Some New Ones from the Writing Group

The FloPoSo Writing Group continues be a wonderful source of creativity for me. Whether I am working on my novel or using the prompt from the group to write poetry, I connect to something bigger than just me. Plus, the members are -- I want to say nice and beautiful, but that seems so trite, however true -- real. Genuine people with helpful intentions. I am honored that they have accepted me as a writer into their group. Okay, enough of the mushy stuff. On to the poetry. The prompt was "being in the way" or "in the way" poetry. An interesting concept.

In The Way

toe to bed leg
hand to mouth
so as not to
wake the kids
nine of them
on two pull-outs,
three sleeping bags,
and an air mattress
in the living room
secretly, you want
to wake them because
you're leaving and
somewhere in that pile
of teen-aged girls
is your sister but
that would make it worse
her anger at your
drunken interruption
just another reminder
that you don't belong
you move the trash barrels
away from the garage door
it's your father's car
so you adjust the mirrors
before you quietly pull away

ltv


While writing the above poem, a shocking thought came to me when I considered the number of kids to specify in the poem. The first draft had eight kids and I as re-wrote the poem, this other fact and poem came to me.

How Octo-Mom Ruined the Number Eight for Everyone

Eight used to be enough
crazy with cards
and pivotal in billiards
Oh, sure - octagons
will still stop you
but Octopussy isn't
nearly as shocking
as it once was
before her
the ruiner of
all things eight
I hate to even use
the concept anywhere
lest it be construed
as a subtle reference
to her brood

ltv


This last poem is in response to something the group facilitator said at the beginning of the session. He commented that living is sometimes considered being in the way.

[untitled]

I disrupt the molecules of air
as I exhale and then suck them back
into this bio-machine bustling
with cellular energy with
every pulse of blood or
electrical connections amongst
the neurons -- I come into a room
and displace an equal amount
of mass -- is that crass
or since it is sub-atomic
doesn't it matter

ltv