Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Spring is Here!


Spring Fling

Spring is an old man in Bermuda shorts
and sandals with knee-high black socks
shuffling across the deck of a Disney
cruise ship to pick up a blue-haired dame.

She watches him stagger toward her
with the youthful confidence born
of Old Spice and new socks, making her feel
young - like she was 70 again, and foolish.

The salty breeze of déja vu whispers,
and she starts to hum a song from Pinocchio,
thinking of Gepetto - before he whittled away
his time and money on that silly puppet.

He says, "Frankly, my dear, you look much too young
to be a widow." Later he will remind her of Rhett
after Tara burned, when she will remember once again
that she doesn't give a clam.

Right now she does give a clam, but she can't
remember why; there's only starched Bermuda
and grandpa with spring in his step.

~ B.D. Bryant © 2005, revised 2007

11 comments:

Grafted Branch said...

I hope that was supposed to be funny 'cause it made me giggle. But it was beautifully written too, so I'm not sure what to do. :)

In any case, I liked it. Did you write it?

Brenda said...

I did write it, GB, with Carl's help. Thanks for asking (I've edited to make that clearer.)

Glad you liked it. I'm not a serious poet, so if it made you laugh, then it has served its purpose.

Kelli said...

Too funny. I loved it!

Melanie @ This Ain't New York said...

That is awesome! You should send it somewhere- where I don't know, but somewhere! REALLY!

Dawn said...

Very well done! The picture of the cruise ship made me want to bug out of here and go on another cruise.

Kev and I finally finished Chapter 4 and posted it today. Finally! If you're interested.

Blogger profile name said...

Wow! I didn't realize you wrote it until the comments. I agree you should submit it somewhere--it's lots of fun!

Tammy and Parker said...

I'm impressed! I loved it!

Judith said...

Hey Southern girlfriend, Spring Fling is wonderful. I didn't realize you wrote it. But I'm sure of one thing, where it came from, there's more. I'll bet there's a publication people that age read, especially about vacationing elderly. Anyway, it is good! Thanks for letting us enjoy it.

Barb said...

No surprise here, Brenda. You're a gifted writer and this made me smile, which, knowing you, I just assumed was supposed to happen.

Here's a great example of why I just gave you an award over at my place. Be a good girl and run over and accept it. Or else. LOL

Tammy said...

Brenda, I love it! What a great poem...I was going to ask where you found this and see by the replies that you wrote it yourself!

It made me smile...:)

Unknown said...

How fun is that? From someone who lives in FL let me assure you that you are RIGHT. ON. TRACK. Our favorite giggles come from the little old men in shorts and black socks. Gotta love 'em cause my guy will be one someday.