poem: waiting…
ART/LIFE was a limited edition art and lit magazine that published 11 issues a year for 25 years. I produced 30 or more broadsides with my art and poetry in it for about 10 years, from 1995 to 2004. Above is the cover of the Dec. 2001 (Issue #232) below is a broadside I did of my 3:15 experiment poem “waiting” as published in that 19th anniversary issue. The brad in the middle that serves as hands rotates, as does the clock face to reveal the poem as the reader spins it around. I posted the poem (text only) back in January but I am posting it again since that is what I am doing–waiting! Waiitng to hear from Santa about the gift of working for the Grateful Palate via an interview or response to my letter (see previous post below)! Looking for work, finding meaningful satisfying work, changing fields, opening yourself to new opportunities…entails a lot of waiting as anyone unemployed and looking for work realizes!
it takes a long time
when you’re waiting waiting waiting
for the light at the end of the tunnel waiting
for the ice cream to freeze waiting
for the flame to catch waiting
for the sun to shine waiting
you can’t wait
too hard
it will never come
you must wait
softly lightly
with poise
balancing
the waiting
on your head
it wants to fall
the waiting
ends
the waiting
begins again
the waiting
is balanced
on your head
you are walking
forward
you wait
you wait
and the sun does shine
and the eggplant grills
and the tea is brewed
and the hot fudge melts
and there
is love.
(Ride the Monday Poetry Train! Check out Readwritepoem–the prompt this week is to do an experiment with found words; this offering is an experiment of a different sort!)
A wonderful circular waiting poem, very light and a scrumptious ending. I hope they got my reference at the Grateful Palate. Wait lightly, lovely thought poem,
This is wonderful. I liked the way it goes!
from the palms of my hand, you stand tall
This perfectly captured that feeling of being in limbo while waiting for whatever it is that needs to happen. I know that feeling too well, but you gave it just the right words.
A homey feel, what with words like ice cream, tea, grilled eggplant, as life unfolds while we wait.
I agree with the above—it’s a great poem. I especially like the repetition of waiting at the end of the lines of the first stanza… and I was definitely hungry by the end!