The man stands
in front of his bathroom window,
holding the world’s most frizzled toothbrush;
toothbrush with bristles
like an electrocuted tribble.
He keeps
one grey eye
on the house
across the street
and that one window
with a light
that never goes out,
that never casts
any shadow
across drawn, pale,
yellow curtains.
He keeps
his other grey eye
on his toothbrush’s gnarled reflection,
frayed bristles
lighting up
like a fiber-optic tree
with every car
that drives by.
The bristles shift
in color
from ripe banana
to blank paper
to open wound
to healing scar.
He considers
walking
across the street,
knocking
on the door,
inquiring
about that never-darkened room.
He considers
replacing
that grizzled toothbrush;
considers
upgrading
to a plaque-annihilating model.
The man
turns off
his bathroom light
and purposefully
brushes his teeth
bathed in headlights
of passing cars.
He spits
into a dark hole,
gazes
across the street,
waits
for shadow.
Annihilating and gray…with a hint of purpose in the shadows across the street. Reminds me of Death of A Salesman, in a resigned sort of way.
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The imagery is great, right down to the frizzled toothbrush that had me bleching a bit. It’s time to buy yourself a new one.
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Love this!
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Great ! Thanks for stopping by and letting me know.
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Plaque annihilating models are far less worthy of contemplation; nobody ever turned a tune to a pristine toothbrush and nobody ever should. In toothbrushes as in life, unmarred things are relegated to doldrums. Usually anything less than Pablo Neruda doesn’t interest me in the poetry department but I really appreciate the originality of this piece. Bravo.
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Though the promises of annihilation forever pull us from the well-worn. Thank you for dropping by and taking time to read and comment.
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I woke up hating my toothbrush, as I strangely replaced it. This wonderful piece of poetry makes me want to apologize for temporarily cursing my green bristles as harshly as I did.
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They must go at some time or another…
Thanks a million for reading and taking time to respond.
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Reblogged this on kiraburton and commented:
Your poetry always manages to tough me in unexpected ways. Your style so different than mine makes questions arise in my mind like the dawn.
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🙂 Awesome and thank you.
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