Hotel Dali-esque

...surreal use of those 10 words

Hotel Dali-esque

I watched silently

as low fog rolled in

and the Dali-esque strangeness began.

Sitting on the lawn table

an iguana carcass,

with an apple in its mouth

and liqueur on its breath,

started singing to me.

Lavender guitar riffs wailed

as goldfish did a hoopla type dance

calling my bluff.

(I tried to pull an inside straight)

Losing my shirt

in this surreal game,

I got up to go.

That’s when I heard your voice,

“you can check out any time you like,

but you can never leave!”

Aztec Warrior/redzone 5.26.16

(NOTE: written for a 10W challenge:

lavender, low, fog, bluff, apple, iguana, 

carcass, liqueur, goldfish, hoopla) 

Author's Note

...thanks for reading... and KL this is my "true story".. er... ;0)

Reviews

[Papaya]

It's like RANGO meets hotel California. Love it.
True you say?

[barleygirl]

I think "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" might be one of the best & most memorable lyrics of all time. I've been in such situations more often than not, thru my life.

Your poem is amazingly vivid & bizarre & playful & meaningful. I love when a writer brings up ideas so unexpected: "iguana carcass w/ apple" . . . "lavender guitar riffs" . . . "goldfish did a hoopla dance" . . . the reader is left wondering why only a treasured few have the ability to leave anything cliché way way behind in the dance of words.

It's a tall order to try to offer something even more intense & memorable than what the Eagles gave to us so long ago, but still stirring in the recesses of our minds . . . but you've actually outdone this classic with your original thoughts & captivating scenario! *smile*

[redzone]

you are too kind, my mind just is a weird and strange place to be at times... lol. To be honest, I looked at those 10 words that KL used in one of her poems and drew a huge blank a WTF!!! And later that night I heard the Eagles song Hotel California on the radio, which for some reason led me the movie "The Night of the Iguana" which was a surreal film and character studies of people who could never leave (back to the song) and what could be more surreal than dancing goldfish (that wasn't also a cartoon) and I thought of Dali and folded watches etc and so an iguana with apple and liqueur breath... and WTF, what kind of mind comes up with this??? I do like that line though as it captures so much of how we often see things...

Thanks so much for your comments and take on this poem, I will try and be saner the next time... lol

[barleygirl]

Out of all the attributes I most admire in other writers, this business of being way beyond the dots of expectations is my most treasured & envied one . . . don't stop the insanity (((HUGS)))

[Lyn Anderson]

I love how you worked the Hotel California into this piece. Very clever. Kind of reminds me of a weird and wonderful tacky surrealist painting. You are uneasy about it, but you keep looking at it ...

[redzone]

yeah, and worse, liking it!!! "such a lovely place" HA!... Dali did this to you with his art.... Thanks for your comment KL, the poem was getting lonely... and feels much better now.. ;0)

[Lyn Anderson]

That's good. I do regularly check your page -- so I would have found it.:)