If I wrote poetry in street clothes,
in the drab pajamas of an invalid
or Hugh Hefner's Dior silks,
it would simply be the daily paper,
a phone call to my son
or witless pipe dream.
I don't want any more of those.
I have a chest of costumery,
highwayman capes & balladeerskin boots
to mask lean trimeters
and too-exposed Phalaecian toes,
laced sonneteerskin gowns
for waltzing the perimeters
of hendecasyllabification,
scarves, scimitars & scabbards,
paisley cummings, funereal poes.
It's my escape, my sole escape.
The visiting nurse arrives at two.
Excuse me, I have much, too much to do.


*title from Ros B's comment on Cheryl Leverette's "afterreading"

Wow Ros.  This is great.  Not sure what all these words mean, but you are good, and quick.  No doubt about it.  You go, girl.

Love it.

cheryl

LMAO  I mean, Tom.  hahahaha, and you're not a girl.  This is hysterical.  And you're always quick, aren't you.

What the heck is Phalacian?

Pardon me, David. The one thing more unforgiveable than obscurity is misspelled obscurity: "Phalaecian." Thank your for catching that. Tom

For anyone interested in obscurities, the Phalaecian meter consists of five feet, typically made by
1) an iamb, trochee or sometimes a spondee
2) a dactyl
3) a trochee
4) a trochee
5) a stop
  ˘ ¯ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ | ¯ ˘ | ¯ X
or ¯ ˘ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ | ¯ ˘ | ¯ X
or ¯ ¯ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ | ¯ ˘ | ¯ X
 
Cuī donō lepidum novum libellum
ārida modo pūmice expolītum?
Cornēlī, tibi: namque tū solēbās
meās esse aliquid putāre nugās
(Catullus)

It was called the Phalaecian after the fourth century poet Phalaecus.

Aha! I am always interested in obscurities.

I wish I'd written it!  So that explains my lack of metrical ability - no laced sonneteerskin gowns.  I'll check in M & S on Monday.

Ros

What in the heck is all this?    You guys and dolls are in a dif'rent world!  And I'm just a plain ol' street rhymester who doesn't even rhyme, much less walk with phoefdgdfrgsdfgdfg overly exposed pentameterereetet toes.  I just have mine painted bright scarlet to go with the scarlet letter across my overly exposed bosom or whatevah.  And all I did was write an 'innocent' poem.  =-=-0-(*)-_-0T0ER80T9ER + = 0-_-:|:|:|.

c=h-e)r(y*(l)  (insert angel avatar) 

and thank goodness for that!

Though I'm not a fan of poems about poetry or writing in general, you beat my prejudices to the ground with this one, Tom, even to the point of a pick, later.

Cheers

milner

Milner, soon I will expose my latest prejudice and give you a good whack at it, in return! Glad you enjoyed this so much, thanks for saying. Tom

dear Lord, don't know about milner but I dread seeing your latest prejudice.  ;)

..moving from Workshop to Submit board..

Would you consider a regular ending to kind of give the reader a fun-house slide out of the poem:

Excuse me, I have much to do

???

Rick

yes, I would, and will. thank you for the idea, rick. tom

You know I like this, Tom, and will pick it. I'd prefer the 'poetry-writing' out of the title - just 'special clothes'.

Cheers

milner