Jackie Knows

Jackie hopes one day that the sky will shine a bright red light

And everyones tears will drop from the sky

Creating peace

And complete chaos

She tells this to the women next-door

trimming her pink roses

The women goes inside to her husband

 where she know she will be safe in his hands 

that have touched her at all the wrong times

Jackie tells the cashier

That she wants to marry a man

who would f**k Andy Warhol

but would not put a finger on Cary Grant

The cashier thinks she needs a grate clog for her stove because it keeps catching on fire

she corrects the cashier 

not "catching on fire" at all

it's trying to save me

the cashier says 

Now where did you here that?

he smilies 

why

why 

why

is so annoying

Quiet your questions

And love

Love with hate

and contempt

Because it is fine

And love is supposed to be ironic

No ballad is complete without a gruesome stabbing or a horrific fire

Jackie dates this entry and closes her diary

Jackie tells the lawyer

You know nothing

if you check to make sure

that you crossed your t's and dotted your i's

I hope anyone who does that dies in a pile of smoke

If you were to check the t's and i's

You will realize that this atmosphere is no longer livable

And you must find sanctuary in the deep blue sea

The lawyer asks

What

She continues

It eventually happens to most 

Some get off easy

I knew this high school janitor who was sailing on the blue sea

about to sink

But he found something beautiful

I believe it was from IKEA

Or from the Heavens

I truly can't remember

Reviews

[Warren Daniel II]

Wow I really enjoyed this, I like the progression of Jackie as a character, she kept surprising me with her responses towards the lawyer. I also enjoyed the paradox "And everyones tears will drop from the sky
Creating peace
And complete chaos" Great job, a very good read

[Olivia]

Thank you so much!

[Joshua Carl Cruz]

Bang! That's how it's done. Some of it was great, in other places...phenomenal.

[Olivia]

Omfg That you so much

[The Twin Arenas]

Yeah, cool. Good writing! I read it. Great idea, and cohesive execution.

[Olivia]

Thank you for the review!

[Beccy]

I have just read several of your poems. For one so young, you are incredibly talented and seem to have distilled knowledge beyond your years.

In particular, 'Evelyn' is superb, 'Jackie knows,' a true tour de force. WK was right.

Beccy.

[Olivia]

Thank you so much for your very kind words!

[Emily B]

whenever mr. kortas sends me a read request i come running, he always finds the best stuff

i noticed in the blurb on the right that it says you are a teenager . . . i don't believe it, you must be one of those dried up old men that smokes too much and drinks alone . . . you've lived too much to be so young and write such amazing poetry

[Olivia]

Thank you so much for this review, it made me laugh.
I promise you I am a teenager.

[Emily B]

I will definitely be back to read you! Made my day

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I agree with W.k.---you have the instincts...you take the ordinary and make it extra-ordinary with your progression of character in this...
and that last line..."I truly can't remember"----
now I will always watch that sky for tears.

jacob

[Olivia]

Thank you for the review!

[W.k.kortas]

In this poor hack's humble opinion, the most important thing for a writer to possess, that thing that separates the top-shelf work from the everyday stuff, is to have really good instincts for writing--knowing when something is too vague or too over-the-top, knowing that this comination of images works, knowing when a phrase sounds just right. It is clear to me, as evidenced by this piece and many ohter things you have written, that you have those instincts in spades--the use of repetition, the odd-yet-still wholly-visualized exchanges between the narrator and the folks she encounters. The niceties of technique and archetype are all well and good, and certainly have their place, but they can only take one so far; you need to have this gift, this feel for writing to write the top-shelf stuff.

[Olivia]

Thank you W.k.