Past-Tense People

 

—Poetry by R. Gerry Fabian, Doylestown, PA
—Photos of Static Courtesy of Public Domain

FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

keep coming into my life
with their novel tales
like individual strokes
on a dirty keyboard.
These totally past-tense people.
relive sub-plots, anti-climaxes
and multiple setting changes

Upon closer examination,
however,
they turn out to be
minor figures and
I am always
their denouement.

 

 

 

 

 

TEN THIRTY-SEVEN P.M.

Waiting for the weekend
is a Mondayish bar
whose air-conditioning
has lost to August heat.
There are five just like you people
drinking semi-warm drafts
listening to a bad bar band.
Everyone including the band's drummer
is looking at their phones.

 

 

 

 

 

SUBTRACTION ERROR

With my heart
shattered like mirror glass,
the seven-year jinx
collides with
the seven-year itch
and
factoring
my total lust collapse,
the cipher love quotient
leaves me with nothing
left over.

 

 

 

 

 

CHTHONIC AURA

With just a tad   
more rouge
than most women
would even notice,
the search for perfection
reveals
the danger
behind
the ‘come hither’ smile.

 

 

 

 

 

HOPING FOR TRANSMISSION

Static surrounds desire.
It isn’t so much
a jamming of the signal
or loosely connected wires.

No.
Messages arrive
but in cryptic, garbled forms
with the message—
“delete and report junk mail.”   

__________________

Today’s LittleNip:

First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice.

―Octavia Butler, Bloodchild and Other Stories

__________________

—Medusa, welcoming Gerry Fabian back to the Kitchen. Gerry first visited the Kitchen on Oct. 7, 2021.

 

 

 

R, Gerry Fabian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For upcoming poetry happenings in
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
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Photos in this column can be enlarged by
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Would you like to be a SnakePal?
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work from all over the world—including
that which was previously published—
and collaborations are welcome.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!

LittleSnake’s Glimmer of Hope:

 
fiery words flare:
they argue again—
so far apart…