Schedules
When you're paranoid even the people in front of you are stalking you.
That mirror she holds up, the vague and bouncing eye
reflected back, so all you know of her is that she wears too much mascara,
but not enough hairspray,
and exactly the right amount of perfume, a hint of which trails behind
to put you off the scent.
But she's watching in her mirror and in the shiny storefronts
just opening, lights flickering over displays of carefully positioned dolls
intermittent shadows strobing their bodies; if they move at exactly the right time
you will never know.
If a person rode the same bus every day you could stalk them from anywhere.
That woman in front, who also catches the 8:24 with her unmatched socks
and occasional calf-covering boots could be taking her time,
watching that mirror for where you turn
so she can turn there tomorrow.
Poem:
Just a tangential thought process I was having a while ago. I was vaguely wondering if you could find out where someone was going without following them. Then I thought of how many people have such regular schedules. It's probably pretty easy to just watch where they turn and modify your route the next day until you gradually gain access to their destination. I don't know why my mind works the way it does. I figured if I set the poem in a city-ish place the commuter crowd would make the schedule/use of reflections a bit more plausible. Not sure about the style. I was trying to mix it up a bit, but I feel like I'm just worse at styles that don't some naturally.
Observation:
In Arizona everyone is on wheels.
Don't walk down the middle of the sidewalk
or you'll risk being clipped
by a biker late for class
on her forty-pound, retro-style
goliath of inefficiency
with the swept-back handle bars
and the powder blue paint,
which distinguishes hers
from the pink, green and yellow versions
(black if belonging to a guy)
all locked in leaning rows.
In the universality
many are missing wheels,
and some lack seats,
since a seeping flat
is easier fixed with theft
than a pump and a spare.
So carcasses lurk
with their front forks
attached to the spinning ground
beneath them,
mounted in the earth,
whose rotating mass
makes an ambitious wheel.
I liked the first line I wrote about my observation (which was simply that everyone in Tempe rode bikes or skateboards everywhere), so I wrote it as a poem instead. But seriously, there might have been fewer people walking than riding, which would be crazy for Ames.
Exercise:
Take these lines from a well-known novel and continue them however you want:
She had found a jewel down inside herself and she had wanted to walk where people could see her and gleam it around.....
She had found a jewel down inside herself and she had wanted to walk where people could see her and gleam it around, bright in their eyes so they couldn't help but look away, though they would no doubt glance back, curious about the origins of her treasure. He gait, her very posture ensured she wouldn't be mistaken for her old self. Her bearing brooked no questions. Leave it to them to figure out what had put the spring in her step. The smile on her face. The gleam in her eye. She veritably flaunted it. Her shyness fell away like an unneeded bathrobe, the furry comfort of demureness gone as she bared her real self to the world, looked men in the eye as they passed, and interjected in conversations with her assured opinion.
Me:
It's amazing how little time this break has actually afforded me. I've been at work, then on my bike, occasionally on a field with a frisbee, and when I finally get back, I have actually had people to spend time with. A foreign sensation at this point, and not one that lends itself to writing much. So I guess once break is over and I go back to a schedule where at least I know I have certain times with nothing to do, I will be able to update this more regularly. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed having people to talk to for a change, but I do have things I want to do, and while it's nice to be able to socialize (and vent, and just know there are people out there worth spending time with), I am a rather goal-oriented individual. So it will be nice to get back on track having gotten my socializing out of my system.
