Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Office Amalgam



image borrowed from socialbookshelves.com


Office Amalgam

“The revolution is an amalgam of former party functionaries, who
are in power now, & represent a dirty hybrid never before seen in
world history.”--Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

My office, once
                 a bedroom, is a
                 supportive space; often mysterious,
as my guilty desk
puts my narcissistic backside         to my bold bookcase,
                 just as sardonic sunbeams bathe
                             the dusty spine of an outraged volume
of Leonard Cohen’s poetry--
STRANGER MUSIC.

                 I do find it odd, after
                        embracing the wonders of Spellcheck & Google
with my loving fingertips, or
                        wireless mouse, I am
still very compassionate
about cracking the brittle forgotten pages
                                        of my huge clever dictionary, once
                         my only ally while foolishly seeking brilliance,
                                        or at least competence.

I cannot help but adore
the deep-throated click
of my massive expensive 8 TB hard drive unit
as it happily burns copies
of classic movies from borrowed DVDs;
                        & it often sings a cyber duet
                        with the angel-white angry document shredder
that is chewing through handfuls 
                         of personal data, hungry, voracious 
as a proper paper piranha.

On the secretive back of the door hangs
            a cautious full-length mirror,
                        cloistered against a sympathetic wall,
                                    not wanting its dreary images
                                              to startle or alarm passers-by.
                                    On my sweet wife’s impervious
                            & adjacent desk, an arrogant pile
                    of new twenty dollar bills still lies
           ungathered, with their untidy folds
playing patty-cake with
the cold white ceramic case
of her stately lap top.
          
Nearby,             on a beauteously grained wooden
                 folding tray squats scintillating stacks
                 of old & bold poetry, penned in the past,
alongside dVerse anthologies, where
                                                 some of my blissful words appear,
                 weighed down by the onerous bulk
                 of my Blackthorne manuscript, with its
jet-black pious plastic covers, held steadfast 
                 with a shiny chrome trio of thick rings,
                 with its existential Western within. 

I do find a bravery,
              a beauty,
              an awe-inspiring event, by just
                           inhabiting this magnificent meditative space,
              where enthusiasm is unearthed,
                                                laid bare,
                                                revealed,
               spurred into hearty flames daily.
where digital images are reviewed, cataloged, & posted,
where poetry is first generously scrawled out in longhand,
               then forced to interact with the blue pencil, before
               it finds its inky way to paper & post,
                               at least partially confident that they
                               are in a correct order, with
               the message bordering fresh,
               the metaphor elegant,
               the rhyme scheme ambiguous,
               the meter calm, &
               the verse itself is yet free,
splashed across the naked page
like raucous robins after a rain,
congregated noisily on my back yard
while conducting a passionate worm hunt. 


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over on dVerse Poets Poetics

Would you like to hear the author read this List Poem to you?

16 comments:

Claudia said...

smiles... thanks for inviting us into your office.. what an interesting and personal space... love how you describe the developing of a poem and the worm hunt close made me smile...

brudberg said...

What a great look into a your workspace..myself I sit with my laptop in a sofa.. ha.. Seems like you have the right combination of classic devices and modern ones.. good one.

peach blossom moth said...

I'm especially drawn to the last nine lines, and this:
"my guilty desk
puts my narcissistic backside"

Kathy Reed said...

Let me count the adjectives....ha! Especially like the details even if you chose one the office as the main subject. The desk ought not feel guilty, but I understand the full length mirror. The 20 dollar bills could be useful sewn together to make a curtain in front of the mirror. Sound like you have an office like Rockin' Robin.

Grace said...

How you make your office and all the objects inside it so inviting and fresh to the eyes Glenn ~ My hubby does the cyber duet often, smiles ~ Thanks for sharing with us your writing rituals and space ~ Happy week ~

Mary said...

I always look forward to your poems, Glenn, as you so often share something of yourself. I admire what you did with this prompt, as for me it was hard to make it anything about me. Smiles. Nice to see you are a Leonard Cohen fan. I have every CD he ever produced (except the very recent one) and love his poetry as well. You mentioned your Blackthorne manuscript, which reminds me that we will soon see another segment for dVerse Open Link, and I wonder what you plan to do with this eventually. How cool that you and your wife have adjacent desks. At least when you are writing poetry, she can do something in your presence as well. Smiles.

Wolfsrosebud said...

loved the full-length mirror lines... great complete observation of your surroundings... fun read

Gabriella said...

Thank you for sharing your office with us, Glenn. I am like Björn and sit on the living-room couch with my laptop on my lap. When I need a bit more peace and quiet, I move to the dining-room table rather than the office desk. But then, even as a child, I never liked doing my homework on a desk.

ayala said...

Thank you for sharing your writing space.... the verse itself is yet free, splashed across the naked page like raucous robins after a rain, congregated noisily on my back yard while conducting a passionate worm hunt......great lines.

Justin Lamb said...

I can fully picture the peace and creative energy in this room even though I have no idea what it looks like. Your last bit about writing and checking your poems is especially intriguing. Nicely done.

Anonymous said...

I saw the quote Glenn, and I was reminded that reading his Gulag was a book that really changed me.

Those long lists of names - initially bored me, but then I realized those words were their memorial.

Words matter.

lynn__ said...

Enjoyed this entertaining office tour, Glenn. I find it interesting that your desk is guilty and hers is impervious...

Marina Sofia said...

All those guilty desks...
I was initially puzzled by this poem, since I saw a lot of abstract nouns/adjectives, but then I read your comment and how you understood the prompt. So now I think this is a wonderful alternative which shows the 'danger' of too many abstracts, but in a very humorous, witty way!

Anonymous said...

Haha! This puts too many wishful thoughts in my mind as I take a look around my office space. Loved your play of words.

Victoria said...

This is so well-crafted that you would never know it was written to Marina's prompt. I like how you skillfully employ active verbs and adjective to create such mood.

I already published my novel through CreateSpace/Amazon, Glenn. At my age not going to try for publishers anymore. They want someone who can produce more tomes. Plus, it's fun to have more control of the creative process, even if the results don't produce more sales. Now that I'm back home, I have to think about marketing.

Anonymous said...

I also use a spare bedroom as my 'office' - it's still in the making. There's definite inspiration here.