POEMS WRITTEN BY THE RUNNING WATER

LORENA DUARTE

** NOTE: This poem is NOT terrible.  It is one of my favorites.  Lorena is amazing!  And she's from Minneapolis! :-) **

the quicksand has taken me of late

and to this I add that

certainty certainly left me.

where have I been?

I have been waiting for the world 

to turn on its axis

have been expecting the four horsemen of the apocalypse

with what I hear on the wind

full of fools and flippants,

have been staring at the running water, daring myself

to run.

to do this week:

1. develop serious drinking/drug/depressive/social/love

problem, in manner of all great poets,

see: Thomas, Dylan

see: Mistral Gabriela

see: Dickinson, Emily

see: cummings, e.e.

see: Ahkmatova, Anna

see: Dalton, Roque

2. wear inappropriately heavy eyeliner

at 7 a.m. in manner of all brooding half drunk 27 year old poet girls

the world over.

3. sport bright pink fairy tutu costume complete with sequins

at 7 a.m. in manner of all sweet 7 year old girls

the world over.

perhaps then the knives will rip themselves out of my stomach,

perhaps then my heart will stop its running, like the water,

will stop its running like the water,

will really deserve the "nicest smile of the day award"

the guy at the coffee shop gave me this morning,

perhaps then I could map the quicksand

all our – and by our – I mean we –

all our quicksand, our holes

where we find ourselves stranded,

we could kiss each and all our

boo boos away,

we could write late into the night 

all the crazy poets

write infinity into our poems

no pretending

no parasites

no jewels

no cages

no.

only the sweat dripping of soft lovers

little bombs going off in our hearts

poem prayers under our pillows every morning.

where have I been?

where have we been?

where are we headed in this conciseness?

in these tricks

in these empty howls

in the barren?

no.

I propose instead:

1. living/loving dangerously

2. having the guts to be useless and

3. following visions of the always running towards the new

yeah, the running towards the new –

yeah like the water,

I propose poems written by the running water.