I absolutely love the sidewalking idea. And Mark, take a closer look. I think this is a dead man poem with those old stories no longer heard, basement smiles, and weightless fear. I think you are closer than you know. Have a good one,

Elizabeth

Mark, glad to hear you both will be fine. Like the poem and its starkness. Very human, that desire to embellish, and balances well both the beginning and end of the poem.

Elizabeth

Sometimes words fall into a pit, that just means we have to crawl in there with them. They learn and we learn with them.

Elizabeth

Beautiful from beginning to end, wonderful lines full of image and emotion. Thank you for this one,

Elizabeth
My recent post Sadness and The Angel of Hope

I'm with you, don't much like odes either, but I do like your imagery, rhythms, and especially those final lines.

Elizabeth

Have a much younger friend who went through a Morrison period (talking about him a lot), so your poem made a great deal of sense to me and I really like that last stanza, especially.

Elizabeth

Especially like the grocery bag of comments, so easy to come by those words on shelves one can throw in the cart and just move on. But, all too often we get stuck in that black fade. Good write, Mark. I'm in GB and although leaving here for a while did alter my taste buds, I might be amenable to an Ameretto and orange juice, if I'm here and not gone fishing, lol.

Elizabeth

Does this mean I have to get out my rod and reel and go fishing? Okay, but first I have to untangle the line and that means at least one can of beer, a few swear words, and lots of hooting and hollerin'. Did I get a bite?

Elizabeth