Thanks to Green Apple Books for the idea of the poem of the week. Bookseller and poet Jeremiah Gould chose this poem by Kate Greenstreet (from Case Sensitive, Ahsahta Press, 2006).
I want you to see me
A crime had turned me into a phone. I tried to get sympathy from Michael
but he thought it was funny. It hurt to laugh, but I had to. My receiver
was transparent. I kept saying but Mike, I'm a phone. (I was still a person,
in a way. I still had my legs.)
It was on the level of having a terrible deformity, or only one purpose
(and not one I chose). I wanted him to care, but he was being so Mike.
There was a flag or something patriotic on me-- imprinted, near the dial.
Red and blue and the white of my transparency. I couldn't even be a
regular phone.
Yay for booksellers who like us poets!
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun mini-metamorphosis.
We were talking about how the last line of the poem is so funny, but when you remember the title, it's really quite sad.
ReplyDelete