Saturday, June 4, 2011

Constructing a Shell

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I'm constructing a shell
Collecting necessities, I'll form the walls--make them thick
When I have enough to last a while, I'll collect some more!

A soft quilt for my shelter

And how about when I have enough that I'll never run out?
It's possible to gather useful things before you need them
before you even have them
This is what's called
"invisible stones"
That's what I'll use to shape the tower--invisible stones

I'll wave to you from inside the tower when you pass by
I'm working something out inside!

When the walls are high, I might decide to dress the place up a bit
at which time I'll probably start acquiring what's known as
"see-through paintings"
I can dodge recurring fears and avoid other types of trouble
using see-through paintings
                                                                                       --to a point

Eventually, I'll vacate
The tower, lying on its side, might not look like much at all
But people will definitely want some of the see-through paintings
And the invisible stones will be useful to those
who can get their hands on what's left of them

As for the rest
some of it might come in handy to others with similarly-sized
desires
but most of it will be useless, unwanted
cold without the heat of my need

And yet, it will have to go somewhere
Both useful and useless tossed in a salad of use
less
ness
Still sitting, staying safe
secure
While I sit somewhere, somehow
else

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More conventional and expository (if still pretty surreal) than the last poem I posted, save a bit of alliteration toward the end.  This poem is sort of an extended metaphor about our relationship with different types of material things and the extremely surreal power attributed to completely intangible concepts like money, which, regardless of the amount, is only a representation of the ability to get more things.  How many shells can a hermit crab use at any given time?

1 comment:

chelcie said...

I like this poem very much, and I particularly enjoy what you say about $$ being a representation of our ability to collect more things. Makes me feel better about having very little at the moment. c: