I’ve been workin’ on the railroad…on a new poem…

Roots. Here it be, the latest work-in-progress. The “I, engineer” here full of bravado. It’s not *me* that’s for certain. This redhead is acutely aware that she controls nothing. Do you think the switch in POV works?

Dawning Consciousness


She wakes grimly febrile,
desperately nostalgic
for dawdling in ditches
of tadpoles,
wagering glass
marbles in snow lanes,
sewing mini skirts
for her Barbie,
mashed potatoes,
fried baloney,
the gag reflex.

She shuts her eyes,
snubbing the town’s lens
zooming in on her culpability,
incensed at the sun’s insolence,
rising despite the collisions,
the most recent death toll.

She groans, engulfed in tokens
of admirers, embattled by, dreading
the delirium of desire,
one resolutely phlegmatic
as the other effuses, plummets.
No incidental leaf
but a loose lunatic rook
lit mate-old school canon
raining down like a medicine ball.
Men ostensibly,
on, off or side tracked
interpersonals interpenetrating,
fictions, demands, tousles
delightfully incessant.

No accident this transport back
to forsaken tracks,
the giant drainpipe beneath.
I engineered it.
I, of humble origin
and melancholy disposition
provoke the atmosphere,
provide the stimulation,
choose the destination,
orchestrate the robberies.

I, in the cliché of a crisp white shirt
and black hat
inflict pain, increase pressure,
draw hostility, reel in crisis
commonly referred to
as authentic experience.
I dare to sprawl,
invite expansion
as vital to my vitals
as blood on needlework.

One thought on “I’ve been workin’ on the railroad…on a new poem…

  1. Hi, this is my favorite yet, Heather, of all that I have read or listened to of yours so far. I really like how you capture the affect and consciousness of the She– if feels really real and concrete. Best, Blake

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