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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Nine One One









A nine-eleven call goes out at midnight, 


It's serious: A writer of poems 
At such and such street, has a word 
Stuck in his throat. 
Stuck in his craw; he can't get it out. 
He can neither finish the poem or even 
Make a lick of sense right now. 
What to do? 
The medical experts confer over the two-way: 
I've seen this condition before, one says, wary, 
I think I would use the jaws of life. 
That takes too long, said another. 
I have a carpenters saw in my bag 
I keep on hand for just such occurrences. 
Though rare, it does happen. 
We will just remove the head, push the word 
Out of the way and reattach the head. 
Believe me it is much faster in the long run 
Otherwise it could progress on to 
Editors re-writes, poetry readings, 
Deadlines, and who wants all that? 
Poets really just want to write. 
The others are in agreement. 
Now they'll be able to get right to work 
Without hesitating, which is the kiss of death 
In crisis situations. 
In asylums, they employ lobotomies 
To the same result. 
For the rest of us, there are the interminable 
Religious sermons and services.


3 comments:

  1. This ought to motivate me to find the right words the first time! I'll just think of your carpenter saw at my throat and I'm sure I'll spit something out from fear.

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  2. I think this should work well to prevent writers from taking shortcuts to cure writers block in blockheaded ways....like taking to religious sermonizing prevents the block at the cost of the heads on the block...or something like that...eh?

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  3. Such an innovative take on the old writer's block. I love the humour in this!

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