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I'm a Minnesota Girl, living in the south. I tell my friends I try not to talk and think like a Yankee, but sometimes I slip up!

Friday, April 3, 2009

The Poetic Art of "The Phrase"


Sometimes a poem will catch you up in a phrase, a particular twist of words, and you'll borrow them going forward and make them your own. This particular poem is by an amateur poet... and while I love the entire poem (and know women of this ilk), the phrase I was captivated by, when I first read it, was.....



"smudged his vinyl"


perhaps that's what we do when we make our impression on someone's life.. we leave a smudge on their vinyl. Or, we do, if we're old enough to remember listening on vinyl. Sigh. Not sure about those under 30. Hopefully, if you read this blog, you'll grin at the idea of smudging each other's vinyl.


For the Record


She dances for him on the head of a needle,

Never minding the fact

That his record is scratched,

So from time to time, she skips

From his verse of "I love you"

To his chorus of apologies,

Because in her ears, it's all music.




As the record spins, she searches for proof


That she has made an impression,


A sign that she has altered his flow,


But no fingerprint of her own has smudged his vinyl;


He bears no evidence of her existence.






So she listens more closely and hopes to hear


A hint of herself mixed into his melodies,


But the speakers sing only the songs he desires,


And she plans her steps by his cadence,


Manipulates herself into his grooves,


Seeks her heart within his beat,


Never realizing that she could turn tables.



~Calandra R. Butler




***National Poetry Month***

3 comments:

Kelly said...

This one certainly speaks to me. Then again, I'm well beyond 30 and have listened to many a record album!

Nothing quite like the warm sound of vinyl.

Kelly said...

I get a big kick out of the word verifications that pop up. My last one here was "respe". I wanted to continue on with "ct"! (saying it aloud while typing, a la Aretha)

Pam said...

I love the images!!! "speaks to him on the head of a needle"!!!! Great!