Last Days

On By dorahakIn Poems
Image credit; Kellepics @ Pixabay

The ghosts
of religion: hipsters,
academics, suburbanites
in confession: by coffins cradling
amen-ing old women
stoned.

And you’re singing
the tomcat blues;
you’re whistling
a lazy cat’s tunes.

And a pigeon
on a sidewalk colored
a tinsel rainbow
says the Captain’s
coming back soon.

Shay/Fireblossom's Word Garden Word List #4 (Laura Nyro)
Mish at dVerse Quadrille #142 ("tinsel", 44 words)
Sadje's What Do You See #112

42 thoughts on “Last Days”

  4. fireblossom32

    Oh I enjoyed this, even more upon second reading. In “The Stand” we got Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with his bell and sandwich sign, but here a humble pigeon unnoticed by the lazy cats. Because of Laura Nyro, I especially love that the pigeon says “the Captain”s coming back.

    The opening puts me in mind of mega-churches as opposed to more traditional ones where the old ladies show up for Wednesday night Mass. The second just SOUNDS so cool, I want to read it again and again. It sounds like jazz. And the third makes me think of carelessly dropped tinsel denoting the disposable aspect of the season, fallen into an oily rainbow where the pigeon walks and delivers his message. No one knows the day nor the hour, unless perhaps a little birdie told them.

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    1. I was so going for the “sound” just as you say because that’s what music is, all sound to me, I’ve never mastered catching the lyrics unless I have the liner notes in front of me. So it’s sound translated into pure emotion. I loved your reading of the tinsel, and particularly the pigeon, her message, all of which makes my heart sing! Thank you for the great Laura Nyro words and always thoughtful response, Shay.

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  6. kaykuala

    And a pigeon
    on a sidewalk colored
    a tinsel rainbow
    says the Captain’s
    coming back soon.

    Love the reference to that innocent pigeon, Dora! Sometimes we can get a lead from unexpected sources. Great that you picked it up!

    Hank

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  11. Nice two-fer with the quadrille! I sort of like “old women stoned.” but I’m not sure you meant what I read, which is old women toking up on reefer, which is a pretty great image and a plausible homage to Laura Nyro, who if she’d lived would probably still be smoking it up.

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  21. This is exquisite, Dora. I’ve read it three times to be sure of the feeling, because it has so much content packed in, despite being only 44 words. I love short forms for this–they make us condense and reevaluate by denying us the stream of our own words which can flow in too many directions and dissipate in the intellectual sand if we’re not careful. Here there is no danger of that; everything is placed before the reader like a tray of hors d’ouevres, if you’ll pardon the metaphor, phrases and images delicious and varied that pique the mental appetite. You make the list words disappear in your vision, but not Nyro or her music, which you recreate for us to savor and try to understand. I also really love the pic.

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    1. I like the “tray of hors d’ouevres” metaphor: such a short form does force a condensation of ideas and feelings, and I chopped and chopped because Nyro can be overwhelming and I didn’t want to gush on in fanatic enthusiasm. I’m glad you liked it, Joy. 🙂

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