Tumblewords

Fractals Photos Poetry Prose Watercolor

Friday, August 13, 2010

Poem for BigTentPoetry

For Big Tent Poetry prompt




Runnin' on Full


An empty nest
was not meant to be

bloated closets leak
matter meant to keep

drive-by gifts and
things handmade with heart

what ifs line the walls
with shelves for dodgy items

cached for dubious tomorrows
frames for maybe paintings

like overfed zippers
cupboards crave two closings

garage does dual duty
holds crazed dishes, endless odds

stuff and stuff everywhere
empty nest ~ an idle threat




Original watercolor.
♥     ♥     ♥

32 comments:

flaubert said...

Susan this is lovely
so many possession we accumulate
in life!
Pamela

Unknown said...

It's hard to free oneself from attachments!

Mary said...

You have done well to describe the accumulation of the 'stuff of life' which certainly adds up with time.

Weasel said...

Wonderfully written poem! Throughout life we just accumulate so much stuff, and it can be hard to become detached. Great post!

-Weasel

mareymercy said...

love 'dual dusty'

mareymercy said...

Love 'dual dusty'

Wayne Pitchko said...

words well tumbled as usual susan....thanks for sharing

Wayne Pitchko said...

words well tumbled as usual susan....thanks for sharing

Diane T said...

I'm impressed with the ending. Indeed, it does add up to an empty nest! Lovely, Susan.

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

smart words.

gautami tripathy said...

I can relate..

half-way through

ms pie said...

an idle threat love the spirit of that spoken... how we love our possessions yes... this floats like a butterfly singsong kinda way... oh, and that watercolor awesome... especially so the colors.... yeah, yeah, i'm liking it...the whole thing...

Tilly Bud said...

'what ifs line the walls' - wonderful!

vivienne blake said...

I really love this poem. The juxtaposition of empty and full is what we all learn to live with.

The lines "bloated closets leak
matter meant to keep" reflect the state of just about every cupboard and drawer in my house.

Friko said...

"empty nest - an idle threat"

do I detect a touch of wishful thinking?

brenda w said...

Lovely...I especially like lining the shelves with dodgy items. Clever and interesting.
~Brenda

Stan Ski said...

Hard to throw away memories...

Geraldine said...

Like overfed zippers,cupboards crave two closings...

What a talent you have sue, this is so well written. You've nailed the subject, spot on!

Jim Swindle said...

It's amazing that the stuff we (and I) crave turns into such a problem.

Cynthia Short said...

It is so very hard to give up our possession, I do it periodically, but then just seem to acquire more!

Also, to make the decision of what to keep and what to toss can be daunting...

Paul Oakley said...

You nicely captured the random in the stuffness of our lives. Lovely word play: crazed dishes, endless odds - delicious!

I particularly love thisL

"...dodgy items
cached for dubious tomorrows
frames for maybe paintings
"

Very nicely done!

C.M. Jackson said...

well done! I am going to clean my closets now...;-)c

chiccoreal said...

Dear Tumblewords: How I can relate being in that phase of my life now. It is daunting and the idea that it is not suppose to be "empty nest" is why I must have been stuffing to the rafters for years. Why? Was I waiting for that day when my world is finally empty. Truly I wont admit it now. It is full. See? But I am still going to fill it with a housefull of love and then get a new dog! Great poem! I particularly love this line;

"cached for dubious tomorrows
frames for maybe paintings"

Par excellence!

Philip Thrift said...

Nicely crafted poem. I like the lines "like overfed zippers / cupboards crave two closings."

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

lovely done!
;)

Francis Scudellari said...

I felt the piles of things looming over me as I read this :). My fave lines are "what ifs line the walls" and "cupboards crave two closings".

EKSwitaj said...

Love this description and the idea of "drive-by gifts".

irene said...

I have "bloated closets" and "dodgy items". Like the "idle threat" surprise.

annell4 said...

I think that is an amazing piece of writing! Thank you.

nan said...

Wow - packed full of feeling. I can almost see a squirrel in the tree by the house, hoarding some nuts . . .

The Urban Cowboy said...

The stuff we accumulate, some holding past memories, while others holding hopeful memories. Very nice.

Anonymous said...

It's funny, reading this after wandering into my daughter's room for the first time since we dropped her off as a college freshman this past weekend. What she took and what she left say so much about her.

A fine poem, with a good surprise ending!