Thursday, February 17, 2011

Big Tent prompt: Title first, then poem

Recess in the Sky
by Laurie Kolp

The tired boy took refuge
under his favorite oak tree,
hit the grass like a napping
pup. Pushing Pawpaw’s lawn 
mower through the winter worn 
grass had taken much longer
than planned; he was hungry
and tired, but the enticing
sky called his name. Above
a perfect scoop of vanilla
floating in a sea of Jell-O 
peeked over Cool Whip clouds
as if teasing his grumbling
gut; or maybe it was a marble,
swirls of blue and white,
a taw lofting through the air
inviting him to play. Funny
how they said his mother lost 
her marbles, yet he never knew
what that meant. Maybe they
were floating in the heavens
somewhere over the rainbow,
fading away with her memory.

Big Tent Poetry

19 comments:

barbara said...

Pawpaw. I had to look at your profile to see where you are from. My grandparents were Mamaw and Papaw. Rural Tennessee.

Laurie Kolp said...

Southeast Texas... my grandmother was Nonna. Great grandmother Nonna B (for Brendel).

flaubert said...

Laurie, very interesting images here,
"scoop of vanilla floating in a sea of Jell-O". I have always thought "losing your marbles" was a strange saying.


Pamela

irene said...

Very subtle how you evoked poignancy.

Rethabile said...

Very nice. Thank you. I've always had a thing with oak trees.

Mad Kane said...

That was wonderful!

Anonymous said...

The most interesting thing to me about this poem is his playful thought about his mom losing her marbles. I enjoyed this.

Linda said...

Oh—I did enjoy the details.

Laurie Kolp said...

Thank you!

BTW- This boy is the same one I wrote about in the last wordle... and there's more to come, too.

~laurie

vivinfrance said...

I look forward to the more-to-come, then. I really loved your poem and the pictures it conjured in my mind.

nan said...

This poem draws one in like the day dream it describes . . . and then the reader comes out of it with sadness at the little boy's wonder. Evocative and well done.

Maggie said...

The imagery was beautiful. Loved this.

RJ Clarken said...

I feel such a sadness for the boy - there's a part of him that is waiting over the rainbow, but lost for now. I definitely want to read more, since you said there's more to come.

Tumblewords: said...

I'm glad there's more coming. This piece is touching and tender - well crafted.

Kelly said...

I love how the imagery fits with a child's point of view - especially Cool Whip clouds. Wonderful!

Cathy said...

I would never thought as clouds as cool whip. Love the shift in the poem.And how the boy is trying make of his world.

Anonymous said...

Talented, lovely writing.

Anonymous said...

Please feel free to share 1 to 3 poems with our potluck poetry today, first time participants could use old poems or poems unrelated to our theme, Thanks..
Happy Monday!

Love your blog, your poetry is impressive..

Laurie Kolp said...

Thank you, Jingle Poetry, for letting me know about your site.