Does Anyone Read Anymore?

[FAUXPUFF]

chambered heart





he saw her out by the gate of the compound, opening the gate

and as he swayed to the shape of her hair he thought

“here i am, home again, it feels like i never left”



and when she entered the building and her eyes were close enough

he saw ten thousand memories of his life with her

folding and carving into the corners of the former recollections



then they had made a little life together

Sunday nights, curled up with one another, lit by their joy

but he had begun to grow restless and uneasy



he had realized that he was not whole

and unless he could give his whole self to her,

their love would remain incomplete



so within that tea-colored room in the house next to the redwood

he said to her “wait right here, I’ll be right back”

and began sealing off the room, with its many windows



she sat quietly as the light and oxygen was being blocked out

she wondered where he was going and when he would be back

she would do anything for him



just a few yards from the house, he was stopped by a rabbit

the rabbit asked him “would you stop breathing for her?”

he answered “yes, I would stop breathing for her”



after a few days of continous night, the air had begun to thin

she would wait forever for him, but he was going to be back in a minute

she realized that she would even stop breathing for him



such was their connection, he found his breathing to be strained

as he went on his path to find his whole self

a terrible storm was marching his way as well



the storm came and washed away the footprints along the path

and it also unglued one of the tarps over the windows

a tiny bit of air leaked inside



so he continued on his way

he had no idea at that time that he was walking the wrong way

eagerly he rushed to the horizon, smiling



from her room, she chokingly said “I can’t breathe!”

“Jacob, I can’t breathe! Come back!”

not knowing what to do, she sent a friend to him



twenty years later, that friend would hold a mirror to his bearded face

he would see a haggard fraction of a man

swimming in waste, with no sheets on his bed



he proclaimed that he had made an unforgivable mistake

but the mistake was yet to be made

if he chose not to turn around and return to his home



laying on the floor, she had made her peace

she was to fulfill her promise, to breathe her last breath with his name

and so she began speaking through her friend, a goodbye



“turn around Jacob. I know you think you lost the house by the redwood”

“you’re walking the wrong way. I love you Jacob”

“that’s right! now come to me. the sound of my voice will guide you”



as he turned around, he could feel the warmth of the orange sun on his face

and suddenly there was a breeze against his back

the illuminated path began to straighten and shrink



his footsteps made an orchestral sound as he strode back to himself

in the distance he could see a large tree next to a quiet house

as he ran she said “Jacob, is that you?

 

[FAUXPUFF]

I guess not...

 

[suddenly]

I read your post. Very nice.

 

[Poker Face]

I read your post. I linked to "ninetowns". I don't get it. What am I missing?

 

[LadyMaMa]

...it is time, in the mind at times, to see the creamy, white arc of a thousand gulls
and to follow it across a thousand miles...(Levien, The Architect and the Arsonist)

If you like Levien's poetry, you might also appreciate Haruki Murakami's novels. I'd recommend The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.

Best,
Susan

 

[FAUXPUFF]

Thank you.
Poker Face, I'm not sure what you don't get...
Ninetowns is simply my poetry blog.
From there you may also link to my ebook at Barnes & Noble.
Enjoy!

 

[VAPOINSANO]

beautiful fauxpuff,

newbies should come here 1st for a warm-up!
does any body read anymore? good 1,
poetry,nice relaxing + calm ,
ahhhh

since joining ecf thats all i do
read read read rea re r.........!! lol

this calmed me out of warp drive mode,
gave my cranium a break.....ahhhh yes..
thx

lets all take some time this season to be thankful!
to have nothing is everything ! (zen i think?)

V.I.

I tend to run warm consistently.....

 

[Mac]

I get a little chuckle about this title being posted on a forum.

 

[FAUXPUFF]

I meant "read" as in read poetry/literature and the like...
But I get a chuckle too, I hear where you're coming from.

 

[BlackMetalBuick]

I've been reading biographies lately. Got a little burnt out after reading the massive Under the Dome by Stephen King.

 

[FAUXPUFF]

Here's another one:

copper light (my dear)

are you ready?
all hands vertical i walk around thinking that something is going to happen
already moving backwards i feel the eternal sting of an ancient collapse
a collapse of what is held close within, for all

i only get this feeling when the key changes
but if it is not right, where have i gone today to charm your heart away?
you lay especially still under the spell of a heavy weathervane tonight

i come from an island for fourteen years stranded to deliver a package to you
i hear the pounded thump of my core walking up to your cabin
you could never have missed me in the way of the clouds

so i turn the corner of a smokestack billow
and see the rays thin out into strands of amber above your head
i hand you the package and worship your smile as you open it

clouds slowly roll out of the box, pierced by the falling droplets
your hand shakes and everything spins around itself
i feel that you are my sun, evergreens in the summer

what it was we did to get here, i will no longer wonder
only thank the hobbyhorse maker for this architecture of matter
my hand it slides into yours and the fires are lit in the homes, for the little ones

 

[frequentj]

I read quite a bit, especially since I got a kindle. Currently, I'm reading The Fountainhead, although I can't say I like any of the characters. They seem too one-dimensional, and I find their behavior to be abnormal, but I suppose that's Ayn Rand for you. I suppose I should say post-Anthem Rand. Before that, I was on a little sci fi kick and read Herbert's Dune, Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, Stephenson's Snow Crash, and Philip K. ....'s DO Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Before that, I was on a non-fiction kick and my favorites of those were Public Enemies (which ruined the movie for me, but that was the movie's fault) and The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks. I'm always looking for a good read. I think next up for me is David Wong's John Dies At the End. I also liked Walter Mosley's Devil In A Blue Dress, so I think I might pick up a few more of the Easy Rawlings mystery series.

P.S. I kept thinking I was mistyping because it wouldn't type Mr. Philip K.'s last name, but I suppose a filter is blocking it! His last name is D!ck.