Friday, October 08, 2021

SAFE DISTANCE EDITION - Stone Soup Croutons, 10-6-21: Mad Monks


Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions picked from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.
 
Kevin Gallagher hit it out of the park on Wednesday. It was short open mic. Especially with Jan Rowe and James Van Looy being unexpectedly away. It was the perfect intimate setting to introduce my cousin's daughter. This Wednesday marked the first time any of my family had ever attended a Stone Soup reading. That was exciting. She'll be back, and I hope more new people will be joining us too.

The finch reference at the open mic's end (thanks, Amada) and the takes on religion and science in Kevin's selections from his forthcoming book fed this week's poem of nonsense. For the first time in forever, I put the title in body of the poem. That's something I often loathe when other poets do it, but it seemed like the right thing to do for once. It was fun writing this at any rate despite the deadline. Thanks for reading.
 

Mad Monks

Their idle heads sit
alone in their kitchens,
waiting for breadcrumbs
to rise from dead.

They forget entire crusts
forsaken in caverns
left to walk way back
to Christ-adorned cupboards. 

Mad monk dossiers
are smeared with sacrilege,
ignored, forgotten like 
Republican dance cards

even as every mistake 
plays in  marathons, 
classic movie reels
straining in spotlight.

Finches are trouble,
could crash flat 
any mob happy monk's
underutilized heart,

their angry passions
spent like lit oil lamps
thrown onto floor
of a log cabin. 

Rotten monkfish climb
mountains to challenge
who revolves around what,
order new research. 

Their backs stay nailed
to crosses. Marquee martyrs,
they palm C-notes to popes,
suggest sainthoods.

They countdown to birth
of Christ, hide on Halloween,
fear witches with cauldrons
may grab them by kindling.

Nice personal first for me.

Special thanks to Mary Jennings, John Sturm, Nancy Dodson, Carol Weston, Ed Gault, Chris Fitzgerald, Amanda Parenteau and Kevin Gallagher.


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