Conversations at a Party - a reading (on YouTube)
Slaty and sultry.
Humid and hep.
My facade breaks as I face away from laughter.
Behind me, conversations rise and fall like ancient empires,
Each bounded by a brief dark age.
Polite, politic introductions and animated reunions
Compete with the choreographed exotic soundtrack.
Then a squall sends everyone scattering toward screened-in stillness
Until the sky brightens
And the conversation warms as the night air cools
Humid and hep.
My facade breaks as I face away from laughter.
Behind me, conversations rise and fall like ancient empires,
Each bounded by a brief dark age.
Polite, politic introductions and animated reunions
Compete with the choreographed exotic soundtrack.
Then a squall sends everyone scattering toward screened-in stillness
Until the sky brightens
And the conversation warms as the night air cools
Once
again refreshed.
© 2012 Edward P. Morgan III
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ReplyDeleteNotes and asides:
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I haven't written anything resembling poetry in some time. I am much less comfortable posting it as it feels both slightly pretentious and more deeply personal. Plus I never know how to structure it.
All the lines came pretty much as you see them as I stood staring at the water and sky during a friend's sangeet last night. As I was jotting lines in a tiny notebook, the bride's mother asked Karen, what is he doing? I think he's writing something, she answered, that's the look he gets. The bride's mother then came out and very gently tapped me on the shoulder. I know you are working on something you are writing. Perhaps it would go better if you had some food. The consummate hostess. Lovely woman.
Some people might say "slatey" is a misspelling. Technically, it is a variant, one I kept after reading the first definition on Dictionary.com (the Irish meaning). A happy double-entendre of the non-risqué variety.
I wasn't sure whether to post this with the fiction or the essays. I opted for here, both to let people know this site is still alive as well as because it feels more creative than the essays. Could go either way.
The people who read my Facebook posts were treated to a glimpse of the process as I posted and revised this one a couple time before this (final?) version. "One of the only reasons I go to Facebook anymore is to see what you two are talking about. Not the same as everyone else." An unexpected compliment last night that made me smile.
Picture notes:
ReplyDeleteThis is Karen's shot of our host's home looking back from the water. She used a tripod and a long exposure to capture the light. She always captures the perfect picture to complement what I am trying to say.