comment on the post "Party Dog" you will see that my friend Denise wants me to write something "witty and entertaining".
I could do that, but I would rather write about death. So to start, here is a poem by Billy Collins (my favorite). I can identify with what he writes and I think it is witty and entertaining.....what do you think Denise?
I could do that, but I would rather write about death. So to start, here is a poem by Billy Collins (my favorite). I can identify with what he writes and I think it is witty and entertaining.....what do you think Denise?
My Number
Is Death miles away from this house,
reaching for a widow in Cinncinati
or breathing down the neck of a lost hiker
in British Columbia?
Is he too busy making arrangements,
tampering with air brakes,
scattering cancer cells like seeds,
loosening the wooden beams of roller coasters
to bother with my hidden cottage
that visitors find so hard to find?
Or is he stepping from a black car
parked at the dark end of the lane,
shaking open the familiar cloak,
its hood raised like the head of a crow,
and removing the scythe from the trunk?
Did you have any trouble with the directions?
I will ask, as I start talking my way out of this.
Is Death miles away from this house,
reaching for a widow in Cinncinati
or breathing down the neck of a lost hiker
in British Columbia?
Is he too busy making arrangements,
tampering with air brakes,
scattering cancer cells like seeds,
loosening the wooden beams of roller coasters
to bother with my hidden cottage
that visitors find so hard to find?
Or is he stepping from a black car
parked at the dark end of the lane,
shaking open the familiar cloak,
its hood raised like the head of a crow,
and removing the scythe from the trunk?
Did you have any trouble with the directions?
I will ask, as I start talking my way out of this.
6 comments:
Yikes -- that is one scary poem. Sometimes it is NOT a blessing to be a visual person. (Maybe I should quit watching CSI:Miami?) It takes bravery to stare death down like that -- to examine it from all possible sides. But in doing so, I guess we get behind the curtain (with the Wizard, you know, of Oz) and realize that our lives are what we decide they will be and the truth is, our number could be up before our latest coat of nail lacquer dries. Thank you Catherine, for the insight and the bravery.
I am booking flights to Cinncinati
& British Columbia?
Thinking of hiking.
Thanks for the heads up Cat!
Baby Dave
I am certaininly glad I did not read this while I was in the hospital. My life now will be better, upbeat and happy. love suelzaz
Thanks for the poem Catherine, it was so lovely and beautiful!!! Right........
But, I read as be sarcastic in that this person is expecting a vistor, but the vistor has not arrived as schedule, so the poor as me dude is feeling sorry for himself and a bit on the ticked off side, thinking his vistor is not coming and alas the person shows up and now the person is trying to take back his thoughts, something I think we all do at times, but not to such gloomy, morbid details...................
Not sure if that is the intent of this "lovely" poem, but that is how I read it.
I liked it...a lot.
My favorite movie also happens to be Silence of the Lambs, but there's no connection there, is there?
~e
Okay, time to update, we haven't seen you since Friday! You need to come see my "new" car!!!
Post a Comment