Wednesday, October 20, 2010

reflections
























Fresh as a scrubbed kitchen floor,
the face glances only occasionally
at its reflection, to remove bits
of bubblegum from the eyebrows.

It wears a small scar in the peach
fuzz above the lip, boomerang
of a pulley weight. Before
dancing cheek to hip with Kansas

and the breed, with eyes sore
from lack of sleep, this first edition
is a Hoosier tomboy, wiry, pixie-cut,
preferring cars and dinosaurs to pink,

except for Bazooka, week-old,
saved on the back of the headboard. 
Now sun-aged, child-changed,
the bowlegged face stands proud

before the honesty of the cracked
mirror on the bathroom door
and dreams of chewing gum kisses,
white sheets, and an acanthus leaf tattoo.



Tess Kincaid
October 20, 2010



89 comments:

  1. I love the 'bow-legged face' standing proud -- lovely description!

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  2. I enjoyed this, especially the nods to Americana: Bazooka, Hoosiers.

    It seems a theme in much of your poetry, references to cultural images, icons of yesterday, adding layers to your poetry as only such words can.

    Lovely prompt as well!

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  3. I'm going to follow Silver Fox's lead: Happy Birthday Willow!
    Reflections is a beautiful poem.Bazooka...oh, the color, and flavor and texture...none compare!

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  4. Thought I'd make a comment early instead of being always last.
    It's beyond me(the poem)but still has that feel of brilliance.

    I can't figure your age which is usually the case of people who constantly reinvent themselves, but be happy anyway, birthday or not.

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  5. Willow,
    Even with a sack over your head, a sore-throat rendering you voiceless - you stand out. Rejoice.

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  6. Willow,
    Happy birthday to all of you!
    For we are an accummulation of all of whom we've been.
    rel

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  7. I agree with Ken, reinventing oneself keeps people guessing and surprised! Happy Birthday, Willow!

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  8. Deliciously written and a pleasure to read ...
    I hope you have a wonderful Birthday Willow :o)

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  9. Happy day!

    What? No more portal? :)

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  10. Dear Willow: Happy Birthday!Love, Joy Bliss all year long! Enjoyed this poem, so, so much! And there IS something about "chewed gum" giving me "sepia" dreams and reminds me; yesterday not so long ago. Amazing how you get into character! Drawing on "Reflections" slathering on all the lurid details, right down to the "acanthus" tattoo! Very creative! Love your hat! Hoosier Time Travel Adventure Guide! yES!

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  11. "dreams of chewing gum kisses,
    white sheets, and an acanthus leaf tattoo."

    Wow. Beautiful and haunting.

    Happy birthday, Willow!

    Is the persona of this piece you?

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  12. I can smell Bazooka chewing gum in here! Lol.Stolen kisses at recess time! Faded Levi's, dusty baseball caps and black and white Indian running shoes. Have a wonderful birthday Willow!

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  13. Happy Birthday dear Willow, yes this is your. Amazing again. I can hardly keep up with you. By time I find your prompt the list is full.LOL You are a great leader. Blessings
    QMM

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  14. Your poem brought to mind Lonnie Donegan's song 'Does your chewing gum loose it's flavour on the bedpost overnight?' LOL. I can tell you, it does - but only slightly!

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  15. Beautiful, light-hearted, but deep... wonderful poem sparking many memories.

    Happiest of Birthday wishes being sent your way.

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  16. You've come along way, baby...from the Bazooka days. But never loose that Hoosier tomboy : )
    Happy Birthay Willow! Wishing you a wooly sock day : )
    Love, Cat

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  17. I guess it is your birthday. Hope it is a wonderful one. Fitting for someone who loves autumn. The image and the poem are intriguing.

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  18. Just a slight whiff of a Dylan Thomas scansion there at the end. I have no idea what a Bazooka is, so shall have to google that. I quite like this. What I especially like about poetry is its coyness. It does not give it all up during the first or even the fifth read. I guess what I like is its density. Like a cliff face full of fossils, built up from layers over many years. Shorter in length, but longer to read.

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  19. Well, blow me down! Bazooka is an iconic chewing gum.

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  20. When I read your poems, Willow, I learn so much about the history of American pop culture. Thanks for that!

    And happiest of birthdays, dear friend!

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  21. Thanks, Julie. Speaking of Dylan Thomas, his Poem in October is one of my faves.


    My birthday began with the water
    Birds and the birds of the winged trees flying my name
    Above the farms and the white horses
    And I rose
    In rainy autumn
    And walked abroad in a shower of all my days.


    Yes, Bazooka is pink bubble gum, one of my childhood fondnesses.

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  22. Is today your birthday dear friend? Hope it's chilly enough for wooly socks and a long sweater pulled walk. The honesty of the mirror line was fabulous. Had to look up acanthus this time.

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  23. Thanks, Jeanette. It is! It's chilly enough for woolly socks today. Crisp and sunny. ((sigh))

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  24. Bazooka- oh my goodness, I had forgotten about that!
    Happy Birthday Willow!

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  25. Lovely willow - this is the second really good poem I have read today (for the other one go to Poet in Residence) - very inspiring.

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  26. "This will always be your day of birth,
    may you always know what your life is worth."

    Jackson Browne, "Of Missing Persons"

    Brilliant poem!

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  27. Happy B-day Willow!

    I find your poem very intriguing and haunting

    :)

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  28. Many Happy Returns, Willow! Bubblegum on your eyebrows - always happens when you blow such big bubbles! Not sure I'd still want it a week later though! Enjoy your day.

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  29. I join those wishing you a happy birthday. Many blessings and may your spirit always shine.

    Loved this poem.

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  30. You are such a gifted writer. I love the new profile pic>
    I'm sending wooly sock birthday wishes your way.

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  31. Froeliche Geburtstag Liebe Willow....check your post today or tomorrow!

    And...added the Tilda Swinton film to my Netflix Queue last week! Great Minds......ha-ha!

    Birthday Hugs!!!!

    Love,

    ♥ Robin ♥

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  32. Lots of imagery in this one...lots to reflect on...lots to think back on.

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  33. What an incredible paean to thy self
    on your birthday, such candor, such
    honesty, such beauty.
    I love the lines /preferring cars and
    dinosaurs to pink/ and /Hoosier
    tomboy/ and /the bowlegged face
    stands proud/, and I must find out
    what a ancanthus leaf looks like.

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  34. Willow,
    Happy Birthday! You're so cute with your pixie-cut.. lets set up a kool-aid stand and make some money; Uncle Steve will help!
    :) The Bach

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  35. Hi! Came across your blog and wanted you to know your pics are beautiful. I'm now a follower. :)

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  36. oh gosh - that gum stuck on the back of the headboard......wonderful stuff!

    Happy birthday lovely lady. May you have many, many more.

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  37. Happy Birthday, Willow.
    reflective poetry,
    beautifully done.

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  38. As a foreigner, some of the allusions were lost on me but I enjoyed the atmosphere and the language.

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  39. I keep coming back for my poetry fix courtesy of the way your mind sees what I may have dismissed and the twisting of it ever so slightly so that my mind can visualize.
    HaPPyBiRThDay.

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  40. What a wonderful piece, Willow! This line 'preferring cars and dinosaurs to pink' took me way back, I can tell you!

    Happy Birthday, Willow! It's my/our 21st Wedding anniversary today, too, so I'll raise a glass or two in your honour tonight!

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  41. Bazooka: by far the BEST bubble gum in the world! Not to mention the comics and sometimes baseball cards that accompany it.

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  42. Such creative and wonderful reflections...love this one Willow!
    :-)Happy Birthday to you!!!
    :-)

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  43. Happy Birthday! I'm so glad you are in my world. I should have been born in October rather than January. My soul belongs to the autumn.

    Your poem is another reflection of the patina which glows from you in every facet.

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  44. Hey, Bach, get Uncle Steve and we'll set up a stand up at the road at Willow Manor. I'll draw the smiley face on the pitcher. You bring the green Kool-Aid.

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  45. All your kind birthday wishes are making my day EX-tra special. Thank you, dear friends.

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  46. Dear Willow, An October child. This explains so much for me in your poetry which always has the bitter- sweet flavour of the bounty of Autumn together with the dying embers of the year as winter beckons.

    Happy Birthday!!

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  47. Happy Birthday
    and thank you for the gift of this poem to all of us

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  48. Happy birthday Willow, although it may be over now ...I never can work out the time zones!
    I loved this piece of a life reflected even though I didn't grow up knowing some of the names you have included.

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  49. "..Now sun-aged, child-changed,
    the bowlegged face stands proud.." Cracking lines!

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  50. So many things jumped out at me when I first read this poem...but the one I loved the most was "preferring cars and dinosaurs to pink, except for Bazooka," That is quite a vivid image...

    Love your poem and it looks like I must wish you a Happy Birthday!

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  51. Happy Birthday, Willow!
    10/20/2010
    Does it get any more special than that? ;-)
    I hope you are having a wonderful time and are being treated like the special person that you are!
    To health and joy and many happy returns,
    hugs,
    Merisi

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  52. (I don't know why I have a tendency lately to insert a "that" where no that belongs.)

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  53. Oh, happy, happy day dear one. Hope it involves CAKE and a hat :)

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  54. this was all spunk, PF Flyers and pop caps!

    Happy Birthday...and I'm dying for a piece of Bazooka now :)

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  55. ``Boomerang of a pulley weight'' ... great descriptive power, Willow.

    When are you going to publish a book?

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  56. Thanks, David. I'm sending out a manuscript to several publishers. Any suggestions?

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  57. Beautiful! I love the imagery in your poem.

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  58. This is great. It took a moment to fit my head around it though.. It’s been a while since I’ve blown a bubble.

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  59. Mystery is....how did the mirror crack? That is what I want to know.

    Happy Birthday, and thank you for doing the Magpies. I enjoy them, and your poetry, greatly.

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  60. happy Bday to you! but wait, you gave us the present!!! pixie cut: you made me want to cut my hair again. I could feel the tutti-frutti smell of the bubblegum from the headboard!

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  61. A fine piece of sustained reminiscence, maintaining the tricky but necessary balance between narrative and commentary.

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  62. Oh Time travel! Bazooka Bubble gum on the back of a head board? Awesome! Tomboys are so cool!

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  63. Vavoom! Bazooka gum! Great write with lovely words.

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  64. feeling the dylan thomas vide too. you did him proud

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  65. Wonderful images your words bring to life.

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  66. Love a kid with this much spunk! They don't use that great word anymore..a pixie who could search it all!!

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  67. Loved these reflections of times past and present; thought the following exceptionally brilliant:

    sun-aged, child-changed,
    the bowlegged face...


    Almost a life story in those few words alone.

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  68. Happy Birthday Willow,
    I always have to reread your words,
    I so appreciate that you share here like this.

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  69. Willow, Willow, Willow, oh how do I love your words, your phrasing, your stylistic approaches. Great Mag. Love and Light, Sender

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  70. Reminds me of the boy who was upset that his school list contained a large "pink" eraser! "honesty of the cracked mirror" - my favorite line!

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  71. Awwww.... is it really your birthday, or was it, when this was written?

    So much brilliance in this piece. Not having been a tom-boy, I love the way this poem smells like sweat and dust and grimey sneakers...

    You may read my Magpie here.

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  72. I always stashed my Bazooka in the freezer. Saved the flavor somehow.

    You need to collect all of your "pop culture" poems and submit a chapbook. ;)

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  73. Lovely line breaks! So glad to have found a fellow poet in the blog world :)

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  74. the honesty of the cracked mirror...i like that...nice magpie willow... nice touches with bazooka and hoosiers...

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  75. ...chewing gum kisses...loved this
    we used to chew bazooka bubble gums until our cheeks hurt...and of course made bubbles that bounced and left traces all over our faces...so nice!
    really enjoyed this - and always enjoy your phantastic pics - thanks for this!

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  76. I was so late this week, but I finally made it. Always happy to take part. Thanks for the opportunity, willow.

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  77. love the tomboy, pixie cut - the gum stuck to the bed..and it being the wonderful tasting Bazzoka - with the cartoon inside...nice...bkm

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  78. Gorgeous, evocative image. One of these days I am going to make the time to sit down and pen a magpie tale of my own.

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  79. A belated birthday wish to you Willow..I hope you had a truly wonderful day!! I loved your wonderful poem as always!!

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  80. Well-described. Well put together. A delight!

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  81. 'boomerang,'...'Bazooka'... I love how your poems are always real, I can relate to them so much, you pack them with images everyone knows. awesome.

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  82. I have a feeling my 5 year old must have been at your house this week to inspire this one. :)

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  83. love the rebel spirit of innocence... rainy curtain

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  84. "By hook or by crook"
    I'll be the last to wish you MHR's, and to express admiration for your celebratory poem.
    Also . . . love your quote from Dylan Thomas. That sort of thing turns up in many of his poems!

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)