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Sunday, February 16, 2014

Quarters Line the Counter <> Claiming Next Turn

He writes
                  a kaleidoscope of phrases

twisting gems <> colored
               auras he reads
               like the back of his hand
everywhere
          a soul cross–|–es his path <>

reflecting angles / \ the world shaped
                 in brilliant – insight(ing) –
                 light shimmering
rare
        truths lost to most / \

fitting perfectly /\\ asymmetrical \
            images breathtaking(ly)
            (& real) together
for a breath
                before

      he twists a new inc(l)andescent
      image patterned in colors and shapes
                                     (words & phrase)
                                  <> gems & angles / \




A cryptic (just because) note on the inspiration for this piece:  This isn't quite my first time writing on this subject and to be truthful, the gems and angles were not so easy for me to see initially.  But like a kaleidoscope that promises something sparkly and new with each turn, I found myself re-turn-ing again and again for a glimpse inside until the pattern finally took shape.

On unearthing titles:  So this is one of those rare occasions where the title began to unfurl as the idea and first lines began to creep into (and swirl around in) my brain.  With the idea of the kaleidoscope, came an odd array of other thoughts.  The old fashioned picture movie devices (mutoscope) that was a mechanical version of a flip book where sequential images were set in a wheel that was turned by a hand crank as you peered through the a single lens with a hood.  These were coin operated devices.  The next thought that popped was the idea that when at an arcade, the next player would put a quarter (or token) on the game as a way of claiming the next game.  And so somehow these two ideas merged to bring about the title here in.

An aside:  I highly doubt these last three days are any indicator in the future frequency of my posts, but is nice to write...to feel the pencil glide across paper...as to the smiles that light up upon completion of a piece.  Maybe my lack of motivation has been vanquished or maybe this is just a break in the cloudy skies that have dampened my desire to write.  Who's to say, but time.

3 comments:

Brian Miller said...

just long enough for the eye to focus, then on to the next image...ha...i like the play with the slashes in this...and i like to uncover truths as well...smiles.

Mary said...

Wow -what n impressive poem!

Oliver said...

The shape of your poem - the pauses, line breaks, and so forth - is masterful. It feels like a dance, back and forth, but I also see the click-click-click pattern that I think you were going for. To be honest, I feel that many poets insert odd typography and such "just because" but it feels like every piece of this poem was placed just so, yet at the same time I can see it flowing out of you naturally. Just a few of my thoughts!