If I were just a little taller,
I could cause havoc with the Universe.
I would reach up and flick the moon
from its socket,
see it skitter across the night,
a twinkling billiard ball;
maybe pocket it down a black hole.
I could rub the glitter from the stars
erase them from view,
then dust the red planet,
and pull it closer,
to hang it on an arm of the Milky Way;
an early Christmas tree bauble.
I could snuff out satellites,
between my finger and thumb
and hear the world’s communications
reduced to white noise.
I could laugh as every vehicle
travelled round in its own decreasing circle,
the drivers lost.
I could wear the blue and white Earth as a ring,
like cheap costume jewellery;
such is its degradation,
it doesn’t deserve a gold setting.
If I were of a mischievous frame of mind
I could achieve all this,
if I were just a little taller.
Glen
The Writers!
At Gardoussel retreat August 2008
4 comments:
Ah, Glen. I remember your style now... This is great! I love the rollicking fun of it. And the imagery is gorgeous. I especially like the moon skittering along like a billiard ball and Mars being hung on the arm of the Milky Way, ha! It's delightful. The only thing that jarred for me was a single word - wearing the earth 'as' a ring and not 'in' a ring, because the planet is solid so couldn't encircle a finger, but that's a titchy thing, maybe it's just me, call me a pedant, etc etc (-; I love the way you play with the common neurosis of people thinking their life would be perfect and all their problems would go away if one small physical imperfection were to be changed. Yeah, as if. I can practically hear the cosmetic surgeon's till going ching!
Thanks Sharon. You are quite right. I played with that line for ages. My original notes had the Earth as a blue/white jewel but as that was too cliched, I had to find another way to use it. I think I should have said,
I could wear the blue and white Earth set as a ring,
Better? Or not? Because I have reached the stage of not being able to see the woods for trees...
Glen
Yes, I think that's better. 'I could wear the Earth set as a ring' flows better too I think. For me, your pithy comparison of the bauble of Earth to cheap costume jewellery is so apt it doesn't even need the following line 'such is its degradation'. I think it's implicit.
Ha, I know what you mean about woods and trees. Sometimes you rework a piece so much you lose sight of where you end and the poem begins. (-:
How cool is that!! Did she offer you any free olives for being able to talk to you?
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