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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Reasons to Survive November



Reasons to Survive November

November like a train wreck—
as if a locomotive made of cold
had hurtled out of Canada
and crashed into a million trees,
flaming the leaves, setting the woods on fire.

The sky is a thick, cold gauze—
but there's a soup special at the Waffle House downtown,
and the Jack Parsons show is up at the museum,
full of luminous red barns.

—Or maybe I'll visit beautiful Donna,
the kickboxing queen from Santa Fe,
and roll around in her foldout bed.

I know there are some people out there
who think I am supposed to end up
                in a room by myself

with a gun and a bottle full of hate,
a locked door and my slack mouth open
          like a disconnected phone.

But I hate those people back
from the core of my donkey soul
and the hatred makes me strong
and my survival is their failure,

and my happiness would kill them
so I shove joy like a knife
into my own heart over and over

and I force myself toward pleasure,
and I love this November life
where I run like a train
deeper and deeper
into the land of my enemies.
"Reasons to Survive November," Tony Hoagland, from What Narcissism Means to Me (Graywolf Press).
 
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3 comments:

  1. WillNovember 13, 2012 at 8:25 AM

    Excuse me for a moment while I leave the house and walk into the woods to see if one of those wood sprites is lying on a mattress of leaves just waiting for me. That would surely get me through November -- and several other months as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. silvereagleNovember 13, 2012 at 9:45 AM

    and I love this November life.......especially when I look out and see the Golden Hickory in full bloom standing beside the Red Dogwood and the Flaming Orange Maple....all is definitley good in the world then....even without the "wood sprite lying on a mattress of leaves"...but that would be great to find as well!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 13, 2012 at 6:55 PM

    We've had such a wonderful November so far...pretty trees, mild but cool weather, Thanksgiving approaching. And if I could find that guy lying in the woods in my back yard, my heating bill would diminish and the month would be perfect!

    Peace M3
    Jay

    ReplyDelete

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