Thursday, February 14, 2013

We Said



you said,
no one ever believed in you quite like me

you said,
you found the seashell as you ran on the beach

and kept it in your pocket
to give it to me

you said,
i made you want to lay down

on the tracks of a speeding locomotive
and beg for my love

i said,
yes



Copyright © 2013 Jennifer Wagner

For Ian.  I was made to believe in you…15 years.  I still have the shell.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Fairy Tale, Ending



Brush my mind
with ticklings of innocence;

I’ve since passed them
sinking in the quicksand

of want;

disclosing destroyed
and heaving parts,

the remnants of ugliness
from connubial war.

Disgusted,
our most real selves

are painfully owning all of it, even
the gaps so richly fabled when it suited.

Cleverly cloaked
in our reckless game of moth-eaten promise;

the bearers of bad news
always held their tongue.  They all knew their fate,

when veracity
was so uncomely.

Solemn workers of the gallows have finally come
to set the masqueraders free.

It’s a ghastly job to examine the photo
pulled from the frame

when the lies were just so pretty.


Copyright © 2013 Jennifer Wagner

Apparently I am indefinite article deficient.  I'm sorry if you read this post before I made the fix on the third to last line.  I'm going to blame it on the flu.  I'll be linking up at dVerse Poets Pub for OpenLinkNight tomorrow!

Friday, February 8, 2013

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Postcard 77


i had just turned six when
Elvis died
my mom with her long, dark hair
and my aunt, blonde and long too—

sat out on the steps
with their friends
and their short shorts, sobbing;
Tab and real Pepsi
in the bottle
Virginia Slims between the index
and middle
age

i watched,
barefoot in the warm shade;
topaz eyes full and wide,
little legs tan; and tendril-bleached,
umber hair, wild—

even i knew i wouldn’t  forget
where i was that day
when i heard
‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’
in the background
and cried too



Copyright © 2013 Jennifer Wagner

Sliding in to link up with the amazing poets at dVerse Poets Pub for OpenLinkNight.




revised 2.6.13

Saturday, February 2, 2013

First Blush

mirrored
cherry lip gloss
in pale pink wish for spring
a light breeze bringing blossom thoughts
of you



Copyright © 2013 Jennifer Wagner

My adapted offering for the Weekend Mini-challenge at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads where Marian has challenged us to write a Cinquain; a form of poetry created by American poet Adelaide Crapsey.