Last Blue Ruin

Don't go to the poem where she kept her things--don't linger

between ellipses (I hear lips lock, lock, locking)

or flip through pages of that Cattleya Notes where she drew human organ systems

don't analyze why her skeleton was on its knees. How a vulture reminded her of airpipes and lungs. Or hold your breath for the prestige of a magician who paraded his skin, or even say that the muscle guy looked as if it was plucked out of the House of Wax.

Sell it on eBay--that 1968 bootleg of the band that made both of you cry. Delete all seasons of Battlestar Galactica in your laptop; otherwise, you'd be hearing *her* whenever Katee Sackhoff goes frak

it's f**k

frak-ed up... 

frak-ed over

frak

frak

fvck is what you'd say before you go to a spontaneous 

combustion when the ship goes down (oh s**t, that's already happened, right?)

Red shoes, scarlet lips, grey shirt, skinny jeans, French braid, wide-eyed, Swan-like:  this is how you do it: make her generic and that joint will soon lose taste...

Reviews

[BobM]

In a generation where people are more and more expectant of conspicuous plot, the poem "Last Blue Ruin" is decidedly refreshing. In my mind, this poem is about loss- specifically, the loss of a loved one. Not only does it touch the feeling of loss, but the much more complicated emotions involved in letting go when the world keeps reminding one of the loss.
But my favorite part is that I learned all of this without being directly told. Through careful description, the reader is gently coaxed towards the theme.
However, I would consider revising the syntax of this poem. Some passages seem to move to quickly, and even feel cluttered at times. Additionally, the second to last paragraph appears to have disrupted the flow. The phrasing seems awkward to me.
All in all, I enjoyed this poem. It did exactly what a poem ought to, and I could feel the emotion in the passages.

[Myra]

Thank you so much for reviewing this! It's just what I needed.

[BobM]

No problem!