Lunch Guest

Bob, , ,

Regardless of words, poetry is forever
Without a portrait,

A steering column in the void, poetry
Cannot vanish into verse,

A terrible silence upends your sleep,
You are desperate to wake up poetry,

The periodic table of poetry, one element
Next to another element is metaphor,

Poetry is your lunch guest eating with
Its hands, you think to imitate this
But necessarily make a buffoon of yourself,

Poetry is under no obligation to value sense,
It is to image and rhythm it gives its blood,

Poetry tosses pennies into craters on the moon
But makes no wish, only the feathered fire of
Its reaching out to something other than itself.

35 thoughts on “Lunch Guest”

  1. WOW! What a definition after definition of poetry. I’m immediately reminded of Sun Ra’s embracing the unknown as the key to unlock all kinds of ? all kinds of, well, inspiration I guess…..”desperate to wake up poetry” and how wonderful to have the opportunity to “reaching out to something other than itself.” It’s Saturday again…Bob poem day and it keeps getting better. I love the title too – Lunch Guest. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to invite the mailman in for a tea cup filled with whisky. One of these years. Great job Bob.

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    1. Thanks Steve. I’m familiar with Sun Ra, but not to the extent to being familiar with his ideas about the unknown. I will be checking out. Haha…if you do invite the mailman in for some tea/whiskey, let me know. I think that’s a great idea. I’m glad you like the Saturday poems. I saw the Brewers won again! I watched the highlights.

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      1. It will require a boost of confidence to invite the mailman in for a drink. First, I have to get to know him or her. Maybe I’ll time it so I’m sitting on the front stoop of our apartment complex with a paper bag of whisky and offer him a hit off the bottle.

        If you got an hour or so to waste, here’s one of my favorite movies about Sun Ra. I think it was originally called PIMPS AND PROSTITUTES IN OUTER SPACE.

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      4. I see that the movie is age restricted. If you just put in the You Tube search “Sun Ra Space Is the Place,” it will show up. Funny film and informative about him. Let me know what you think.

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  8. This is full of great lines Bob, and something else I keep trying to find the word for but can’t seem to. It’s humanity but also the otherness of poetry – and the relationship and chemistry of both. The stanza about the lunch guest, poetry’s behaviour and the poet’s attempt to imitate says so much. And I think the idea and humility of “necessarily making a buffoon of oneself”, is important to the entire poem and concept. So cool.
    The last stanza blows me away, especially the last two lines… “but makes no wish, only the feathered fire of its reaching out to something other than itself.” Wow. Absolutely beautiful.

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    1. Thanks Chris!! That’s wonderful of you to say. I really like the idea of humanity and otherness. I’m so glad you read that in this poem. And the humility…I agree, I’m not sure how to say it either, but I’m glad it worked out.

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  9. Fantastico, Bob. The lunch guest stanza makes this poem for me. Don’t get me wrong. I liked the other stanzas, too. They had bold images and ideas. But the lunch guest felt so personable and cut from everyday life. It went from metaphor/idea to solidity.

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    1. Thanks Dave. That’s awesome of you to say. That personable feeling, I’m glad it worked. And solidity, I’m really happy you think so.

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  12. lannazee96's avatar lannazee96 says:

    Wow!! “Poetry tosses pennies into craters on the moon
    But makes no wish, only the feathered fire of
    Its reaching out to something other than itself.” – brilliant

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