I have been so tired. Hence, unmotivated, uninspired. But the colds are finally over so I’m working to find some resolve, get some reading, editing, heck, maybe even some writing done this summer. Just used “charm offensive” in Botched Mission. I sent several revised poems to collaborators Victor Bonderoff and Mark Deutrom. Here’s something island themed, as we prepare to exit paradise. Oh, this image is from Take Shelter, a movie I’ve been wanting to see and I’ve been enjoying Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, recommended by my son. ‘Tis indeed “wickedly clever” and “razor sharp.” The novel’s premise could be, what if you gave into every bitchy impulse you’ve ever had? After all, nice is never enough.
THE HUMBLE MURALIST AND THE REPROACHFUL BUDDHIST
Island roads are only as long as the island,
invariably leading to the vortex every island hosts,
the village or burg hugging the cove or bay,
the place where sweaty, unsighted, unrepentant
cocaine and alcohol abusers
wind up in, gurgle down to rub
elbows with the vigorous Tilley-hatted,
swamping the gentry
with their nasty habit stench.
Island roads snake lowly
through a bucolic landscape;
swaying grasses, expansive elms,
lambs, cows, horses, llamas.
Do not be lulled.
Anxiety stalks the dales and hollows,
tamped down, concealed behind neat
rustic wooden fences,
skulking in the cottages
despite a glut of yoga, meditation,
acupuncture outlets and pottery classes.
Here there be much intestinal discomfort,
trembling, ceaseless aspiring,
straining, toward the light,
strong belief in our island selves.
Dolly for example is the biggest Buddhist,
the baddest, blackest sheep
herder on Vancouver Island,
happily bending over
for regular shearing
as long as the tax man
is tranquil about it
and she’s back at the ranch in time
to inject herself
into the tête-à-têtes.
Her resident good egg Greg studies
the recommended sutras,
working on his anger,
moving past it, out
of his townie flat to create
murals in the great outdoors.
Grandiose depictions,
towering trompe l’oeil.
Ostentatious? Yes,
but they have provided
our meek hamlet with an angle,
a tourist attraction.
Indeed, they have saved us!