| InterBoard Poetry Competition | |
IN THE END
Valerie Fox
(Blueline Poetry Forum)
“After all you are weary of this old-time world”
after all you are weary of how
--Apollinaire
your neighbor or friend says
this or that says
mysteriously did you notice
the altered swaying of
our mutual sweet gum tree
and we missed you in church again
these past few years you have
lost confidence in an assortment
of popes and lovers
you have staked much
even your life and livelihood on
your art and architecture
boxes and packages
oh how your web of dishes
and wedding gifts has expanded
and you manage
to care for your own young
a surprise and a half to
your hoary forbears
you saw them Tuesday that is
you plan to see them
next Tuesday and if they
are late you will snap your fingers
and that imaginary imp
that’s been following you around
will opine and drive off
this airport boredom
the vacuous feeling left
by the overpriced beer
you almost thought you were
one of the seven wonders
of the modern world there
for a couple of minutes
and then you were strolling
along your street
pretending it was prettier
you pretend you live there
to spy on people
because you happened
to see unexpectedly someone
you know
from your youthful office
days a memory surfaces
a drink over lunch a woman’s wig
the bad smell of the debutante’s feet
how many times you have wished
you could fit into that small box house
a shack with black shutters
you see now how it fits on this street
Judge Alex Lemon’s comments: “My imaginary imp demanded I choose this poem. But truthfully, I admire ‘In the end’ because its movement of language creates in me (the reader) amazing levels of both intimacy and grief. This poem lives with such a heightened sense of the world corroding around us that it shackles the reader; allowing the poem to wildly spin, nearing its own destruction before the bindings of this poem’s truths snap you back so ‘you see now how it fits on this street’.”
About the InterBoard Poetry Competition
Archive of IBPC Winners
2nd Place Winner, February 2005
