Party Animal
in he walks
like a bull
checking out
a paddock
the air shifts
nervously
eyes lower
bells jangle
(Episode 1 is here)
The following is a memory and like all memories it’s under constant revision. What’s significant I think is that it was the first time I realized that Slim was taking this whole slimverse thing a bit more seriously than I was. As I remember it……..
I invited Slim and the rest of The Poet’s Circle over for a few drinks to celebrate something, I can’t quite remember what it was and to be honest, it doesn’t matter.
The evening began relatively smoothly with an intense discussion about accessibility (no surprises there) and I made an emotional speech about the end rhymes in Leonard Cohen’s song, “Suzanne”. The conversation moved on to verse forms – cinquains, tankas, sestinas, halibuns, what happens if one turns a haiku upside down -fascinating stuff. Then Slim chimed in and asked where our own invention, the slimverse, fitted in to this pantheon. There was an awkward silence. Eventually, The Accomplished Poet spoke up. I should add that he is indeed accomplished and his compact vivid poems, mostly about his garden, have been widely published. He politely suggested that perhaps a 3 syllable line was too limiting, that making poetic music with such a restriction is quite difficult.
Now there was another kind of silence, the kind that ensues when a lion tamer drops his whip. Slim said quietly “fuck you and your fucking garden” and aimed a punch at The Accomplished Poet’s head, who, perhaps because of all that work in the garden, is quite agile. He ducked Slim’s punch and kicked him adroitly in the crotch. When the applause died down and Slim could speak again, he uncharacteristically apologized and gave The Accomplished Poet a hug, a doubtful pleasure given Slim’s personal hygiene issues. The evening ended on a happy note with a raucous rendition of “Suzanne”, everyone hitting the end rhymes hard.
Later that night Slim and I wrote the above poem which stretched the slimverse form to two verses. History in the making.
(*Slimverse – four 3 syllable lines)
Taking part in Open Link over at dverse
Stopdraggingthepanda 
This was poetry from start to finish! Thank you for giving me my first LOL of the week!
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Thanks Ingrid! Glad you liked it!
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“and like all memories it’s under constant revision”. Ain’t that the truth!
Funny stories. You poets really know how to mix it up.
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Thanks Eilene!
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Very enjoyable Jim, and relatable. I have been with the wise and knowledgeable in various fields, and although Slim’s approach is my polar opposite, I understand completely. Over the years, I have found that being ignored completely, as if one is invisible and irrelevant, is worse than being patronized. So tell Slim from me to give it to them, and the horse they rode in on.
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Thanks Steve! At the moment I would settle for being ignored or patronised as long as it was in a crowded bar!!
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Very true. I just contacted my old writing group, and when they’ll meet up again is unknown, disappointing.
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laughing here / was listening last night to how Coleridge and Wordsworth fell out (over the rime of the ancient mariner taking up too much space in their shared chapbook) – although history doesn’t record the full details – I imagine something similar – ‘fuck you and your fucking garden / daffodils’…
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Slimverse here
kick a crotch
sing a song
oh Suzanne
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welcome to slimverse, Ron!
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I have never been in a place where fist-fights over poetry break out… it sounds so very intense, and I would probably end up with the accomplished poet and stating that three syllables might be a bit too limited… (and so BTW the single view from a garden)
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