East of the River

Bending Spoons: A Leap of Faith

Synopsis

Spoon River was my introduction to Edgar Lee Masters as a poet. I picked up a first edition copy at Half Price Books for a dollar several years ago and I still revisit it almost daily. Bending Spoons: A Leap of Faith, started as a New Year’s resolution, an homage to Masters. The “leap” represented leap year (sort of); bending spoons is a metaphor for how I interweave narratives by writing a poem a day and revisiting each of the characters throughout the year. Initially I worked with the title of “The Promise of a New Poem,” a knock-off of The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg. Their book of daily inspirations was my starting point for each poem. However after careful thought, starting the collection with Bending Spoons seemed more appropriate, as the characters are bending the ears of the reader continuously.
Although these characters do not visit the reader from their graves as Masters’ characters do in Spoon River, they are members of a (dys)functional community that speak of the (dis)trust and irony we face on a daily basis. I believe some of the characters are descendants to some of the people buried in Petersburg, IL.

Poem Sampling:

The Stillness of Sage

Melody burnt sage over the 38 foot Indian
and blew kisses to Sir Elton John after cutting
off her tail in the dead of winter, burying it
under the packed snow on top of the mounds
then bled to death with a smile on her face.

Complimentary Guides

Marie DDS, after a long drought, felt hopeful
about the new America noting that Hilary serving
as Secretary of State would not only reign on the
Republicans parade, but threaten severe wind damage,
along with Al Franken being appointed Ambassador to Israel
indefinitely.

Fostering the Fundamental

Marianna’s memorial was held today,
as she was Wednesday’s Child.
Al and Amy were in attendance
as Norm baked himself at Sungods
in Singapore. Buzz Potter’s widow
made an appearance, and graciously
sprinkled a few of Buzz’s ashes into
the fountain made of granite that the FDA
workers donated in Marianna’s remembrance.
All in all Father Turin delivered a thoughtful message
and just as he was about to finish a train whistle blew
off in the distance to the tune of Edelweiss.

The Serenity Prayer

Clovis Sweeney accepted the fact that she was born
a hermaphrodite. It didn’t take Madame Luigi to break the news;
Clovis knew the day she visited Parson’s farm and later lifted her leg
Mel Gibson at the only theater in town. Why was Mel there? some may wonder;
but this is Clovis’ story, this is Clovis’ serenity, and Mel was only there
to deliver a bouquet of Leontopodium alpinum and admit his wrong doing,
all in the name of the fifth step.

Plucking Thorns

Reverend Timothy Baaken returned to the watering hole
to collect sturgeon whiskers before the ice set in.
At the end of the day he had only samples of 22 of the 23
species, but he felt blessed in spite of this for the pontifical
purple sturgeon made his last appearance right before
Baaken went under to swim with the school around the bend.

Positions of Prominence

Mother Teresa, Jesse and Terry Ventura,
Diane Varsi, Judy Garland and Carl Rove
all participated in the Christmas pageant at
Salem Baptist. There was a debate that resulted
in an argument where a handgun was confiscated.
The argument entailed who was to play the king
carrying the Bush Bobblehead. In the end Rove won,
because he was most like Herod.

Tied Closely to Triumph

Carolyn wore the badge of honor as most significant shopper
while Mrs. Claus recruited Officer Voeller to fill in for Crumpet
at the workshop. Voeller vicariously accepted the challenge
so Carolyn buried the blowup doll that resembled the officer
under the porch at the Claus residence. Carolyn soon started
her own television show and pen-palled with Petter who was
now referred to as inmate #638291.

Distracted by Setbacks

Mother on the go stopped going
when Larry King Live refused her
request to be on his show with Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin needed advice on hair care, and
Mother-going-nowhere had just the right prescription.

Like a Magnet

Moretta Meineke’s last supper consisted of
six pudding choices. Meineke managed to make
a mess of things by using her spoon as a weapon,
flinging pudding off its indentation at the cardinal family
eating in a mannerly way just outside her kitchen window.
Later that evening Meineke was sequestered to solitary
confinement where she used that same spoon to take her life.

The Perfect Form of the Circle

Ernest Revue used Major Barbara’s acronym
in a slightly dyslexic fashion. Although the acronym
originally read MOM, a representation of Most Opportunistic
Major, Revue gallantly transferred the lettering in his own mind
to mean Worst Officer Warranted, representing the acronym WOW.