Aberrant Dreams Poetry Find

If a writer wants to publish in any sort of publication, the best thing to do first is to read the publication to find out what the editors like.
I was doing just such research at the webzine Aberrant Dreams when I stumbled across a poem I really liked--one of those that makes me say, "Oh, I wish I'd written that."
Since it also loosely fits the theme of this blog, I thought I provide a link to it just in case anyone else likes mermaid poetry.

Mermaid

How Easy to Forget

I thought I was posting something yesterday that I had not put up before. I was wrong. When one goes months between blog posts, it's easy to forget what has already been posted.
I had another poem that appeared in the same issue of Spectra back in 2002 and here it is:

Elusive Muses


They come in ghostly shapes,
These storied people, dancing seductively at the edges of dreams—
Mysterious Lorelei who giggle and whisper amongst themselves tales
Of audacious abandon, of kings and paupers, lovers and fiends,
too soft to hear.


Their phantom auras, diaphanous,
yet full of throaty promise, float just beyond the edge of knowing, yielding little.
My trailing hand wafts through and pulls back a failing scent
Of refuted memory, miserable triumphs and carousing criminality
too secret to tell.


Their mocking laughter echoes
between the clumsy scratches of pen to paper. Locks of braided
bells clink and jingle as they shake their heads, shimmering with scorn
as truth is twisted by self-deception, denial or lies
too wanton to believe.

Imperious, they wait. Disgusted,
They leave. Drifting away, fluttering words as they go, scattering
seedlings of imagination, which wither and expire
even as they are scooped up and nurtured by desire
too foolish to check.

File Search

I was looking through my old writing files today, looking for---I don't know what, inspiration maybe. While in the throes of writer's delay, (I'm not blocked--everything is just progressing so slowly.)it's nice to look back and say, "Okay, here's something I wrote that I liked and so did someone else."
This poem appeared in the annual literature anthology published by my university. I think it dates back to 2002, but I'd have to dig out the book to be sure.

Inflatable Man

I charged him.
With a point and a click,
He was mine
And soon delivered
In a plain brown wrapper.

I let him out,
Helped him stretch his legs.
His arms reached out and his
Head slowly lifted from his shoulder
He became fully formed—a man.

We danced that night,
My inflatable man and I.
His was the scent was of suppleness and
I knew he would never complain about
The funky jazz I like.

As I scooted across the floor
In worn, faded slippers,
His cold skin
Rubbed against mine
With pleasant, plastic farts.

Propped in the corner
Of the sofa
He waited for me,
So patiently,
In the evenings.

His frozen smile
Warmed me.
I shared Krispy Cremes
With him and used my pinkie
To wipe the frosting
From his mouth.
.
We were so happy.
I basked and flourished
Within the warmth of
His silent approval.

But then, oh, but then…

When he began to go flat,
I knew it was because
He was unreliable, selfish
And inconsiderate.

Certainly it was not because
I had been pricking
Him with pinholes
Every day.