Poetry for Candy
M (3:47AM): Politics have me tossing and turning. Their normal abstraction pheels personal. I’ve spent the better part of the afternoon pulling my fingers through dirt on Facebook–worrying and wondering and trying to find the thing to say that says it all. I need to listen. My brain’s fragmented. I can’t get to the bottom of what I think and I’ve already watered the plants twice.
I know a bunch of kids who sell poetry for candy. In the abyss of their effervescent brains, they string dots of light in a way that I can’t; that my rational brain resists. And so, I’m stacking up on organic gummy bears and real fruit fuzzy peaches, and running a poetry mill that proudly exploits child labour. The kids think I’m getting duped but they don’t know the value of their brain synapses.
INTO THE ABYSS; POETRY FOR CANDY
“There’s a plane in the sky, how high?
Where will it go? I don’t know.
How long will it take?
I’ll just have to wait
There’s a plane in the sky, oh my”
-Sydney
“Dark dark dark dark dark
In the park park park park park
I see stars stars stars”
-Bailey
“There’s a light that shines and glows
The light reflects the sky
The sun glows”
-Neda
“The people are walking down Ossington street
We must be made fully free if we’re walking down Ossington street”
-Toby
“There was a fence, and in the fence there was a fish
The fish had to die on a Swedish dish
And then there was a fence made of wrens”
-Sarah
“I’m leaving my place, I hope my mom doesn’t give it away
And if my mom doesn’t give it away, I wonder if I’ll leave it a second time?
This is all true because the last sentence rhymes”
-Toby
“Deep in the summer there was a swimming pool
It was always very cold
But you made it warm
By peeing in it”
-Angelina, Sydney, Bailey
“Flying I am, I am flying
Up in the air, I don’t care
I don’t care of the things down below; it’s none of my business!
So, I think I’ll just stay in the air with my sins”
-Toby
“Oh look! A tree!
How lovely it will be
In the springtime when it warms
In the winter when it mourns”
-Sydney
“The house on the street is greed
And the house that is greed on the street is me”
-Toby
“Plants are green, everywhere I’ve seen
What it can do, when it grows just like you
Soon it grows high and then it touches the sky
Because these plants are growing like weeds”
-Sydney
“Look at the moon in the sky
I wonder how it became so high
The moon in the sky that is high is also completely bright!
I wonder how it became that bright!?
And some kids can use it as a nightlight”
-Toby
“My heart opens when I think of, ‘how deep is the ocean?’
A hundred miles or so? I don’t know
Could it fill up a litre?
Maybe a metre or two
It’s all up to you”
-Angelina, Sydney, Bailey
“Look at the people on the sidewalk
I think they’re composing like Bach
They’re wearing nice fuzzy clothes, they’re taking notes
And they’re wearing a coat”
-Sydney
“The woman walks down the street
She looks at her feet
But she is not frowning”
-Bailey
“The plants are growing from the cracks
When the cracks turn pale and the plants grow frail
I wonder if I’ll ever see the cracks”
-Toby
