Feb 18, 2011

3.3. Susan Sonnen: 4 poems

All Things Good and Lovely

All Things Good and Lovely,
born at Creation,
died this evening at 7:32
for the Bradshaw family
as Little Roddy shot his brother,
Mikey “TuffStuff” Bradshaw,
for refusing to let him have a turn
at the Playstation.
Mrs. Bradshaw blames Mr. Bradshaw
for setting his gun on the kitchen table
and then turning to the fridge for a glass
of cold milk.
Mr. Bradshaw blames Mrs. Bradshaw
for not getting the milk for him,
as he had asked her to,
thus forcing him to set down his gun.
He was VERY thirsty, you understand.
Little Roddy, Mr. Bradshaw’s namesake,
remains in a state of ire.
Mikey, of course, being dead,
points the finger at no one,
but they all feel his condemnation.
It is expressed through his big blue eyes,
staring without tears,
without fear,
without forgiveness.
Memorial services for
All Things Good and Lovely
began at 7:32 pm this evening
and will continue throughout eternity.
In lieu of flowers,
the family requests a second chance
at 7:32.



I Am So Deeply Into You

I will not live without you.
I will not stay in my quiet room,
Coming out only for a bite of food
And a glass of wine.

I am so deeply into you
That I have died as well.
Yet here we are.
But there we are.
The two of us in my flesh.
The two of us in your bones.

When in need of solitude,
We recline in your grave,
Your bones wrapped tightly around me.
My head on your strong shoulder.
And then we yawn. You
Complain of only having
A third of the bed to yourself,
But I, already asleep, remain
Sprawled. You smile and kiss
My forehead.

Come morning,
We awaken in our four-poster.
Together we go to the
Kitchen. You fry the eggs
While I set the table.



Best Poems

You were right. You remember. We were sitting in Union Station back home, waiting for my train to Milwaukee. You said (out of the blue) that I would write my best poems when you were dead.



Sunflowers

Does the sunflower
Tire of holding up
That big head?

I wanted to stay in bed forever,
But there were children to raise.



Susan Sonnen lives a quiet life in unquiet Chicago. Her poetry has previously been published by tinywords and Old Mountain Press.





"Conversation piece" by Mary Oswald




4 comments:

  1. I loved them all. "All Things Good and Lovely" is so emotionally charged. "I Am So Deeply Into You" is beautiful. Wonderful work!

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  2. Great reads, particularly All Things Good and Lovely, which was chilling!

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  3. Somehow I missed the comments section in February! Thank you all so very much for your kind words.

    Susan Sonnen

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