“Something”

 

c. 2024 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(1-24)

 

 

Something that I said

It slipped out suddenly, rudely raw

Like a stone stuck in a gator’s craw

A thorn deep in the lion’s paw

Too much truth to bear

Something that I said

Spoken softly, over a big stick

A balloon popped by a pinprick

A phrase that made enemies, quick

They came from everywhere

 

Something that I said

A slip of the tongue, jabbing at what

I should have left in shadows of naught

Instead of netting a naïve thought

To repeat like a prize

Something that I said

A flick of the wrist, delivering a pitch

Like a baseball savant with a professional twitch

I made myself a rowdy son-of-a-bitch

Throwing heaters, hot

 

Something that I said

A kick in the dirt that soiled my shoe

When I really did not know what to do

I might have gone the whole day through

Without that kind of stumble

Something that I said

A buzzing bee around my ears

A debt of gratitude, in arrears

A trembling handful of feckless fears

While left out, lonely and humble

 

Something that I said

Barely above a whispering tone

A salutation before going home

A crackling call on the telephone

Wires twisted up in knots

Something that I said

A leap of faith over the altar, prepared

Where a priest in robes loudly declares

That the rule of law is everywhere

For those whom the master begot

 

Something that I said

A poet’s tale of choices made

A slice of toast with marmalade

Locks of hair in a traditional braid

Glistening in the sun

Something that I said

A curse never intended to offend

Offered without a look ‘round the bend

A curt comment I wanted to amend

Before the saying was done

 

Something that I said

Huffing breath like a beast in the field

Turning in a circle like a millhouse wheel

A loser laughing at his own appeal

To be forgiven, and fortified

Something that I said

The wind howling, loudly wild

With the innocence of a capricious child

Like a spider dancing over the woodpile

While splinters scatter wide

 

Something that I said

A voice lifted up to the clouds

Saying things not commonly allowed

I contrast to the bustling crowd

A crevice in the ledge

Something that I said

A random, selfish sense of pride

That betrays a wealth of doubt inside

A contrarian sort of downhill slide

A dissenter taking the pledge

 

Something that I said

A lost point I wanted to make

A slice of stale birthday cake

Kept too long in a basket by the lake

A picnic pause, unenjoyed

Something that I said

This minute ticked away with a tock

As I stumbled over building blocks

From a game that arrived in a shipping box

Sent out by mistake

 

Something that I said

A final salute to friends deployed

To defend the ones who were annoyed

By a camera flash from a Polaroid

Aimed to catch the scene

Something that I said

Laughing loudly at myself

And questions about artistic wealth

Gladly gaming for something else

At a table in the mezzanine

 

Something that I said

A cold, crisp snort of air

While rising from a folding chair

Sat on the edge of a county fair

Held too early in the season

Something that I said

The allergic sneeze of a mind infected

With philosophies sadly misdirected

Wondering about the song selected

A rhyme without a reason

 

Something that I said

Sure to be repeated back

Like a footstep on a stray thumbtack

An unexpected heart attack

That jolts the body from within

Something that I said

A bat swung with skillful elan

Cracker Jacks strung to the break of dawn

A voyage through empires, completely gone

Where fate surrendered its kin