The Turtle

[ellajam]

Hi, Dale, well done and repeatedly enjoyable. A few notes.

Owned

I knew him. I knew him well
enough to know that he liked
walking the line of ambiguity I enjoyed thinking about this "line", exactly where it lies.
between what was too real,
and hyperbole,
on the sacred ground of sarcasm.
He liked pretending he was mercurial, Hey, I know this guy, well said.
or dumb as dirt.
He liked almost reveling his true self, I read this typo as "reveling in" then saw JM's revealing, more likely but I prefer mine.
which was neither mercurial nor dumb.
He would bask like a turtle on a rock
in the light of false modesty,
but quickly dive into the deep water
of obfuscation if someone came too close
to his protective shell.
On occasion he would drop pearls, Love these three lines.
as if by accident,
and turds as if on purpose.
Living on the edge
of this fantasy was his life,
as he lay in a hammock,
unmoving,
on a beach somewhere
that Hemingway had never gone, I know where instead of that would double where, but that sounds off.
and little brown women would bring him
sticky rice and coconut drinks,
until the sun would fade
and he would bask in the light
of tiki torches painted by Gauguin. Sweet ending.

xxoo
–Erthona


©2014