Saturday, December 15, 2012

Where my thoughts are



not inside the office cubicle 
of cream & dull blue squares,
two metal drawers that grate  
like heaving train on rail tracks --

not on laminated table
my cheap plastic pen and highlighter 
scratching the file paper in neat circles
& lining details i can't missed  as
fingers click & tap black keyboard --

i wonder of seeds & potted thoughts  --
do they shoot up straight or go in pinwheel circles 
or hang fragile on telephone wire, disconnected from 
the main roots, crisscrossing fine lines  
between adequacy & coping-- 

claim reports show mental illness
& depression tops the list of drugs
of working men & women  -- i pencil 
a line between insanity versus sanity --

as mine are nesting between recycled sheets, 
unfinished verses tuck in leather handbag &  
waiting in draft folder in laptop, labelled
personal life, threads and pieces flying 

outside the clear office windows,
where endless lines of cars and trucks zoom 
in staccato echoes in city streets, long & 
winding towards the lake, a dot in dusty skyline

at 4:00 pm, time to drive for home,
i gather my winter coat & look for my thoughts -- 
they settle on my shoes,

the color of industrial carpet


Posted for:  D'verse Poets Pub - Sweat the Small Stuff ~ hosted by Brian Miller 
Shared with Poets United - Poetry Pantry
Thanks for the visit ~ 

39 comments:

  1. i wonder of seeds & potted thoughts --
    do they shoot up straight or go in pinwheel circles...nice...love how this stanza just pops as you change direction...drawing the line between insane and sane...cool touch...the thoughts on the shoe...and then the carpet is a great close as well grace...like it much...

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    1. Thanks Brian, the picture is an inspiration ~

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  2. and hey, great job at OLN this week!!!! smiles.

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  3. ha - this is a neatly and skillfully painted scene...the daily grind via the poet's thoughts that fly free...thoughts that settle on the shoes, the color of industrial carpet...fantastic closure

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    1. Yes, the daily grind of work versus poetic thoughts ~ Thanks Claudia ~

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  4. Oh Grace today I wake up tired and sad (and still feel that) maybe my brain work to try the understand the NOBODY understand sigh!
    Sanity versus insanity.
    This is a really good one Grace! x

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  5. Yes, sometimes the line between sanity and insanity seems to be very thin....especially in the light of some of the events of the world. Hope you DO have a good weekend, Grace.

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  6. Grace--yes, the lines thin and blur.

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  7. Wonderful details to paint a scene of daily life and really gives the sense of your mind being elsewhere.

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  8. I know offices like this too. You capture the patterns of life very well. I'm glad you write.

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  9. grace, this is wonderful. you really did go "all out" and nailed the prompt. hats off to you... this is brilliant.

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  10. Capture a day in the life with great descriptions too and even brought forth the shoe! Hope a great weekend is being had by you.

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  11. You have mastered detailing to a 'T'...excellent write Grace.

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  12. Just wonderful, an excellent descriptive piece,it is a great photo for detail.

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  13. One of my favorites of yours, Grace... especially like:

    i pencil
    a line between insanity versus sanity --

    as mine are nesting between recycled sheets,

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  14. This so wonderfully done :-). I love the imagery.

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  15. fun imagination - dreaming of your garden as you tell the dull details of your office.
    I actually have daydreamed of how to tell a story to make the dull office sparkle with fresh eyes. That would be tough -- still thinking.

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  16. I love the creative thoughts intruding into the workday, remind us that a poet, not just a "worker" is occupied here. Love the "thoughts....the color of industrial carpet." Oh for the days when poets had rich patrons and didnt have to work.

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  17. I loved the description you posted ... it felt as it was going before my eyes !!!

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  18. Grace i think you are way excellent doing poems like this, writing in details than in shortys... you should write more of this Poet... great...great job... smiles...

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  19. Grace i think you are way excellent doing poems like this, writing in details than in shortys... you should write more of this Poet... great...great job... smiles...

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  20. go in pinwheel circles
    or hang fragile on telephone wire, disconnected from
    the main roots, crisscrossing fine lines
    between adequacy & coping--

    This really gets to the point, in my opinion.

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  21. A very fine line between sanity and insanity, those pinwheel circles. Well done!

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  22. I've been stuck in that daily grind... routine never really changing and pushing you closer to that line.

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  23. depressive greyness of working life

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  24. wonderful stuff.i can well identify this entire trove of urban boredom, fatigue, alienation and dull mechanicality. vividly portrayed.

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  25. Nesting thoughts flying thoughts - thoughts the color of industrial carpet settling - wonderful. k.

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  26. And one has to wonder, is the insanity the mundaneness or the creativity. I like how your poem turns on the third stanza. And the last line ...perfection.

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  27. Full of delectable images guaranteed to remind any former office worker how good it is to have retired. :)

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  28. really nice Grace. I really like the pace, the movement from thought to observation. Very nicely done. Thanks

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  29. Grace ... this is a really special poem. I am so toughed by the manner in which you speak of mental illness. I get the sense that everything here emanates from this line, that I love: "i wonder of seeds & potted thoughts" sort of the "root" of all.

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  30. i really like the ending, Grace!

    Hope you're having a good week!

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  31. This is such a beautiful piece of writing Grace! Seems that many of us experience the blur of
    sanity/insanity....one of the gifts of being a writer...also loved how you so eloquently captured the
    dichotomy of work/creativity/balance.
    Kudos... ;-D

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