Five Things I Don’t Want You to Know About Me (Part 1)
1) overboard: i’m fanatic about not smoking pot condemn everyone that does but when i came into possession of some really good chocolate edibles I spent a whole month stoned walking in the woods writing bad poetry trying to figure out where i was from my dead brother’s topo maps and kinda lost contact with everyone even NPR which generally i listen to starting with morning edition all the way to the BBC from 12 to 3 a.m. except when they make me mad interviewing david brooks and i ban the whole shebang from the house even prairie home companion and go on a reading binge and read all four of updike’s rabbit books in chorological order until harry angstrom dies on a dilapidated basketball court and its spring anyway so i try to memorize all the entries in “ wildflowers of northern kentucky” such as golden ragwort bishop’s cap foam flower early saxifrage but have a hard time picking them out in the field unless i bring my precious first edition signed copy with me which i hate to do so i go back in and memorize all 120 kentucky counties and the county seats in alphabetical order and then perform the real trick when company comes over and recite them backwards
15 thoughts on "Five Things I Don’t Want You to Know About Me (Part 1)"
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I love this poem.
Love this stream of consciousness feel.
Dang I do or did alot of this too, especially listening to then quitting NPR, even prairie home companion. I think I have a ways to before I memorize all the counties though, the duality in this is playful yet realistic
This is overwhelmingly familiar Jim. Written with a prosaic style but musical diction, especially in naming the flowers. I am also an NPR addict, I love saying the names to people in conversation like, “I heard Sylvia Pojolie say; or have you ever tried a recipe from Lyn Roseta Casper (I am spelling phonetically because I have never seen the names in print). I would my dinner guests are about as entertained as yours as you recite the Kentucky counties backwards (aren’t they all backwards these days?). Nice confessional Jim.
Love this stream of consciousness poem. Sing it.
Jim – i love knowing these five things about you
“wildflowers of northern kentucky”
This until the end! Loved it!
Enjoying the revealing of Jim!!!
Love NPR, love this poem! And, I would love to hear you recite all 120 Kentucky counties backwards as long as I was fortified with some “really good chocolate edibles.”
Love the humor in this.
I don’t believe you
Haven’t scared us away yet, Jim. Now we’re all itching to hear the rest of them!
The real real trick is reciting them backwards after eating the chocolates…or drinking some moonshine.
Nice work.
I worry that you try to find your way through the woods using your dead brother’s topo maps…..no wonder you’re lost.
Be nice to the plant spirits…