Adirondack Chairs ~ Deborah T. Johnson
Jigsaw puzzle of greenery, the trees
Nestle next to each in the
slicing sideways light of sunset.
The yard in the back is filled with it,
Filled with the late late summer side slant
of sun,
The plastic Adirondack chairs, left, as we left them,
Me, looking at you, maybe my feet
in your lap...
No….. it was the yard man that set them ajar.
The one time we sat there, your discomfort
Grated on my tranquil storybook
Vision, of us sitting
in the sun,
Drinking,
The Wine,
so we went inside.
Now I see them, those pretend plastic,
Pale blue, light blue to match
The house,
chairs of ease,
One chair looking at the other, while
the other stares off into
Space.
We meant to build a fire that
Summer, a fire pit
evening of
Romance.
But, I saw your dis-ease.
Was it the heat? The drone
of the bugs?
The chance of a gnat,
Landing in your
drink?
Or was it,…something
Different.
Something not found
in the sideways slant of
cooling air.
Was it, something
else, off
in that horizon,
Blocked,
by the pale blue the light
Blue house.
Something,
cutting your sight
Off
from the road.
It must have been, because, you said
Goodbye, several times
That summer. A nod, a
kiss, and you were
Off,
in your mind,
because you never
left, but sat in your uncomfortable
Sadness of not
Belonging here, or
Where you thought;
Wistful plans set, a
Blaze not by
Midnight cords of wood
in a pile among the
Rocks.
Set ablaze by whimsy,
A promise, not
Promise.
So, we sat that summer,
and watched the flowers in the
pots bloom,
and the rains carry one
away,
And the gnats gnatting
as gnats do,
Cannon balling into pinot,
taking up
Residence, in that
Pale blue light blue
house
With plastic mountain
Chairs
On the lawn.
Those chairs,
Those, Adirondack chairs
Still sit, still sit askew, still
sit, in the slanting light,
Still sit, waiting,
as I do,
For a time
Things, will be right
with the
World.
We must get, to
the other side, of
That Summer.
Let the snow pile high,
on those Chairs,
Get to, the whimsy, and
the Promise.
Watch down the
road, for a time to
travel, and not sit,
in uncomfortable
Sadness,
Askew in plastic
Chairs.
feelings in this poem too
feelings in this poem too deep for me to interfere with
'slicing sideways light of sunset' is a beautiful line.
I applaud the strategic way
I applaud the strategic way each image deployed contributes to the increasing emotional impact. I also like the conclusion, giving the Chairs the last word, and the last presence, in the poem. This is real verbal skill.
Starward
Thank you
This is a rewrite of one you critque earlier. One observation you had was the quick lines at the end of the previous. Im submitting this to an anthology and wanted to shorten it so the quick lines at the end got compressed a bit. I hope it didnt lose some of the "overheard conversation" you observed in the previous. You always sense the essences of my poetry for which I am grateful.
Thank you. This is the
Thank you. This is the version to submit, for sure. The overheard conversation is still definitely present, but, on this reading, the power of the imagery took center stage. And those last three lines---in which the Chairs remain with the last word---is brilliantly effecient. I would like to say---and I hope you will receive this in the same spirit that it is intended, despite the clumsiness of my expression---this seems like a haunted poem, ending with inanimate objects bearing witness to the poem's content. In this way, to cite an example, Kubrick improved on King's novel when, in his film, The Shining, the film's images end with the inanimate photograph in the inanimate and empty hotel, which has become, again, silent and motionless. This is far more effective than a neat tie-up in some form of, "They all lived happily ever after."
This poem, as a haunted poem, is one of the finest in that form that I have read in a long, long time.
Starward
Never Clumsy
Never clumsy very spot on. Thank you
Thank you. It was a
Thank you. It was a privilege to read this poem, and to experience its presentation of such poignant emotion in such an effective, and affective, way.
Starward
odyssey of sadness
odyssey of sadness
Covid -19
saddness Thank you for the read.