Poem for Poetry Thursday
Drone
Here we are now, the wasp trapped between the window and me.
He feels the cool breeze of freedom but cannot find his way out.
This is the last time I’ll see him alive. But he’s moving on
and so am I. You can only think about dying
for so long. Today I am speaking in the mother tongue
in which living and dying is the same language. Today
I want to hurt something, smash something between glass and hand.
The wasp in his black muscle T and stripped pants so tight
his ass looks like a bubble. I tap the pane. Watch his antenna move.
He must feel grounded. Or trapped. Misses his mother.
God save the queen. God’s mercy is missing.
Maybe he’s lost hope. Maybe he wants to jump.
Or wait for the wasp rescue squad that’s just not coming.
And after his passing, I will hold endless memorials for him.
I’ll speak fondly of him as if he never made the wrong choices.
Never climbed around my neck to sting me. I will never forget
the redness, the swelling—the gift that keeps on giving.
But you must move on and so must I. Does he believe in posterity?
Decorum implies that that I stop but retaliation seems the only way.
I am the horrifying other who can’t be located or identified. I am
God’s missing mercy. Today we’ll gather our incomplete information,
our faint knowledge of each other, and plot each other’s destruction.
You cannot find your way back to the cool breeze of freedom.
This is the last time you’ll see me alive. Today I struggled. You struggled.
The universal “you” struggled. Without sentiment. It happened.
Here we are now.
Here we are now, the wasp trapped between the window and me.
He feels the cool breeze of freedom but cannot find his way out.
This is the last time I’ll see him alive. But he’s moving on
and so am I. You can only think about dying
for so long. Today I am speaking in the mother tongue
in which living and dying is the same language. Today
I want to hurt something, smash something between glass and hand.
The wasp in his black muscle T and stripped pants so tight
his ass looks like a bubble. I tap the pane. Watch his antenna move.
He must feel grounded. Or trapped. Misses his mother.
God save the queen. God’s mercy is missing.
Maybe he’s lost hope. Maybe he wants to jump.
Or wait for the wasp rescue squad that’s just not coming.
And after his passing, I will hold endless memorials for him.
I’ll speak fondly of him as if he never made the wrong choices.
Never climbed around my neck to sting me. I will never forget
the redness, the swelling—the gift that keeps on giving.
But you must move on and so must I. Does he believe in posterity?
Decorum implies that that I stop but retaliation seems the only way.
I am the horrifying other who can’t be located or identified. I am
God’s missing mercy. Today we’ll gather our incomplete information,
our faint knowledge of each other, and plot each other’s destruction.
You cannot find your way back to the cool breeze of freedom.
This is the last time you’ll see me alive. Today I struggled. You struggled.
The universal “you” struggled. Without sentiment. It happened.
Here we are now.
Comments
(i think we're both concerned with freedom today...)
seem to come full circle,
with the "this is the last
time i'll see you/you'll
see me alive"
and so many interesting
points and visuals
that i had to go back
and reread for my own enjoyment...
the description,
the planned memories...
great work!
Jennifer: I have to admit, all of the talk about 9/11 certainly influenced this poem. Besides, Twitches always writes such good political, topical poetry, she was my inspiration. (Thanks, T!)
i had trouble reading this poem-it made me very sad. probably because you have written it well with an authentic voice.
best wishes, kj
Your intelligence here--unflinching, bold--is simply beautiful and revelatory. Big, big stuff.
in which living and dying is the same language' - totally awesome. The poem as a whole works on several levels and is excellent.
An incredible poem--it's been on my mind all day.
http://in-the-loop.blogspot.com (It won't let me post normally!)
I didn't immediately think of the war, but perhaps it's not so immediate in New Zealand. Looking back, there does seem to be something more going on in the poem than just the wasp
I tap the pane. Watch his antenna move.