The RetroLounge Daily Poem Thread (Wed 10/22/2008)

[RetroLounge]

The Tooth Fairy

They brushed a quarter with glue
and glitter, slipped in on bare
feet, and without waking me
painted rows of delicate gold
footprints on my sheets with a love
so quiet, I still can’t hear it.

My mother must have been
a beauty then, sitting
at the kitchen table with him,
a warm breeze lifting her
embroidered curtains, waiting
for me to fall asleep.

It’s harder to believe
the years that followed, the palms
curled into fists, a floor
of broken dishes, her chainsmoking
through long silences, him
punching holes in his walls.

I can still remember her print
dresses, his checkered taxi, the day
I found her in the closet
with a paring knife, the night
he kicked my sister in the ribs.

He lives alone in Oregon now, dying
slowly of a rare bone disease.
His face stippled gray, his ankles
clotted beneath wool socks.

She’s a nurse on the graveyard shift.
Comes home mornings and calls me.
Drinks her dark beer and goes to bed.

And I still wonder how they did it, slipped
that quarter under my pillow, made those
perfect footprints…

Whenever I visit her, I ask again.
“I don’t know,” she says, rocking, closing
her eyes. “We were as surprised as you.”

Dorianne Laux

**************

:hi:

RL

[blueraven95]

1. wow

I love this one.


:hi:

[RetroLounge]

2. Good Morning!

:hi:

RL

[blueraven95]

5. Good Morning right back!

I hope you are having a good day. :hi:

[RetroLounge]

10. So far, So good...

:9

RL

[Chorophyll]

3. Dorianne Laux...

I always feel a little beat-up when I read her stuff. But in a good way.

:hi:

[RetroLounge]

9. Yeah, she's intense...

:hi:

RL

[YankeyMCC]

4. Was it Keats that is famous for the idea that

poets create worlds with their poems? I don't know much about poetry let along the history but in a recent series of novels I read that made lots of references to Keats and his work and sayings the idea of human creativity, particularly poets, actually created or shaped the world was used as part of the plot.

Ms Laux definitely created a world in my own mind that I never experienced for a while as I read her poem.

Thanks.

[RetroLounge]

11. Yeah, her choice of details is Exquisite...

Just a few words and I'm there with her...

:hi:

RL

[BlueIris]

6. Got to love the Dorianne. nt

[RetroLounge]

12. ...

:hi:

RL

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. somtimes I think poetry is not meant to be read in the bright

sunshine of the morning, as I sit comfortably with my coffee and my cats.

[RetroLounge]

13. ...

:hi:

RL

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. My dear Retro...

Sometimes poetry is so magical...

This is one of those!

Just lovely...

Thank you!

:hi:

[RetroLounge]

14. ...

:hi:

RL