Monday, August 21, 2006

Upside Down Day

Blood flows like water
shot from the bottom of a dam,
when perfectly laid out morning clouds
become foot-slippery pebbles
on an upside down day.
There’s never any warning,
some kind of bad luck roll of dice.
You run and run,
like a gerbil in a cage,
‘til solid ground grabs your feet,
and blue skies reflect in the puddles of sweat
wrung from the furrows in your brow.

21 comments:

jel said...

did ya have a bad day?
cut your self shaving?

Margie said...

Good poem!
An upside down day?
I've had those!

Anonymous said...

Bad day, huh punkin?:):):)

Okay, seriously - I feel like this.:( I need a vacation.

MB said...

Oh, ow, they did get you — alligator bites are the worst. Hope your evening's better!

Anonymous said...

Hope tomorrow is not full of somersaults!
I like your phrase "upside down day" and how you successfully used it in this poem!

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Wow...lots to think about here. I like the different directions this poem takes you in. Good one.

Kai said...

don't cha hate bad days?

Russell Ragsdale said...

Wow Pat what an inversion image

when perfectly laid out morning clouds
become foot-slippery pebbles

I fell for that one, big time!

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

Describes my day today! I had to spend 1 hour with kindergarten kids on their first day at school. It always completely drains me! I don't know who cried first - them or me. :)

Masago said...

I had one of these kind of days too. Couldn't have said it better.

sage said...

some days are better than others, eh?

I'm amazed at how you come up with poems so frequently.

Unknown said...

your words made me wonder ... if something like upside down days are needed to shake the images/poetry out...and you seem to keep your wits about you ... fast on your verbal feet. lovely what you make out of a day so completely turned around.

Borut said...

Strange synchronicity, and some similarity as well, between your beautiful poem and my awkward attempt to translate a haiku
from my Slovenian blog Žarki/Rays:

Saturday, August 21, 2004

A cloud-chained grey day
spread on the ground and staring
blankly into it

dumbdodi said...

Good day wishes to all....Very good poem

Pat Paulk said...

Jel, I had better. But, we all have 'em.

Thanks Margie!! Yes, we do!!

I know you do. Love it when you call me "punkin"!!

MB, yeah, but after the first 30 or 40 you hardly feel a thing. I did, thank you!!

Silvermoon, thank you!! That's what it felt like. The best laid plans...

Thanks Don!!

Yes, Kai I do!! But, you have to take the bad with the good.

It was an inverted day!! Thanks Russell!!

Andrew, that's a bad day!! Glad you survivied!!

Vaughn, I guess it was just Monday!!

Sage, thank you!! I chain my muse to my desk and make her write for food!! Oh, and beer!

Mikaelah, thank you!! I'd rather shake out happier images.

Thanks Jon!!

Borut, isn't that funny. Was a typical Monday all around the world.

Thank you dumbdodi, and to you too!!

dsnake1 said...

"Upside down day". guess all of us had experienced some of those days. on monday i tried to splice a telephone line and got a rude shock when AC voltage had leaked onto the line.

great poem, pat. :)

jel said...

Hey Pat hope your day is better today! :)

Natalia L. Rudychev said...

I've had days like this. You express it so good!

Joyce said...

Leaves me breathless!

polona said...

we can all relate to days like that, but few can make excellent poetry out of them.
hope today's a better day...

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

You are in a dither these days. Good one, Pat.