It’s odd to be entering the last nine days of the month. It’s almost MAY, people, and that’s just concerning and alarming, as this month has rushed by in a headlong bolt. Perhaps the confusing part for me is that where I live in California, the temperature hasn’t yet climbed into the eighties as it usually does in April, and it’s lush and green on every hill. I think collectively we keep looking around wondering, “Where the heck ARE we?” I don’t know either, Cali.
Meanwhile, the world keeps spinning and it’s abhorrent in its usual way. I cannot get the beautiful face of Ralph Yarl out of my mind this week, and the wreckage of his life, and his innocence keeps breaking me. As I often do when I’m trying to process, I’ve been writing poems – awful, toxic poems which won’t see the light of day… but it’s excising some demons. To that end, I’m returning to the Crapsey cinquain, but loosely letting my thoughts go to current events. I’m going to tell the story of this time in five line bites — what we’re doing, what we’re thinking, so we remember. Human beings have such short attention spans. To my horror, I realize I’ve written more than one poem about an innocent Black child getting shot.
But here we are again.
Poetry Friday is hosted at Karen Edmisten’s the blog with the clever name, and there’s so much lovely Spring content. Please don’t miss Denise K.’s poem about democracy and gun laws which gave me some words for mine.
I just CANNOT with the ineptitude and shrugging of ‘oh well, what can we do’?’
@divatobe: I just…
Powerful poem Tanita, for this unjust action for there’s no “it’s my right” here, “graveyard haunting” yes, and more.
April eclipsed me in a haze of teaching and teaching prep work…
Thanks for your words and thoughts.
@Michelle K.: I just BET you’re busier than a pollen-drunk bee just now. Hang in there! Thanks for taking a minute to refresh with some poetry here, even though it’s not a really happy poem. There are such extremes between beauty and ugliness highlighted just now.
Tanita, I appreciate your writing so much. Such passion and emotion and love comes through in each sentence–prose and poetry alike. Thank you for the shout out. Your cinquain, and that title, and so powerful. I love that wish you give–may these “graveyard rantings / haunt us” Yes, I pray they will haunt us to do something more than thoughts and prayers.
@Denise Krebs: Thank you, truly. ♥