Skip to main content

Hard Lines Poem

Image result for standing in line

 We sometimes can't avoid lines. Often, we resent having to stand in line and wait for extended periods of time. Waiting, waiting, waiting...
Lines are a fact of life however. Maybe, we should put the time we spend waiting in line to more productive use. Hhm?

 Recently, as I stood in line at my local bank with at least twelve people ahead of me, I began to think how I could 'make' a poem based on my line experience. 

 In my mind I took myself to a different time and place. A place in a queue a long way from the bank. I began to rehearse my words. I could feel a poem forming in my head. It helped me pass the waiting time. Poetry can happen anywhere, anytime. We just have to be ready to receive the words that come floating in our direction.

 So now it's time for me to put it all on the line...

 Hard Lines

 I stand in line
A line stretching forever
A line for which I have no time
A line for which I have no mind
Not even a line in the sand
Not the line of least resistance
Not a fine line
This line that moves with no urgency
A line so lacking in movement
-A snail would grow impatient

 I stand in line
The summer sun bites my back
I'm on the hotline
The firing line
And the smallest shuffle excites me
A line longer than a thousand snakes
Stretching out of sight
Beyond the blue horizon
A line capable of joining day to night
A line so long, I want to say-so long
And as I stand in this endless line
-A thought, most disturbing comes rushing at me...

 Will there be any ice-creams left
When, finally I reach the head of the queue?
That's the bottom line.

 Alan j Wright

 Image result for standing in line
Labels:

Comments

  1. Cathy23 March 2018 at 23:12

    You really brought all the lines about a line into this poem. Haha. We do have so many things we say about a line. I've been in a line just like the one you describe. I often switch lines and then the line I was in previously begins to move much faster. Oh, lines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright23 March 2018 at 23:20

      We might finally be able to draw a line under lines Cathy. 'Lines' have certainly featured strongly in idiomatic language. Thanks for adding some of your lines here.

      Delete
  2. Linda B24 March 2018 at 02:02

    I like that "bottom line", seeing that you have your priorities straight, in line! I love that poetic line about the snail, will remember that feeling. Recently, Denver lines became sleepovers, in a line of sleeping bags to get tickets for Hamilton!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright24 March 2018 at 09:13

      Ah Linda, you know lines most intimately. I've never sleeping bagged in a line, I must admit. That's a big commitment. Thanks for dropping by.

      Delete
  3. laurasalas24 March 2018 at 06:47

    So much fun wordplay here! But my favorite line (hehe) is: A line capable of joining day to night

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright24 March 2018 at 09:14

      Wordplay is such fun. Glad you liked that line Laura. I smiled when writing it.

      Delete
  4. Kimberly Hutmacher25 March 2018 at 00:53

    "A line longer than a thousand snakes" This is how I feel in line at Walmart. You've inspired me to put that time to good use thinking about and writing new poems :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright25 March 2018 at 08:20

      I tried to imagine a line from a child's perspective, hence the snake reference Kimberly. Hope your future line time proves productive.

      Delete
  5. Kay25 March 2018 at 06:04

    Who knew standing in line could be so much fun? Ha! I love how you made the most of it and came up with this fun poem!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright25 March 2018 at 08:22

      Thanks Kay. As you said, time in line can be fun if we work at putting it to some productive use. Glad you liked the poem that emerged.

      Delete
  6. Michelle Kogan29 March 2018 at 16:39

    That's a fun poem Allan, I like the surprise ending–delicious–hope you were able to wait it out "in line," thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright29 March 2018 at 23:31

      Thanks Michelle. Glad you enjoyed the fun aspect of my poem. Ice-creams are always worth the wait, don't you think?

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Inspired by Images and Objects

There are many ways pictures and photographs can be conscripted to support the writing of poetry. Allow me to share a few ideas with you: Old photographs are a great source of inspiration. Cynthia Rylant explored this idea with great success in her book 'Something Permanent' where she employed the Depression era photographs of Walker Evans to add a new voice to the starkness to the lives of people experienced under extreme circumstances. I have used this strategy to spark many individual poems. In ' I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon,' I used a photo I had taken in 2004 while living in New York to inspire a poem. The poem was based on a story related by a friend who grew up in New York.  I regularly combined poetry and pictures in my writer's notebook, drawing on inspiration from the photograph and my personal memories. We can also utilize existing cartoons and illustrations to create ekphrastic poems. I frequently use the illustrations of Jim Pavlidis to co
20 comments
Read more

Opposite Poems

O pp o s ite P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not e
26 comments
Read more

Powerful Poetry, 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston

  This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Janice Scully  @ Salt City Verse where Janice shares some original words and offers us a taste of Thomas Carlyle to ponder. I encourage you to join a host of poets from all around the globe and visit Janice's page... Almost two years to the day, I wrote a post featuring the poem 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston. The poem was included in Brian's first book of poetry, 'You Took The Last Bus Home.' A very powerful Reverso poem and technically brilliant.  A Reverso poem can be read from top to bottom or bottom to top. It will often express opposite opinions depending on which way you read it. Such poems really make us think. A Reverso poem is like a picture turned upside down, a frowning face upended to reveal a smiling one. The poem read in reverse, contradicts itself with an opposing message. In 'Refugee' Brian Bilston focuses on a societal issue that tends to polarize feelings and the opposing views are clearly in eviden
14 comments
Read more