Thought Life

 

The thought lives a life

of its own.  You wouldn’t know

from the skull, like everyone else.

Inside, there’s a needle, inside,

there’s a wire.  Inside.

The thought is taking out a mortgage,

trimming the front yard, dragging

planks to the side of the road. 

The thought is taking up residence.

Soon, there will be a neighborhood

welcoming party, cocktails, words

without words.  Meanwhile, the thinker

will be wandering somewhere, a new

thought:  Now, where did I put that?

 

Away to the Other

 

You’ve got to know kung-fu, my childhood

tells me.  In case you need it.  One day,

you will need a grapple hook.  You will drive

like a king.

The adventure you find in adventure stories

will be your own.  Must rescue, must

stay cool and placid in the face of evil,

always have a quick answer.

Move away from the man-child to

the other, who used to sit at the kitchen

table and design a valor-filled dream.

 

Story Tree

 

It begins at the base, a series

of background questions.

Then the story is spread               out

Leaf to branch to leaf, a face

of a protagonist, a villain,

a few strange quotations.

One way, the story branches to

a satisfying locus of foliage.

The other way, the way is broken,

splintered, falls breathless to the ground.

 

JD DeHart