collecting stamps
i have rosa parks on one eye
and an apple in the other
and that’s not even counting how many
flags it took to paste my mouth shut,
a whole row of forever sealed with love
to keep me quiet because letters
are filled with absence and whispers
and the check is always in the mail
but even grand central station
can’t keep up with a butterfly
that hovers just this side of blue
and your two cents
well, it will cost a whole lot more
to be heard nowadays
in this world of press on policies
and plastic outrage refusing to fit into
one ounce or seven at quarter past eleven
and the gavel of discretion
bangs down hard on my temple,
this ruin of time so fragile
but not at all hazardous
or containing anything liquid
restricted or red tape perishable
just a kaleidoscope of flowers
for corner decoration and
one way philatelistic passage
when all you have to do
is write
.
.
.
February 26th, 2013 at 8:51 am
oh dang…yeah its much more than 2 cents these days…smiles. press on policies and plastic outrage…nice…rosa parks and the apple up front immediately caught me as well….very nice…
February 26th, 2013 at 9:27 am
Love this . . . your words have a way of leaping off the screen and making us all truly feel them.
February 26th, 2013 at 9:56 am
Brilliant…so beautifully said!
February 26th, 2013 at 10:44 am
Your conceit is marvelous and carried through with wit, irony, and style. I especially loved ‘ press on policies and plastic outrage’ as I just watched a documentary on how politicians are treating voters like consumers these days (as voters feel entitled to be treated). It is a frightening time.
February 26th, 2013 at 12:16 pm
i have rosa parks on one eye
and an apple in the other…oh wow…you had me with these first lines already..loved pres on policies and plastic outrage…what a wonderful scharfsinniger…have to look up the word..one moment..sharp-witted..write..
February 26th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Kelli–I just fell in love with this the second I read about flags pasting your mouth shut. LOVE.
February 26th, 2013 at 12:57 pm
“letters
are filled with absence and whispers”
These lines, among many others, leapt out at me. I used to collect stamps – a hobby that is probably dying in the electronic communication era.
February 26th, 2013 at 2:09 pm
letters
are filled with absence and whispers…miss the days when I would receive a letter or a note from family and friends. There is an art to letter writing..a lost art. I used to collect stamps when I was a child. It was fun. Love your capture. 🙂
February 26th, 2013 at 3:05 pm
Oh, I used to collect stamps. Still have a lot of them, but now I don’t know what to do with them. Smiles. I can’t imagine the days of 2 cent stamps….I bet in those days they didn’t think about having a ‘forever’ variety. I enjoyed this.
February 26th, 2013 at 3:16 pm
I love those opening lines…and this whole smart piece. With the USPS ending Saturday service it feels like a little bit of an ending to a big piece of our history. Love your words mrs…
February 26th, 2013 at 3:25 pm
This piece is simply brilliant! I love your style. “i have rosa parks on one eye
and an apple in the other” was my favorite.
February 26th, 2013 at 3:38 pm
I love postage stamps. The more time runs from the old way of communicationg written language over a distance, the more I love them. Beautiful.
February 26th, 2013 at 3:40 pm
those first lines also caught my eye..great beginning of a great poem. that was intense and simply gorgeous. poetry in its purest form. thank you so much..
February 26th, 2013 at 4:01 pm
“letters
are filled with absence and whispers: love this part 🙂
February 26th, 2013 at 4:24 pm
and that’s not even counting how many
flags it took to paste my mouth shut,
a whole row of forever sealed with love
Love this… Your imagery and your passion are palpable. I like the addition of Rosa Parks and the apple and how you built from there. Well written.
February 26th, 2013 at 4:40 pm
Yeah… it’s all you have to do…
February 26th, 2013 at 4:48 pm
This was clever and grooved along with a great rhythm – any poem that has philatelistic in it is fine with me. Great job!
February 26th, 2013 at 4:52 pm
powerful read, I really enjoyed this poem.
February 26th, 2013 at 5:04 pm
Beautiful. And I miss handwritten notes in the mail.
February 26th, 2013 at 5:09 pm
I love how this piece just tumbles down the page, each new line as good as the one before it. And you have this way of saying simple things in a unique way that I really enjoy. Like,
“and that’s not even counting how many
flags it took to paste my mouth shut,
a whole row of forever sealed with love”
Well done!
February 26th, 2013 at 5:18 pm
The price to stay in touch with loved one’s or to pay our bills has become crazy!I love how you bring this issue forth… and it does seem as if they will paste your mouth shut!
February 26th, 2013 at 5:37 pm
What a world our children & grandchildren inherit; the Post Office is struggling to survive as so much is done/communicated on line. Great hallowed newspapers are going out of print, and only being offered on line; ebooks, audio books, ipads/notebooks replace the soft/hardbacks of yore.
I am old, but not longer a luddite–even so, I am not pleased by the losses.
February 26th, 2013 at 7:18 pm
Wow, I absolutely love the flow to this and the way you’ve written it, can’t pinpoint if its just the style or the abstract you bring to it giving it depth. I really enjoyed this 🙂
February 26th, 2013 at 7:40 pm
This isn’t one to gobble up in one read, but rather something to savor–full of the sense of time passing unremarked, feverish, and so much else with it, yet knowing what envelopes were made for…beautiful work.
February 26th, 2013 at 7:56 pm
Yes, a very nice piece, almost a voice of protest, but in a good way. Your words are packed with the passion you write with.
February 26th, 2013 at 8:45 pm
It can be simple as writing but not all have the inclination. These lines resonated with me:
in this world of press on policies
and plastic outrage refusing to fit into
one ounce or seven at quarter past eleven
February 26th, 2013 at 8:49 pm
Where is the love button?
February 26th, 2013 at 9:38 pm
such gorgeous writing! especially
“a whole row of forever sealed with love” and
“but even grand central station
can’t keep up with a butterfly
that hovers just this side of blue”
– i have to say it’s a lot easier to get me to write a poem than a letter these days… why is that?
February 26th, 2013 at 11:10 pm
Excellent! I can’t tell how how much I look forward to your postings!
February 26th, 2013 at 11:21 pm
The words create images, but then we must write.
February 26th, 2013 at 11:58 pm
i have rosa parks on one eye
and an apple in the other
after reading the opening, i knew this was going to be good . . .
and i must qoute anna here,
“Your conceit is marvelous and carried through with wit, irony, and style.”
because what i had in mind would have appeared to be plagarism otherwise . . . V well said anna!
sharp and probing in a crafted, clever and very readable way: great PO!
February 27th, 2013 at 1:50 am
the flags across the mouth is a powerful image
and letters filled with absence and whispers
are also evocative. sometimes even one way correspondence is useful, when all we can do is write =)
February 27th, 2013 at 5:50 am
Brilliant work! A lot to love in this and yeah, costs far more than 2 cents these days…great writing 🙂
February 27th, 2013 at 6:19 am
I miss letters and the delicious spaciousness of their kit of stamps, envelopes, stationary, pens of different colors and scale and stamp. But I have all that stuff and do not use any of them. Lazyness, I suppose, could be gotten over by the simple act and then let mystery into my life again!
February 27th, 2013 at 1:44 pm
i had a career with the post office working with letters and stamps..always wanting paper around me…and the pen to put to it..still…it is so important..progress is now slowly evaporating one of the oldest labor industries and iconic legends in our culture and it’s sad..i was proud to be a part of the machinery with and the humanity it serves..quite the operation behind the scenes, and you gave the subject a lovely salute 😉
February 28th, 2013 at 2:51 am
…ah, i love this… and yes, there is Rosa Parks… smiles…
March 1st, 2013 at 10:41 pm
I used to work for the post office and felt a personal connection with each line of your poem. Excellent work.