The turquoise pool rose up to meet us, its slide a silver afterthought down which we plunged, screaming, into a mirage of bubbles. We did not exist beyond the gaze of a boy. Shaking water off our limbs, we lifted up from ladder rungs across the fern-cool lip of rim. Afternoon. Oiled and sated, we sunbathed, rose and paraded the concrete, danced to the low beat of "Duke of Earl". Past cherry colas, hot-dogs, Dreamsicles, we came to the counter where bees staggered into root beer cups and drowned. We gobbled cotton candy torches, sweet as furtive kisses, shared on benches beneath summer shadows. Cherry. Elm. Sycamore. We spread our chenille blankets across grass, pressed radios to our ears, mouthing the old words, then loosened thin bikini straps and rubbed baby oil with iodine across sunburned shoulders, tossing a glance through the chain link at an improbable world.
This is a small poetry club that started as a poetry email exchange between two friends. Our goal is to read a poem everyday, and this blog is one way to help keep us accountable. There is only one valid rule in poetry club: there are no rules in poetry club. Read any poem, in any order, with any or no interactions. You decide. We only suggest you read poetry!
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The innocence of youth is so strong in this memory. "Tossing a glance through the chain link at an improbable world," that really says it all to me.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to know what happened to this 16 year old narrator.
Here is an account of what happen in each stanza using the strongest verbs:
1st- plunged, sceaming, into a mirage...
2nd- lifted, rose, and paraded
3rd- staggered and drowned
4th- spread across grass
5th- (uneventful?)
There is a pattern of rise and fall then ending with being spread across the grass. This fits a narrative to me. The spreading of the grass reminds me of burying the Little Father from yesterday's poem. Ending with the improbable world, it sounds too ironic to me after reinterpreting the poem.
Strong nostalgic imagery and emotion...I think it is safe to say that most of us have been there in one way or another. The part that I, too, love most about this poem is the glance...”toss[ed]” through the chain link fence as if to hide the thought of ever wanting something else than right now. The movement of attention is just wonderful...we, as readers, follow the gaze out of the poem into our own past lives....brilliant!!
ReplyDeleteLMAO. Did I miss something?! I am on Jared's MacBook and I just saw the music link below the poem. Is this related or you just felt like multi tasking when you posted this one
ReplyDeleteThat's the song thr narrator referenced in the poem.
Delete"danced to the low beat of 'Duke of Earl,'" that song is Duke of Earl
Sorry! Of course. It's so weird reading over poems and comments again- we miss so much with our busy minds...
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