The Present Insanity
No doubt the well’s run dry
but he returns to it
day after day expecting
to retrieve an oak bucket
full of clean, quenching water,
not sand and sediment,
three bucks fifty in wishing coins,
certainly not the desiccated
carcass of a bullfrog.
It would be insanity to think
tomorrow will be any different,
but he already knows he’ll be back,
drawn to that miserly well,
sporting a new necklace of hollow bones,
singing a mid-summer’s song.
16 thoughts on "The Present Insanity"
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You continue to amaze me, Bill, with the subtle colors of your poems, their deep feeling. This one tugs at my heart.
Do you get tired of writing poetry in June? You continue to produce wonderful work and I wonder how.
🐓🐓🐓
A poem with rich images and depth beyond that well’s reach!
“sporting a new necklace of hollow bones,”
Amazing work, Bill!
I love the sensory details, the total metaphor of the poem. I agree with H.A. on that necklace of hollow bones.
Expertly executed!
Loved it!
Rich images and content! wonderful writing!
❤️
Wow
The depth here…
Shew! “sporting a new necklace of hollow bones,
singing a mid-summer’s song.”
Deep, subtle, and rhythmically rich. Your craft is emphasized when reading this poem aloud. Outdid yourself with this one, Bill
Such rich imagery. An intriguing poem. I read it several times. Just haunting, especially that ending.
Great title! I felt the tension in his experiencing a dry well all throughout- and the fatigue in knowing he’d be back. I echo that those last two lines are brilliant.
Certainly makes you stop to think and mull this one over. How often do we resort to similar behavior…and why? Interesting poem, Bill!
sporting a new necklace of hollow bones,
singing a mid-summer’s song.
This is stricking!
Shew, you paint the Unsettling image very well.
A tragic persistence of behavior. Reads like an addiction poem to me. Great write, Bill!