Lexical Bagatelle
LEXICAL BAGATELLE
As a child, I would ring doorbells
and run off,
leaving tracks of potential.
Reciting poetry,
delighted in my ability
to mystify.
School meant diverse
conundrums to solve,
things to prove.
Different ways to
be an enigma.
And I mastered every one.
I failed as a bartender
because I would not
learn the meaning
of water down the wine.
It was an Arcanum of spirits.
Gardening was never meant to be.
I argued with the weeds
and snakes
that choked my flower friends
to death
Damn them.
The flowers, not the weeds.
But words
have never failed me,
never ignored me,
never misunderstood me,
like I have
done to them.
I unravel colloquies,
dance with etymon,
peer inside semanteme
to find the moist pearl within.
And then I throw them away.
Let there be more
to eternity
than day, night, repeat,
into infinity.
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Shared with DVerse Poets from a prompt regarding weeds.
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©2009 Christopher Reilley
Lexical Bagatelle appeared in Grief Tattoos, which is out of print, Kindle edition HERE.
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I wonder how many words that may be seen as weed
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your Lexical Bagatelle, Christopher, and the familiarity of the childhood pastime of ringing on doorbells and running away, ‘leaving tracks of potential’. I too liked the conundrums of school and the ‘different ways to be an enigma’. But when it came to gardening, as much as I tried to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps, I too failed, although these days my wild garden is not considered a failure! In comparison, words are reliable and malleable.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to know your strengths!
ReplyDelete