BlueIris
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Thu Apr-24-08 12:50 PM
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The BlueIris Semi-Nightly Poetry Break, 4/24/08 |
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"Descent"
You have to follow the path of your blood. —Garcia Lorca
I began in the San Joaquin Valley beneath my grandmother's blood- red cherry tree, my mother's bed of wild mint and climbing rose. We fed on tri-tip and pork chops and barbecued chicken, ate my grandfather's homemade fudge with goblets of Uncle Joe's homemade wine. My Aunt Donna burned every variety of cookie she ever made. My dad was a poor man who managed a trucking company and often screamed. He married my mom before she discovered he was in debt. Who could blame him for seeing the cash registers in her eyes. She worked for Reese Oil Company, Western Stockman's Cattle, Century 21, while he ate gallons of light- pink strawberry ice-cream. My whole life has been covered in dirt. No man ever seemed worth the effort. I felt nervous until I found a decent ball- point pen. There is no use in comprehending the past. With my first breath of freedom I swallowed a bottle of vodka and moved to Manhattan. Cockroaches, trash, tattoos. I'm lasting here like the Bakersfield sun come August. The one that gave me skin cancer. My face and body burned there for eighteen years. No amount of grief can knock my grandmother's laugh out of me, or my Aunt Donna; or my mom, who didn’t just turn on the engine of her leased silver-blue diesel Mercedes. She drove it through the house.
—Jennifer Murphy
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CaliforniaPeggy
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Thu Apr-24-08 01:09 PM
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Different kinds of descent, I think!
Genetic...
And... personal...
Great imagery!
I like it a lot...
Thank you!
:hi:
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ismnotwasm
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Thu Apr-24-08 01:16 PM
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2. "I felt nervous until I found a decent ball- point pen" |
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I love that line.
And the one about driving the Mercedes through the house
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BlueIris
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Thu Apr-24-08 05:14 PM
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RetroLounge
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Thu Apr-24-08 05:31 PM
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My whole life has been covered in dirt. No man ever seemed worth the effort.
RL
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BlueIris
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Thu Apr-24-08 06:34 PM
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Sat Apr 20th 2024, 12:44 AM
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