Cool

image borrowed from bing

Cool

You know the first time

one encounters something or someone,

that initial impression may not be

accurate,

             essential,

                         mercurial,

                                      relevant or

                                                    magical;

like that pretty girl who challenged

your lame pick-up patter, who first

intimidated you before fascination

kicked in;

or that French art film that baffled you

in 1965, only to thrill you completely

in 2002;

or that trestle bridge that seemed so immense,

                                                                      regal,

                                                              towering,

                                                           imposing

when you were ten years old, but shrank

to insignificance the day you received

your AARP identification card--

and certainly the romantic unrealistic notion

that one can fall in love at first glance with

a blond cheerleader in a short skirt,

the verdant foothills below Mt. Rainier,

a 1968 Chevrolet SS Impala convertible

with a 396, factory 4-speed and dual glass packs,

the Space Needle,

Georgia O’Keefe’s paintings,

Frank Frazetta’s fabulous pulp covers,

is every bit as valid 

for each of us 

as the converse,

so I guess

that is probably why 

poetry was invented,

to explicate, illuminate, feature

the cognitive dissonance

that enriches and colors our days. 

Glenn Buttkus

September 2012

           

Posted over on dVerse Poets

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