segreant

my birthday poem

I

must be like the hydrated 

petunia rushed with ease

in the April sun. Must be

the showy, drooping MILF

with the inflated lips

knot knees and that

fine speech.

Must be jewels

like crowded, sessile

leaves. Must

be narcissism 

or the paper wings

of Dadalus that

enables my yawn laurel

escape from this strangling 

vine. It's

my birthday and

I am older than yesterdays

Ivory liquid left sitting

in my porcelain face basin

the juju gnats 

make their babies in. I

am uglier but thinner.

I love cats, not at all

the ones in estrus. I can

smell funny when it's light out.

I still fall for old movies with

boats

"On The Waterfront", "Titanic"

even when all else fails and satisfaction

dissipates just above the ice shelf.

When Poncitoni Phil

comes to me in my low

candle lit half kitchen,

this is how they'll know

I loved.

Men will argue the bride-head

but divide me in equal portions.

This part, for you, condensed by vapor.

This part for those who saw the forecast:

A fragrant gum resin from trees,

rivers overflowing,

cows adrift, running wild,

clouds gathering closer

to the heath. 

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

another year older ;( yes... it happens don't it Dana?! reading is a treat my friend...you give me new words .. its rich in mythos ... and oh so real ... i wish you lived next door to me Dana ... you light up and flavor my life ... truly you do ... great stuff ... and taking a risk here ...... Happy Birthday! ;)
E.
ps. funny how the mirror can reflect such opposite poles ... ;)

[h d e rushin]

thank you dearest love. and good morning to you..dana

[Einstein Noodle]

[Robert Trakofler]

your dissemination is a jewel of myriad facets and your advancement in time had not formed an uglier Dana but added a few more prisms to that jewel and a sprouting of your own wings as you shed the back Daedalus and the gazers & grazers throng to your vision as more seeds arise from that flow of yours! A Happy Happy day for you, but to us all.... indeed

[h d e rushin]

thank you Bad for your kind words my friend...dana

[redzone]

perhaps I should just say Happy Birthday Dana …. and there was another old movie (1951) 'The African Queen with Humphry Bogart and Katherine Hepburn.... oh, and you can never trust that Poncitoni fellow, he's as two faced as they come.. this year he said spring was just around the corner HA!! as the polar vortex flows further south and running wild cows are definitely not a good sign....

anyway, about your poem, well, it is as unsinkable as Molly Brown and as dramatic as Marlon Brando standing next to Eva Marie Saint, as even in a birthday poem you thrill and delight the reader... so can I ask, how it is a woman, turning 29 knows about any of these movies??? ;0) er… okay I am ducking and moving out of the room...

[redzone]

oh, I wanted to add that I had to look up the meaning of 'segreant', which an interesting title for a birthday poem... but it is a magical image, an eagle headed, winged lion...

[h d e rushin]

thanks redzone…...I actually went on a mini vacation to get away from this awful cold in Michigan..I remember "The African Queen", or better yet, I remember Bogart's character . As for age and gender I never divulge either for sake of my own sanity.. thanks much for the birthday greetings my friend..dana

[redzone]

it would be safer all around if your age and gender were ever revealed, I mean, the earth may reverse its orbit, the waters flow uphill and the grass would become a deep shade of yellow... seems then your sanity is a good thing to protect.... yep, absolutely.... I get in enough trouble all on my own, so will never ask, really... ;0) curt

[John the Baptist]

This highly intelligent, insightful poem is so full of images, both funny and compelling, that it can overwhelm you at first reading. It speaks deeply to those of a certain age and those approaching it. If it's not already in a literary journal, it belongs in one. Very well done.

[h d e rushin]

thank you dearest for those kind remarks...dana

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i love this, dana....
i became so enmeshed within the words...same on those two movies.
but more so...yes, we have too many birthdays as we age...but am glad to have lived to reach them.
And as we go through life we give so many parts of us away....maybe by 90, there will be nothing left to give...
i also love cows because of my Vermont days....and them running Adrift....like a lost boat...really like that.
j.

[h d e rushin]

talk about image making...when I think of Vermont or Rd Island...I think of cows and pasture land. Been stuck in Michigan for too long I guess. I did take a vacation for my birthday....to sunny North Carolina..I even took my coat off for minute....thanks for your kind words my friend...dana

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, dana, cows and pastures and beautiful barns....everywhere you look it is like post card in VT. and funny you mentioned going to NC...my parents lived out their retirement in Whispering Pines and Southern Pines NC...and my sister lives near Boone, in Deep Gap. Cold to them is under 70 degrees.