The box fell from its shelf
Open and overturned.
Remnants of yesterday
Scattered like cornmeal.
There is no time today
For the mess it made...
Let the birds eat
And their song can be
Tomorrow's mantra.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2008 10:38PM by UPMarty.

Mary,

Let the birds eat
And their song can be
Tomorrow's mantra.


A Psalm to letting being be...thanks.

Peter

Thank you, Peter, for stopping by.

Mary

You just ain't bad for a snow bound girl. This is 'nother neat one.
My vote for where to meet is Shannon. It's cheaper to get to from most of the USA than a lot of domestic locations.

Thanks much, Terry. Shannon? I'll have to google that one. Could you give me a hint, though, like what country?

Mary

Mary, this is a good one, proof that a poem doesn't have to be very long, to be very good.


Les

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/2008 12:44PM by les712.

I like it abd enjoyed reading it.

Mary:

Very nice....succinct, yet meaningful.

Joe

Ireland.

Thanks for the compliment, Les. Appreciated.

Debutant, glad you liked it. Thanks for commenting.

Thanks much, Joe.

Terry, I can get a ticket to Shannon for $798 if leaving from an airport over 200 miles from my house. A ticket to Las Vegas from an airport 120 miles from my house is $240. Besides which, I'm fearful of flying and it would probably be much more nerve wracking to cross the ocean. What type of flight or what airline were you talking about?

Mary

mary-

very clever title! packs a subtle punch!

i had to do a double take, though, when you asked where shannon was. oy, but me father's eyes were cryin to hear such words as those...

Thanks, mitts. Geography and history have never been my strong suits. I was a math and science kind of girl...along with English (except spelling). So yeah, I embarrass myself often.

Mary

I submit that the entertainment difference in Shannon and Lost Wages will more than make up the difference in ticket prices. And, when ye fly Aer Lingus, ye step into the magic kingdom of Erie as ye board the plane, ye does. There is no flight involved, ye magically appear in the land of unicorns, leprecauns, happy wars and sad love songs.


Mitts, 'tis a sad thing, 'tis, when such a pretty colleene such as Marty herself is unaware of the site of the city of Shannon. I am happy that my own ol' Irish mother taught me the place of such cities, and the country side filled with peat too, she did. And Shannon herself sittin' so pretty upon the banks and at the mouth of such a pretty river. Only a two hour drive 'tis from Castle Blarney, where as ya know, ya can be given the gift of eloquence for the rest of your earthly life, ya can. And so close, 'tis, to where Robert Emmet himself was killed by the plague that came across the Irish sea. In 1803 'twas.

(singing now) "Oh they will hang an Irishman, for the wearin' o' the green"

Besides all of that.... When you meet an Irishman, you meet a warrior. When you teach him to write, you have met a poet.
Don't forget such as WB Yeats..

merc, seems to me you had that gift for eloquence even before you made the trip to yon castle.

mary, when i was growing up with the irish last name of my family, i was often asked why my name wasn't colleen or shannon or meghan or ...even mary. or kelly. or erin. but mitten? how could a good irish father like mine name his daughter "mitten?

Marty
Sorry that I didn't get to this poem sooner. I like the concise thought and your manner of letting the image sit and take shape. Let the birds eat the spilled cornmeal? A great variant over spilled milk, or even making lemonade out of life's lemons.

enjoyed.

Marflow

Thanks Marflow. I hadn't thought about the spilt milk or lemon analogies, but yes, same school of thought. Appreciate your reading and comments. Good to see you.

Marty

Excellent. H.

Thanks Holly.

this is very witty and very well written. CHEERS.

Thank you, Frosty.

Mary

beautiful, simply beautiful!!

K.Q.

Thanks, K.Q.

Mary

Excellent small poem Marty.

And dare I say it, it has a feel of ancient Chinese poetry about it. I mean the English translations thereof (can't read Chinese). The kind of civilised domestic reflection a mandarin's elegant, educated wife might have penned (?brushed).

Lovely last three lines.

Two little quibbles.

"remanent" is an adjective. It's straining to use it as a noun when "remnant" is available. I suggest make it "remnants" in line 3.

Your title may be a touch too clever for this poem. To me the double pun adds a note of flippancy inconsistent with the style of the poem, and of the mandarin's wife. (Am not trying to make here a pun about a flipped dish, either). At least, that's my initial reaction. I may get over it, after returning and re-reading a few times. Right now, don't have any alternative title to suggest.

Ian

Ian,
I believe the gods ordered you up to ease my heart tonight.

The kind of civilised domestic reflection a mandarin's elegant, educated wife might have penned (?brushed).

That is such an interesting and complimentary thing to say and is significantly meaningful to a past experience. Thank you.

Regarding your quibbles, yes, yes, indeed. Being a poor speller, I looked up remanent, which I thought to be pronounced remnant. I had a little difficulty figuring it out and wasn't entirely satisfied, but thought the definition was appropriate. Thanks. So was I talking about leftover carpet pieces at budget dollar? I guess I can't write chinese either.

And also the title...you are 100% right. I believe it was going to be Upsidedown, plain and simple...rather like the poem itself. But at the very last minute, upsidedawn popped into my head and I changed it right before posting.

Thanks Ian.
Marty

I prefered Upsidedawn.

Terry, I imagine you have seen and been gladdened by plenty of upsidedawns in your long distance piloting. It's a great title. An inspired flash. My point was I didn't feel it fitted the inspiration of this poem.

I'm not sure about plain Upsidedown either, but as I still haven't any good alternative to suggest, I'll shut up about it, and maybe the poem will tell Marty its real name sometime later.