The RetroLounge Daily Poem Thread (Tue 12/16/2008)

[RetroLounge]

Nothing is Haunted

in quite the way small Midwestern farms
are haunted. Girls, whip-thin in cotton
nightclothes, lie awake through summer's

liquid heat and listen to the rattling window screens,
the drumming warp of pie tins meant to drive
blackbirds from the strawberry beds. Lines

of sweat bead along their skin as the stalks bend
under the weight of whatever animal skirts the edge
of the field planted right up to the shed,

not a penny's worth of good dirt wasted by the men
who sleep the sleep of the damned or the nearly dead.
The handful of cattle corralled in the pen shuffle

and huff, gnawing on rotten apples, eating
until they bloat and moan. The girls throw off
their bleached sheets and untangle their legs.

Their muscles urge them to bolt, yet they huddle
and guard themselves with the flick of the lamp's
loosening switch, quivering in one weak circle of light.

Sandy Longhorn

****************

:hi:

RL

[Heidi]

1. This is spectacular.

I love it. :hug:

[RetroLounge]

2. Check out my journal for yesterday's by her too.

I just ordered her book.

I love finding new poets I like!

:hi:

RL

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. another really nice one...

She does have a way with words. Thanks RL for posting her stuff. :donut: :hi:

[RetroLounge]

4. I'm enjoying it...

I might post another tomorrow...

:hi:

RL

[blueraven95]

5. ...

:hi:

[RetroLounge]

6. Good Morning!

:hi:

RL

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. My dear Retro!

Wow! This is authentic, right down to the weak circle of light...

Beautiful...

Thank you!

:hi:

[RetroLounge]

:hi:

RL

[Chorophyll]

9. This is just excellent.

She has a great last name, too. I love when that happens. :hi:

[RetroLounge]

11. ...

:hi:

RL

[BlueIris]

10. Daaaaaaamn.

So good.

[RetroLounge]

12. Yes, so so good...

:hi:

RL

[RetroLounge]

13. kick

:hi:

RL

[peruban]

14. This one's very difficult to decifer for me

I like the attention to detail but can't find the linking thread to it. Maybe it's not meant to be read that way. I do get an emotion from it, though I can't place my finger on that particular emotion. Very descriptive, I would say. Almost every line is precious onto itself, it's hard to find the undercurrent on this one. Well done Retro. I like poems that beg to be explored further, one finds multiple meanings sometimes that even the author didn't intend or realize.

Lines like "liquid heat", "the sleep of the damned or the nearly dead", and "The girls throw off
their bleached sheets and untangle their legs" are trully beautiful.

Thank you for sharing this, I love the exposure of new poets I haven't had the chance to study. Keep up the good work!

[RetroLounge]

15. ...

:hi:

RL