Sunday, November 4, 2012

A Poem by S.E. Ingraham

IT'S BEEN MY EXPERIENCE

It's been my experience
When the mantle smells
Like swamp-gas, it's time
To brew a pot of never

Wind the battery clock
And set it to snakes
In a basket or half past
Unpleasant children

Crank the pepper-mill
Past the scent of jackboots
Or being locked up in a jar
By now the tea should taste

Like forever and the mantle
Will be starting to sway
It will be past time to seize
A pocket level which will feel

Very much like nothing
Worth knowing, life
In prison, or a stack
Of quilted lies

Or, might I suggest
Instead you take
The powder brush -
The one giggling there

By the clock - but hurry
- if it coughs or worse,
Sneezes, it will vanish
On you -

For by now, the mantle
Shall sound like a waterfall
That really tall one
In South America -

And the level well - it will be
Old news, the tea will be dirt
The clock a cow and ...
It's been my experience


S.E.Ingraham lives and writes in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - a city not-so-jokingly referred to as being on the lip of the Arctic Circle. She shares space with the love of her life, a retired survey-engineer, as well as a supremely loyal wolf/border-collie. For the past two summers, she's been lucky enough to spend time with a group of crypt-kickers (aka: archaeological students) in a tiny town in southern Italy, in the shadow of a dormant volcano. She believes this is greatly influencing everything she writes. More of her work may be viewed here: http://leapinelephants.blogspot.ca/

10 comments:

  1. Oh, man. How much do I love this line:
    "it's time
    To brew a pot of never"

    Fantastic. Love this poem, Sharon.
    de

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  2. OMG ... sorry to co-opt 'the kids' truly, my dear, poet friend - this poem must be read again and again - it is stunning - and had me gasp as one would at a concert when music builds and fills your being and you can only cry. BRAVO!!! You have outdid SE Ingraham!

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  3. Sharon- This is absolutely stunning, my friend...

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  4. Sharon, what an amazing brew of a poem! So well done. Like the repetition of "It's been my experience".:)

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  5. Sharon!! What a fantastic poem--I mean, wow!! So creative and fun--love the pot of never and half past unpleasant children--all wonderful, congratulations :-)

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  6. This is like snapping open a box of creativity and watching it bounce out. Loved it.

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  7. WOW! This poem is full of tasty lines; a surprise in every beat. Love it!!!!

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  8. Gosh, what a treat, SE!

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  9. wow, very surreal in it's imagery. Dig it, Sharon!

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