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I own the moon
by andyhavens (Member) - published: March 21, 2007
Word Count: 133 Word Bytes: 1026 Viewed: 572 times
Category - Poetry
© Copyright by andyhavens





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Because I say I do.

Yah...
There are wolves, for sure,
and loons up late. They hoot,
black charcoal shadow cartoon fools
whose gloom assumes
we, too, mourn loss of bright
fiery blaze;
patent days.

There are none, though, walking ways
of cratered, corduroy, rolling, dust-grey
hills and basins. Peaks and vales
like battlefields of grim grenades
and silent, sentient cosmic chum.
None
but me.

And I say, "Pay!"

You lovers on my white-glow leaning;
you hunters creeping, deer-spoor seeking;
you children peering, “One day,” dreaming;
all who look upon this, frankly, dreary, lifeless face,
this wide-eyed, gaping maw of rock and shining, lantern jaw,
you now owe toll!

No more free ride. Pay up. Way up.

The Man in the Moon be damned.
Homage? For the loons.
I own the moon.

------
______________________________________________

Check out Andy's blog on subjects creative at: TinkerX
Please do drop by. Comments tolerated. Abuse welcome.
TinkerX: Creative Flux for the Age of Content.


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Comments

The following comments are for "I own the moon"
by andyhavens

I own the moon
Made me laugh, did this…

‘Cause I’ve written more than my fair share of metaphorically lazy “Moon” poems, does it now mean I owe you some suitably staggering amount in arrears? Maybe if I had to drop a guinea in your cap every time I might be cured of the habit… then again perhaps not.

I like what this says about the arbitrary nature of ownership… “Because I say I do”, yeah, I can think of a lot of other examples where this logic has been applied, unfairly and often without question, right here on terra firma, I guess laying claim to the surface of the moon is the next logical step…

Love the inventiveness of language here, the description of the moonscape, and the use of the word “maw”… I don’t know why but I always appreciate a poem in which that word’s employed… your usual healthy dose of wit and humour here too… whatever you write, you make me feel like an idiot…

But I forgive you. much enjoyed. Thanks for this

Shannon

( Posted by: AuldMiseryGuts [Member] On: March 22, 2007 )

Shannon, if you're an idiot...
I'm a total loon. You're stuff is some of the smartest I've seen in awhile. I need to comment more on it, but it often leaves me, well... somewhat speechless. It's much more emotionally cogent than my work. I tend to write from the head and regret the lack of heart or gut. And I *definitely* edit/comment from the head. And when I read your stuff, I tend to get really nice, gut-level, emotional vibes. Which are things I feel less qualified to comment on. All that by means of saying that I love your work, but need to study it more before commenting.

Thanks for the comment here. This was a fun one to write. It came out of a conversation at work where I was saying that there are days when I wished I didn't have to actually "tote that barge." Somebody asked what I'd do for a living, then. I replied that, well, since I owned the moon, I could charge a toll every time somebody looked at it. The problem was just in the collection.

I say crap like that a lot, so it didn't cause much of a fuss. But when I got home last night, I thought it should be a poem.

And, yeah... I went back and checked. You owe me three pounds twenty. ;-)

( Posted by: andyhavens [Member] On: March 22, 2007 )

Tote that Barge
Snatches from a half remembered old Paul Robeson song:

Ol’ man river,
Dat ol’ man river
He mus’know sumpin’
But don’t say nuthin’,
He jes’keeps rollin’
He keeps on rollin’ along.
He don’ plant taters,
He don’t plant cotton,
An’ dem dat plants’em
is soon forgotten,
But ol’man river,
He jes keeps rollin’along.
JOE
You an’me, we sweat an’ strain,
Body all achin’ an’ racket wid pain,
Tote dat barge!
Lif’ dat bale!
Git a little drunk
An’ you land in jail.

JOE & CHORUS
Ah gits weary
An’ sick of tryin’
Ah’m tired of livin’
An’ skeered of dyin’,
But ol’ man river,
He jes’keeps rolling’ along.

( Posted by: RJKT [Member] On: March 22, 2007 )

Show Boat, RJKT.
The lyric is from "Old Man River," indeed. But that song is from the musical "Show Boat." Music by Jerome Kern, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein.

A classic.

( Posted by: andyhavens [Member] On: March 22, 2007 )

Andy
Thanks for the response Andy. The great - or infamous - Paul Robeson ( acting in the 1936 film Show Boat ) was a name frequently heard during my childhood. My late father was a great fan of his - as were so many of his fellow students in the pre - WWII London.

( Posted by: RJKT [Member] On: March 23, 2007 )





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