February 11, 2002
"Joan Writes A Bad Poem"
''HUH??''
Now I must say Laura is my best poetry fan. ''Greatness,'' she says, ''lurks in some of them.''
NOT in this one. So I roused Julia from bed. ''Come read this thing. I need your perspective.'' She read it. Now she usually likes anything, not effusively usually, but never NOT.
''Ugh, it's a nice attempt. But there's something missing. Something's just not clear.''
So I pondered this poem later whilst I pushed fabric underneath a rapidly moving needle all day.
''GAK! Even Julia doesn't like it, maybe it is bad. Yes, it did have the trite wordings, lazy fall back to phrases and terms usurped by others and forever thus corrupted. And, yes, I DID say X, when I meant Y. And . . .''Push. ''ROAR!'' (The motor is quite loud.) Push. ''ROAR!'' The clothes pile was gradually diminished, and I was done for the day. I quickly walked to the red car, in which Laura and Julia awaited.
Going down Fourth Avenue (yes, the two cities I love both have 4th avenues. Probably, too, the ones I hate. PHEE-nix in all its meglaplexity certainly has a 4th avenue. Who cares about PHEE-nix, though? Anyway, going down 4th avenue, I saw that lovely ice cream shop. You know the one, right next to the video shop. Sigh. My eyes kept darting there, as if by darking there, they could somehow steer the car (and Laura) there. Didn't want to mention it in case Laura was of a mind to be diet-fierce.
Past by it, we did, when Laura exclaimed, ''Where is it? I passed it by. Sun must have been in my eye . . .''
Yes, the ICE CREAM SHOP! A large serving of cheese cake ice cream, with strawberries mixed in, with a dipped waffle bowl (dipped in chocolate and coated with almonds . . .)
Ah, it was heavenly!
I'd nearly forgotten about that BAD poem awaiting perusal. Once home, however, I HAD to look. I opened the drawer and pulled out the yellow notepad. The first line went down like lumpy oatmeal. Each line got lumpier and lumpier . . .
GAK! It was horrible! I shoved the rubbish back in the drawer. The bad taste of it quickly subsided, however, for I had the happy purr of a belly full of cheese cake ice cream.