By J.J. Tindall
MERCURY IN RETROGRADE
Heart full of dew
and cinemas;
the contraption of memory
clattering;
autumn leaves turn to gems
and gazelles.
Under-appreciated oak and elm
transmogrify into blazing festivals
and suburban lanes
become shattered rainbows.
Heart full of ruined clues,
I attempt a modest sketch
with the tip of a scimitar
and the ash
of twenty years
of incinerated journals.
I wish to suggest the glow
of stars and jewels
with the detritus
of unrelenting failure
and ceaseless humiliation,
forge a dew-drop diamond
from this crucible of agony.
I declare this week
the autumn of my life!
I dare my weak heart
to forgive itself, perhaps
treat itself to a silent movie
with an animated short
composed of silver sketches.
I celebrate the clatter
of my antique projector
and the damp of the shroud
on the abandoned pipe-organ,
lucid unto the fleeting images
beamed across the crimson dusk,
gazelle upon gazelle,
scimitar after scimitar,
each a jeweled clue,
each a ruined adieu.
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J.J. Tindall is the Beachwood’s poet-in-residence. He welcomes your comments. Chicagoetry is an exclusive Beachwood collection-in-progress.
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More Tindall:
* Chicagoetry: The Book
* Ready To Rock: The Music
* Kindled Tindall: The Novel
Posted on October 18, 2012