Small Things

I’m standing over the kitchen sink
slicing mango flesh from hardened pip
with serrated dripping knife
wondering if I slip
would I slip all the way 
and never come back…

Small things keep me alive 
the malodorous teenage boy socks scattered
in the lounge room
the smell of summer rain 
on hot parched dirt
a kind word
or gesture…

I turn the knife over in my hand
and watch the light glint on sharp blade
and juicy bits of mango flesh
and hold on to the
small things
that anchor me
to the kitchen sink…

copyright applies. all my poetry and writing is digitally copyrighted and stored at my free copyright

Reviews

[CoconutSprinkles08]

I relate to this poem so much...I loved the lines, "wondering if I slip would I slip all the way and never come back…" I liked how it first made me think about the knife slipping and committing suicide, but, at the same time, it made me think of mentally collapsing and never being able to be "normal" again. I love how it talks about loving the simple things in life, and, really, that's what keeps us all in one piece. I also loved how it talks about loving simple things, while doing a simple thing: slicing a mango. Great job! :)

[Laughing-Bear]

My Dear Writing Friend Maggie,
An excellent poem that reminds me that it is the simple, small things that makes life sweet and worth the trudging forward. I was delighted that one of your small things was the smell of summer rain. And as you so have so clearly expressed, a kind word or a smile may make the difference in a person’s day. We may never the hell and pain a soul is in. Our simple act of kindness can make all the difference. It just may be the small thing that keeps them away from the serrated edge by giving them an anchor for another twenty-four hours.

Blessings, Laughing-Bear

[Droll Prole]

Great imagery, I can feel this persons pain, the thoughts that go through our minds while doing such mundane things.

[OT]

oooo I like this a lot!! it makes me wonder - there are perhaps two ways to take those last two lines - either as a sense of freedom - ironic perhaps but the idea it keeps you centred as someone else said - but also perhaps in its more literal sense - as an anchor - giving up a lot for normality - or needing the family etc to stop you slipping away as in the first line - maybe were it not for the anchor you'd have slipped away a long time ago - hmmm I like!!! brilliant stuff! I like your voice in it too!

[NoneOfYourBusiness akaK..]

I too relate very well~ I know moments of this flavor intimately~ I believe my children were given to me to ground me~ my house was given to me to root me~ otherwise I would have flown apart into a million pieces decades ago~ and then I wonder sometimes at odd moments of extraordinary ordinariness~ what when my last dove flies the nest in a few years . . . . and my house sits on the market . . . .and my foot is deep on the pedal leaving contrails of ordinary behind . . . .

[Black Cat Fever]

Very vivid. Sometimes it is the small things that keep us here in the living world. The small things are often times the most important things. The will to live is strong and hard to overcome. This is an outstanding poem.

[Alessander]

I love how this poem drips with imagery. Very specific, tactile.

I’m standing over the kitchen sink
slicing mango flesh from hardened pip
with serrated dripping knife

Such small details like "serrated" flesh out this poem and put me in the scene. I also enjoyed how you intermingled not so ideal sensuousness, such as smelly socks, into part of the human experience. The only beef I have though is with that line

the malodorous teenage boy socks scattered

I mean, who the hell uses 'maladorous'!? lol but I can see the dilemma. "Stinky" or "Smelly" would be too comic for this piece, but maybe something else like "Sweaty" "Torn " (or even "hole-y" with its implication)...dunno. That line itself just kinds sticks out. But that's my only minor quibble.

The last line provokes contemplation. "Anchored to the sink" in any other context I think would be a menacing idea, esp for a woman. But here, it seems to be celebratory - a sort of centering. I'm also thinking of the saying "throwing out everything but the kitchen sink" so that the kitchen sink, much like "The rock," becomes a modern symbol of stability and comfort or even conservativeness.