Adjectives

"Adjectives"
Describing herself to a friend
she used the words intellectually arrogant, fidgety,
superiority complex, smartass, mildly neurotic,
and above all, insecure and shy.
There were these, but also
(although she never admitted it aloud)
a quick wit, contagious laugh, a
certain agreeability, and a secret
charm that others felt, but couldn't describe.
Most often, when she cared enough to look up
from her book or stop tapping her fingers,
she would smile. And you could see all
these things lingering there.

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Apologies for the sub-par poems this week. Even Mags hasn't been able to find nice things to say about them. Ugh.

Let's see if an actual assignement can get me back on track. Tomorrow's poem is "The Unsaid" by Stephen Dunn (*pffffffft*). The assignment. Look for something you leave "unsaid" in your day and find a way to say it.

* * *

I've had a monster amount of positive reactions to the poem "Ice Scraper." Surprising, given that I wasn't particularly excited about it when I finished it. Thank you.

* * *

The Unsaid

Stephen Dunn

One night they both needed different things

of a similar kind; she, solace; he, to be consoled.

So after a wine-deepened dinner

when they arrived at their house seperately

in the same car, each already had been failing

the other with what seemed

an unbearable delay of what felt due.

What solace meant to her was being understood

so well you'd give it to her before she asked.

To him, consolation was a network

of agreements: say what you will

as long as you acknowledge what I mean.

In the bedroom they undressed and dressed

and got into bed. The silence was what fills

a tunnel after a locomotive passes through.

Days later the one most needy finally spoke.

"What's on TV tonight?" he said this time

,and she answered, and they were okay again.

Each, forever, would remember the failure

to give solace, the failure to be consoled.

And many, many future nights

would find them turning to their respective sides

of the bed, terribly awake and twisting up

the covers, or, just as likely, moving closer

and sleeping forgetfully the night long.