Tuesday 5 August 2014

4 Poems by Alan Botsford

the other shoe

There’s a concrete
Slab with a
Seedling sprouting through:
That’s you.
There’s a pair
Of pals in their
Natural habitat:
That’s laughter.
There’s a runner
Racing by you
To the finish line:
That’s fine.
There’s a peace
You’ll never see
The full measure of:
That’s love.
There’s a feeling
That the other
Shoe never fits:
That fits.
Don’t worry.
There’s a change
In the air
That’ll soon be read:
Enough said.


The Mermaid

The mermaid captured mute
Tells her story of silence.
We build a cathedral of listening
To catch the echoes of what
She says. Buried cathedrals deep
In the sea under the sea. It’s
Twice as meaningful at half
The price, for hers is a currency
Of absence that embraces silence
And waits for the perspective to change.
We haven’t the means to understand
Her only mirroring her.
I swim the length of incomprehension
To see her reflection in my words.


drug of choice
       
what word for you hits
a nerve
what word for you opens
a vein
what word for you is
a rush
what word for you blows
your mind
what word for you slows
it down
to get
around
and around
what word for you before
getting heard
is
a lesson learned
what word for you, hard-
earned, hits
home
what word for you is
your “holy shit!”
what word for you cases
the joint before
making its point
what word for you holds
itself back
while you know it
has your back
what word for you is
before after

Poem


There’s a concrete
Slab with a
Seedling sprouting through:
That’s you.
There’s a pair
Of pals in their
Natural habitat:
That’s laughter.
There’s a runner
Racing by you
To the finish line:
That’s fine.
There’s a peace
You’ll never see
The full measure of:
That’s love.
There’s a feeling
That the other
Shoe never fits:
That fits.
Don’t worry.
There’s a change
In the heir
That’ll soon be read:
Enough said.


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