observations, on the run

[wildsweetone]

introduction

this thread is for an idea i've been tossing about for a while. my poetry tends to be based on things i see or have noticed in my day to day life. for this thread, i'm going back to the grass roots. i'm going to write my observations in either prose or poetry format (or both if i ever accidentally figure out how to do it). there's no plan other than to write about something (anything) i've seen. i have the ability to write things that happen here that don't happen in other parts of the world. time will tell whether i know how to convey those things through written observations.

i may aim for one observation a day, or one per week. the main point will be to observe and to write exactly what i see in whatever format i choose at the time.

they will be raw, first drafts. so ignore any spelling errors or incorrect grammar. this is just to get down what i see.

 

[wildsweetone]

1

what can i write that is different about here to any other place on the planet? roads are roads the world over whether they be bullock tracks, side streets or six lane sealed highways. they all begin in one place and end in another and the roads here are no different.

it is the places that differ, the cities sprawled across a rolling green land, villages nestled beside rivers, between hills; one horse towns that don't have horses (and some that do), and if you blink on those roads you don't even know you've missed the metropolis. Cities cradle the crazy people. You don't see them in the light, you know they've been there, can smell their hope seeping in with the sun through car windows.

it rises and sets here first, the sun. the beginning and ending of days happens here. i get to know whether the golden rays will stretch across my day while you are still tucked up and snoring in yesterday, dreaming yesterday's luxuries, while i live them now.

 

[wildsweetone]

2

The sane strut the streets water bottles in one hand, mp3 players the other, ears switched on to their own kind of music, missing mother nature's dawn chorus as the last star spatters and disappears beyond the sun. They don't see the tick of geese a foot above the sunrise, don't see the way wild chicory stretches and pops open its petals greeting the day face on.

They keep walking, this army of automated beings, walking up and down dead end streets as if their dedication is a blessing.

 

[Angeline]

It really is lovely to see you writing regularly here again. I hope the thread is productive for you--I'm enjoying reading your observations. Just one question: may others join in with their observations, too?

 

[wildsweetone]

It really is lovely to see you writing regularly here again. I hope the thread is productive for you--I'm enjoying reading your observations. Just one question: may others join in with their observations, too?

thanks m'dear. (not sure how regular it'll be, but the urge has me for now) of course others may join in. write about their own observations. who knows where it'll all lead. *smile*

 

[wildsweetone]

3

Bedraggled and worn out are the only words I can use to describe her. Looks were not something she wore. One toddler tucked under her ample arm, one following behind almost, but not quite, fisting her long black coat. They were appendages, forgotten afterthoughts, little action kids that needed neither winding, nor batteries, nor those short pull chains that charge voice into plastic. She dragged them with her and her uneven footsteps sounded sad.

 

[AChild]

White rabbit

Dreams still in me feet heavy on the gas petal every now and then the sun hits my dirty wind sheild just right to blind my vision with great fucking blots of heavenly light it's like god is climaxing all over my piece of creation got an essay in my pocket burning a hole that looks like my professor will when I turn it in late two miles away from my destination the freeway stops literally no poetics the streaming concrete car valve becomes a parking lot before my eye no heater in the car I'm cold lucky my terry cloth robe is still in my car from the play I throw it on hoping to look like a fortune teller in the sky helicopter swoon and swirl profiting off my plight like flies always do in the other cars people get readier for work text or call to tell point B about the delay parents talk to their children about their school the christain radio I listen to is fuzzy so I put in my audio book of On The Road through my speakers come the tales of Dean and Saul and Bull Lee riding some old america where dreams and adventures grab you by the dick as a short cut to the soul and in the juxtaposition of the story and my reality that creation climax comes over me again but this time the sun is being blocked by an over past

 

[EroticOrogeny]

Longing to liew with my lady love, penning provocative private poems.

 

[arielsgoddess]

Bravo, EroticOrogeny:

Make her crave you, for the wizard that you are, able to conduct the heat and the hum of the earth, up from its flesh, through yours, and into hers--so beautifully, and for love's full pleasure!

 

[EroticOrogeny]

She likes my lusty lit, often a prelude to participating in profound pleasures!

 

[wildsweetone]

4

There is quiet in the garden, not even the moon can colour the crevices and contours. There is no wind, nothing breathes nor moves the leafs to chime the break of day. Street lamp light stretches across the road barely touches the olive and ti toki trees, pools as orange puddles on the cobbled path where no one walks. Night carries the noisy weight of day. Nothing is similar. Everything is familiar.

 

[wildsweetone]

5.

shooting from the hip... just writing cos i want to...

the only way i'm going to get a chance to write is to sit here with the post window open and type directly into it. the words won't escape me here, they'll slam dunk themselves against the white, stick there and wait as if stage fright freezes them into place, forever tattooed to the screen.

out the back the sun is stretching itself down the red cobbled path. strappy leaves of the bi-colour swat each other in the breeze. yellow flower faces stand 12 o'clock high, straight up to the sky as if they can capture loose sunrays and pose with them forever. one vine tendril climbs the wooden fence palings, not slipping between them, instead shooting zig zaggy up, tip slightly curled in the heat. bark strips sit, higgelty piggelty a cross hatch thatching of earth tones mulching bi-colour and rose roots. one weed, unfurls in the thin shadows, holds the broken habitat of snails long gone. out there it's warm and light and like stepping into a mid-season Spring.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

I had to get up early this morning so I went out into the garden in my dressing gown and slippers to feed the birds although nothing seemed to be stirring. They often sit in the bush within touching distance while I fill the containers and sometimes the doves come right down to the table to sit and wait. I am always so happy and amazed at their trust in me and I am barely to the door before there is a mass fluttering of tiny bodies as they realise breakfast has been served early.

 

[EroticOrogeny]

Halloween is over now here. Generally towards the end quite a few older kids show up with bags for candy and not a pretense of a costume. Usually boys, but this year mostly girls!

 

[BooMerengue]

I just noticed something about him thats different and realized he's 10 now. Hes tall and thin and all wiry muscle. He snuggles but only if no one is around, and he sings even when he's in a crowd. Bluesy jazzy tunes hum from his lips even when he's reading. He knows himself. So apparent in his walk and his quick smile as he passes me to go run. He is the man of the house and he takes it serious, though he's always teasing and joking. You have to know him to see it. He's suddenly a preteen. And now I am old.

 

[wildsweetone]

6

(hi Boo! )


observation...

there's a mo on the way beginning with a tight black smudge across the upper lip the one where a kiss might become something not quite right not quite normal a mere sluggish shadow darkening a frown dampening a secret smile that would show in the eyes if they were lifted to the light a silent gift of support for peers not all perfect there's a mo on the way and there's no knowing how unruly it will become

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Halloween is over now here. Generally towards the end quite a few older kids show up with bags for candy and not a pretense of a costume. Usually boys, but this year mostly girls!

As you may or not know Bonfire/Guy Fawkes night (Nov 5th) is more the thing in England. Kids used to make a guy and sit on the street asking for 'penny for the guy', don't see it so much now as I suppose technically it's begging, but when they did some cheeky little devils used to make one long before the right time. Trying to corner the market I suppose! I used to love Bonfire night all the excitement of the huge bonfire the potatoes roasting in the embers and the fabulous fireworks going off. Light the blue touch paper and stand back. When I was a kid it was an occassion for each family with Dad doing the honours lighting the fireworks and only being allowed the hand held sparklers ..... trying to write your name by waving them through the air. Of course the naughty boys used to throw Bangers to make the girls scream and jumping jacks that literally did that, jumping all over the ground as they went off.
These days its more commercial with big firework displays put on by most town councils on recreation fields with huge fireworks making a lot of noise. Which brings me to point of this, after living with two dogs that were terrified beyond all reasoning with them I've turned very much against fireworks. The first dog had a condition that made him go blind early and some idiot let a banger off behind him, ever after any bang sent him into a frenzy of fear. The second dog learnt this behaviour from him when he was a puppy and he would rip his claws and teeth out trying to dig his way through the floor and wall trying to escape. No words of comfort or turning the TV up loud would get through to him the only thing we could do was sedate him, which was very bad for his heart because he could still feel the fear only wasn't able to do anything about it.
Leading up to November 5th and for weeks afterwards fireworks are still going off and because we have a large asian community in this town they are let off for all their festivals more so for Dawhali (sp?) The Festival of Light.
The bitch we have now used to adore the dog and would get upset herself because he was but now he's gone she's not so bad thank goodness, but I still have her with me lying on my feet Bonfire Night!

 

[EroticOrogeny]

I remember Guy Fawkes from the year I spent in Engeland when a boy. It didn't seem to get much coverage in the hamlet were were staying in (we also had a Halloween party for some of the transplants and were surprized to find the cider my parents had gotten turned out to be hard). Very few fireworks here on Halloween, more so on New Years Eve and 4th of July. Getting our dog to go out to do his business is difficult at those times. Our cats don't seem to be nearly as alarmed by the noise.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

By 'hard' do you mean not fizzy? I don't know part of the country you were in but that sounds like Somerset Scrumpy .... guaranteed to blow you socks off if it's the right stuff and you're not used to it.

 

[wildsweetone]

7

i looked around me for freedom today and all i could find were gadgets, some that glowed, some that flashed, some that were stuck in ears thanks to the new mobile phone in cars law that came out on the first of the month. i wondered what it would be like to grow up in this world of NAVmen, digital recorders, mp3 players, ipods and bluetooth stuff without knowing what it was like before, without knowing what was possible, what was peace. maybe peace changes and cannot be had without x amount of volts zinging through conductors (do conductors still exist?) but i know that i miss the days of manual gear shift, getting up to change tv channels and winding the handle on the phone to get the operator and half the street to their phones. i looked around me for freedom and found a finch flitting about in a bottle brush tree.

 

[BooMerengue]

By 'hard' do you mean not fizzy? I don't know part of the country you were in but that sounds like Somerset Scrumpy .... guaranteed to blow you socks off if it's the right stuff and you're not used to it.

My family is from Somerset sort of. A little place called Charlton Musgrove. Wonder if they knew what Somerset Scrumpy is? I'll try anything once...

 

[EroticOrogeny]

By 'hard' do you mean not fizzy? I don't know part of the country you were in but that sounds like Somerset Scrumpy .... guaranteed to blow you socks off if it's the right stuff and you're not used to it.

Over here apple cider is more like apple juice, not alcoholic. No fizz, either natural or induced.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Now computers are getting so small they should put it all on our retinas ..... no need for bulky equipment at all !!! You've always got it with you and airports can scan it to see if you are a baddy (deletes norty emails before travelling!) and a wink at a passing hunk could mean a whole lot more than you intended !! Though I do wonder what effect a streaming cold might have...... could clog up your components in the most unsightly way and a sneeze could email the explosion to everyone in your address book .... there would be computers crashing the whole length of Britain and beyond ....try explaining that to your computer engineer.....no I didn't download it so I haven't got the virus !!

 

[wildsweetone]

8

i catch myself people watching. watching the way clothes drape or hang on bodies, the way bodies move. i don't sit and wonder what their lives hold, where they're going or where they've been. i just stare at the faces, the body movements, the clothes and accessories, the shoes. it's interesting to watch a blue collar worker, pinstripes striding along footpaths, lunch in brown paper bag. fascinating to watch skateboarders with their rolling shoulder walk, boards tucked under one arm or slung over a shoulder, trouser crotch hanging low by knees, hair died or shaved or dreadlocked or left in that just-got-outa-bed lounging look. in a concrete town a voice will catch me, stern, high-pitched, low growl. but too soon my eye is caught by a snail, or fantail, leaf flopping tic tic tic down the street. where do they go?

 

[wildsweetone]

9

i drove into a thick mist today

the city turned into the grey water
that flushes from washing machines
drove into the mist with no thought
other than to drive to keep driving
in one side puncturing the city
like the blunt point of a needle
against a balloon piercing
the other side and continuing on
driving to some unknown place
through some ethereal dull silvered world
driving driving driving running