Thursday, September 4, 2008

Futilitrinity


I.
This is the story I tell to myself
when the stars are falling down:

Once there was a little boy,
a goldfish and a clown.
The clown was never happy, the boy was never sad,
the fish swam round and round and round
in the bowl he had.
The clown found love and married, the boy became a man,
the fish swam round and round and round
and knew no better than.

II.
This is the song that I sing to myself
when I’m feeling adrift and alone:

I’m just air and water,
skin and blood and bone.
The future is a pencil box,
the past has all been written,
I sat beneath an apple tree
and found that I’d been bitten,
I’m just heat and oxygen,
a double-helix legion,
a soul that’s buried underneath
a heap of scars and lesions.

III.
This is the wish that I wish when I wish,
which isn’t very often:

I wish I could be strong enough
to let my stiff heart soften.
I wish I had the nickel back
I just threw in this fountain,
I wish for progress in my pain
and purpose in my passion.

****

If these things should all fall short
(and usually they do)
I watch the rain course down the pane
slapdash,
askance,
askew.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like...
it's silly and fun.

Silly Girl said...

"The clown found love and married, the boy became a man,
the fish swam round and round and round
and knew no better than."

soul / body / and mind

One in three: soul of a clown, body constantly ageing, and the mind hopelessly cought in life's automatisms...

and three new words for me:
"slapdash,
askance,
askew. "

-confessional- said...

simply awesome.

-confessional- said...

i keep coming back to read this one again and again. great work! :)

Tess Kincaid said...

I love the juxtaposition of a goldfish and a clown. Wonderful.

Trellissimo said...

I watch the rain course down the pane
slapdash,askance,askew.

Especially liked the rhythm in these lines...

Helen said...

A delightful romp through the world of a boy, clown and goldfish.

Isabel Doyle said...

the philosophy of goldfish boy and clown- very nice

Jingle said...

lovely humor.

Templeton's fury said...

you have a talent. thx for sharing this!