Tracking
When I was in the sixth grade I got around learning proper grammar because my English teacher thought my poetry was much more important. I actually wish he didn’t now but… I was on a three-year cycle…every three I’d change up mediums. Short stories, poetry, band, photography, singing, acting, writing plays, writing nothing, photography (again), writing again!
I still find poetry extraordinarily challenging. There’s so much craft involved. Back in undergrad I wrote a line…”And the days slap each other as they turn over.” Every few years I revisit this line and see if I can write the rest of the poem that goes with it. This is my 5th attempt. I haven’t tried since…2006 I think.
TRACKING
The days slap each other as they turn over
The fall and its dried leaves are sandwiched then,
swallowed whole. Above every memory
A day repeats and reminds you that this
Is where you stood, at the same time last year.
Underneath laugh tracks are looping,
Old scores straddle and, disorient you.
The ha-ha-ha breathes wet air onto your soles.
Two separate songs playing in one set of earphones
What’s today’s date? The alarm didn’t go off.
Was I suppose to wake you up?
This is me. Christine Jean.
www.christinejeanchambers.com
Photographer/Writer/ Swiss Army Knife
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