Thursday, July 13, 2006

A Few Close Friends ... for Poetry Thursday

Hellenium, Joan Z. Rough, Copyright 2006

The prompt for this week's Poetry Thursday was to find or express humor in poetry. A while back, a character found her way to me through my muse, parked herself on my keyboard and wouldn't budge until I wrote about her. Her name is "mrs heartwell" and I can honestly say I don't know where she came from ... I suppose she might be me ... or a conglomeration of women I know. Whoever she is, I find her funny and vulnerable as she maneuvers her way through life. This is my favorite of the Mrs. Heartwell poems.


a few close friends

under a canopy of stars
mrs heartwell celebrates
her birthday with family
and a few close friends

old daddy pimpkin
brings champagne
shoots off fireworks
while his pitbull butch
cowers under a shrub

widow greeves brushing tears
from her eyes
brings the cake
crowned with fifty candles
candy roses
she's been using for years

she winks at mrs heartwell's son
twenty-two and shirtless
tight shorts exaggerating
every move
as he pumps up the keg

behind the hedge tiny tina
the sword swallower
exhibits tattoos for mr heartwell
who's anxious for a closer look
since he caught her stealing knives

iris who's away at school
sends an impersonator
knowing her mother would faint
if she opened her eyes

jzr

7 comments:

kerrdelune said...

Absolutely gorgeous, and I could see it all, Mrs. Heartwell, her tribe and her friends celebrating her birthday out under the stars - this is wonderful magical writing and every word sings. I would love to read more of the Heartwell tribe - there are echoes here of the Drinkwater clan in John Crowley's amazing book, "Little, Big" (one of my favourites ever).

Emily said...

The photo really helped me imagine this birthday taking place. Lovely!

Jim Brock said...

Beautiful, discordant, and quirky.

GreenishLady said...

This is wonderful. I want to know ... so much more. Have they met Tiny Tina before? Has the son got a close friend? And widow Greeves? A marvellous glimpse into an entire world. Thank you.

Becca said...

This put a big grin on my face! Thanks@

Visual-Voice said...

Ah! I really love this one. You've made the characters feel familiar to me.

Ceebie said...

What a cast of characters! In some ways this reminds me of Mrs Dalloway... How lucky to be struck by a lasting inspiration such as this character!