11.04.2016

In These Times

Hindsight
is really something
with its unerring wisdom
forever on the hips
hauled around
like so much lading
though happier tossed off
without settling the bill.

You carry yours on a chain
in a back-pocket wallet,
mine’s stowed
behind a gold crown,
left mandibular rear molar,
which is how my family
will know me when I’m gone.

We did not anticipate
the cutting
cunning of enemies,
the force of greed.
Our money’s no good now,
our children dispossessed:
We did not account for this.

For Grapeling’s prompt to the Real Toads: What Fresh Hell Is This?
Posted by Marian at 7:23 AM
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12 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 4, 2016 at 9:13 AM

    Hot damn, this is AWESOME.

    I love these sections:

    "with its unerring wisdom
    forever on the hips
    hauled around
    like so much lading"

    the whole second stanza

    Actually, the whole piece is just killer, man. Or woman, as it were. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ann BennettNovember 4, 2016 at 9:20 AM

    Very good.

    The dishonesty is epic, But not the first time in history.

    Again, great work.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sherry Blue SkyNovember 4, 2016 at 11:24 AM

    "Our children dispossessed" is what hurts the most. Nailed it, Marian.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kerry O'ConnorNovember 4, 2016 at 11:28 AM

    Got to be on the alert for that cutting cunning in these difficult times.

    ReplyDelete
  5. brudbergNovember 4, 2016 at 3:22 PM

    The hindsight... I think there is a lot of that going on right now... taking one wrong turn, and down we go..

    ReplyDelete
  6. Buddah MoskowitzNovember 4, 2016 at 7:03 PM

    Wow, this is quietly powerful. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. kaykualaNovember 5, 2016 at 12:42 AM

    Hindsight is really something
    with its unerring wisdom

    It is often taken in arguments to press a point. In reality my old teacher once said it 'is wisdom that comes too late!'

    Hank

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gillena CoxNovember 5, 2016 at 7:14 AM

    Guess foresight is of the gifted few. So hindsight will just have to do, after wisdom is used in the process of pondering

    Much love...

    ReplyDelete
  9. hedgewitchNovember 5, 2016 at 11:34 AM

    Really a vivid image in the first stanza Marian--and the progression is tight and dripping with foresight as well as hindsight--I keep thinking that after next week it will all be over--but of course, it will only be beginning. :(

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousNovember 6, 2016 at 6:29 AM

    You frequently end your comments to my own sign-of-the-ties jeremiads with the stiff punctuation of "argh." The final stanza of this is deserving of an "argh," though such sops of vinegar may prove vigorish of how we made it through. Hindsight will tell.

    ReplyDelete
  11. MargaretNovember 6, 2016 at 2:05 PM

    ..without settling the bill. To think this all could have been avoided - but it also seems hindsight doesn't serve us very well either! Well penned.

    ReplyDelete
  12. grapelingNovember 11, 2016 at 9:02 PM

    no, we didn't.

    damnit. ~

    ReplyDelete

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