Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Illuminating Infrared


Today, as I walked on
the backs of waving shadows
part of a conversation jumped
from a pair of wagging pony tails
to an ever inquisitive appetite
in the belly of my inner ear.

The one blurted out to the other, as if
I was one of the myriad of tree reflections
flirting for the attention of rubber soles,
“you won’t believe what Alan did
when he turned out the lights”.

Everything in me stopped,
except for my feet that knew better
than to turn around to hear what Alan did.
When my mind caught up with my stride
I switched on my peeping-tom,
night-vision imagination, and filled in the blanks
with illuminating infrared.




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25 comments:

Becky said...

Hi there - came to you from Katie's place. This is a wonderful poem, with great imagery and tempo.

So glad I stopped by!

polona said...

another wow!
funny and carried out with great imagery!

gautami tripathy said...

You did right, switching off.

:D

daisies said...

i love this, such familiar imagery to my own walks :)

jel said...

do we really want to know what Alan did, or was he with katydid?
:) humm

Masago said...

You old ninja!

Russell Ragsdale said...

Do dogs chase cars? I think you've touched on part of a universal theme. Arf arf!

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

good one! You have some of the most interesting thoughts. :)

NINANINA said...

ah, you excorised your curiosity!

Pris said...

I lIKE.

dsnake1 said...

i think masago is right.
you are a ninja in disguise. :)
Cheers!

Janice Thomson said...

Ditto Andrew...your poems are always so unique in theme...another good one Pat!

david santos said...

Very good poem, Pat.
Thanks for you work. Have a good day

floots said...

i'm glad you didn't listen in
(but thanks for those pix) :)

Unknown said...

when isn't the radar on? loved the images of ponytails conversing and a hungry (insatiable?) inner ear! loved it!

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

A wild one, but a goodie. You have a unique perspective. Maybe it's your birthright, or better yet the bourbon. Pour me a glass.

trinitystar said...

I'm intrigued as to what Aland did.
Good one Pat!

Kai said...

:-]

sage said...

you're letting out the male secrets Pat! Yes, such a comment would catch most of our ears, nicely done

Yes said...

I LOVE these intensely original images--"walking on the backs of shadows", "the belly of my inner ear"...they capture the scene so clearly!
As for me, I'm shameless about eavesdropping on conversations...
people don't really expect privacy on public streets!
(And besides, it sounds like she DID want to have an audience for her "secrets")

Anonymous said...

Pat, you made me laugh! I felt like I was walking alongside of you, arm in arm...when the famous line was uttered, I stopped in my tracks...but you pulled me onward...I wonder what happened that night...let you imagination tell us more :)

Pris said...

I like:-)

Bill said...

They may have chosen you as a captive audience, Pat.

Rethabile said...

I'll send you my email address so you can tell me what he did. Very nice stuff. A story in a poem, or a poem in a story.

Neoma said...

so now we are all wondering just what it was that Alan Did.....haha