like an anteater: 315 poem Aug 3, 2001
for the poetry train this week, instead of looking for another train poem (believe it or not, i have more!), i went deep into the 3:15 archives (well, not too deep–this one was from 2001 but published in 2006 in between sleeps: the 315 experiment 1993-2005)
anyway, this one seemed right for this rainy expectant night in 2008…as i sit here in the purple bath with the window open to let out the steam from the dryer (long story)
the watch alarm dashes
the dreams not even
fragments left to explore
no ephemeral ghosts even
just a gray crush of
burning eyes a tight hip
the little dog though
he’s quite awake
excited happy
ready to take on the day
his little black hairs
scattered across lavender sheets
black flea feces and white eggs
his tail tightly curled
he watches for fleas and
zaps them up his tongue
fast and efficient
like an anteater
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Ah, I hate the alarm; you nailed it. I’ve watched my dog do the same thing and always think, is it already time for more Frontline? Great poem!
Wonderfully written and eeeeeewwwwwwwwwww on the flea feces. yech – images in my head now – won’t go away!
Great poem. I’m trying to reset my alarm clock (the feline variety), unfortunately she doesn’t come with a snooze bar. :)
I remember this one. Anyone who can get “flea feces” into a poem deserves a hand. Haha.
Oooh, how about a new word: fleaces (flea-feces)
Now I call you a great poet. Writing poetry about flea feces deserves that..
I like the first part the most, almost dreamy.
again it’s the magic of writing at 315am–the editor was sound asleep when i found myself writing about flea feces!
i know–how embarrassing–to admit to sleeping with fleas and flea feces! not something i’d typically go around telling people about, much less in a poem, much less published on a website or a book!
it’s also surprising that it came out in stanza form–3 stanzas at 6 lines each…
lissa, the first stanza is a reference to the night terrors i have (acute and chronic) and the last 2 lines i guess were what i remembered of the night terror i had had that night
thanks for all your positive comments!