orgami's Diaryland Diary

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

decay

i remember the rattle of breath
the wheezing of the old electric
clock the water faucet in the
main bathroom dripping Didnt seem
a nessecity to repair it
The cataracts in the frightful
pale blue eyes were like a misted
spring day and the workingmans
hands were fists of tendons and
slender bones In the firebox
the maple hissed its sap and the
cedar crackled the dull glow
smiling up from the vent and nickel
plate the kettle steaming and
ghost vapours rising up to the bottom
of the bread warmer Its rounded
length of doorway gleaming

the water was cold from the kitchen
tap in the vintage striped glasses

"Wallace said it was going to rain
today He heard it on the sedan radio,
that will be good for the tomatoes"

in his rusted vigour of voice it sounded to me like "Magnetos" as if
they were organic machines that one
could with surgeons delicate care
implant into the aging fire of his
lungs and time the oxygen intake
properly Give him a few more miles

Smiles at me in his faded checked
shirt with armbands shiny as silver
"Guess you'll be stuck inside watching
that idiot box"
his smile reminds me of Bela Legousi
from a late night horror we managed
to wait up for Bela out clipping
fresh magnetos while a summer storm
came darkening across the distant
hills and meadows where the railroad
ran the freights clattering north
and south Its lonely call rolling
across tamarack and spruce

one of the logs in the stove popped
and I jumped and his laugh sounded
like lava

11:08 p.m. - 2011-06-24

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

previous - next