Three poems by Joe Bisicchia
Simpleminded
How commonplace this job has become,
carrying out the basket of the guillotine.
Makes it easier, or so it sometimes seems.
Hopefully, it is not wicked mindlessness.
Better to be blind, than possess such a mind.
Rather be simpleminded in my banality
than have inability to see the ordinary.
But, sometimes my head rattles at its seams.
Maybe, inside all these severed heads,
there are cosmos
just like they are inside of me.
If so, how very sad a useless collection,
all as functional now as
mine.
And I, well, I was so erudite.
I wonder if for them, I can have ability
to speak so very eloquently.
Probably not.
Easier to keep mine attached
stupid as it is
and clump theirs together
as slop.
Pink Sofa
Can’t remember the clothes she wore,
if any,
but I can still see that bright pink sofa,
puffed with slender curves,
and its back firm in trimmed wood
carved with kissing birds.
Something special about French provincial.
It is no wonder kingdoms go to war
over such furniture.
Blessed and heroic are those who die for more.
Yet, oh, material, all the shapes of your lore!
Silly how hearts shape south and north.
Easy to lose sight of her and see fabric, objects,
bits and pieces, stuff, in attics of regret.
For this, everyday, we lay down our lives
upon puffed curves of velvet.
Tree in the Forest
Sally sang.
No one savored the sound.
She settled
having sung for herself
and the sky.
–
Joe Bisicchia digs the spiritual dynamic of humankind and he writes of our shared existence as one world under God. In the Image was named one of the two Honorable Mention awardees for the Fernando Rielo XXXII World Prize for Mystical Poetry. Romeo and Julie is a critically acclaimed one act play that was produced by La Salle University. The current public affairs professional in New Jersey is a former award winning television host who also taught high school English. He also co-invented the award winning family card game Fuddy Duddy. Find out more at www.TellJoe.com.
Comments
By Linda Jones Malonson on January 26th, 2013 at 9:15 PM
I like the word “banality” in the first poem “Simpleminded”. “The Pink Sofa” was interesting, the photo of a metal glider was a good contrast to the softness of the material sofa. However, I enjoyed “Trees in the Forest”, as it touched me and reminded me why I so enjoy writing.
By Rae Desmond Jones on January 27th, 2013 at 4:11 PM
Tree in the Forest worked really well for me, because it didn’t explain, but left the image to the imagination. i thought Simpleminded is a great idea, but explained too much …. Pink Sofa also draws the general point explicitly when it might work better if it were implied …
Enjoyed them.
By Joe Bisicchia on January 28th, 2013 at 6:16 PM
Linda, Rae, thanks so much for your comments.
It’s been said so many times regarding writing, and always worth saying again–brevity helps. Regarding Tree in the Forest, in few words I was just trying to say that even though no one seemingly may hear our apparently solitary voice, we have our own ears, and perhaps even maybe a divine listener somewhere.
I’ll keep working on my voice. Thank you tremendously for reading it. Means so much to every writer.
Joe