15 minutes of Fame

[saw]

Henry was a private man,
measured unstable liquids,
volatile powders
in fragile glass beakers
late into the night
in the mildewing cellar.
He mixed them,
he agitated them, he spoke
to them like you coo to a baby.
He warmed them
with his breath, his love,
his Bunsen Burner.
He studied the striped layers
separated by density,
inhaled the vapors, spewed
words and ideas
on impatient paper, swiftly
as fingers can steer
a writing implement across
an empty page,
and his poems got better.....
and better and even
better and from that moment on
he cranked the jaws
of the vise of fame a little
tighter each day, but Henry
burned expensive fuel,
the price of fame is dear.
He broke away from chartreuse
and tangerine, wore only
crimson and olive drab,
his abilities waned like the fading
days of October when winter numbed
the remnants of his furtive garden.
Henry inhaled the dying bouquet
of crippled marigolds,
the essence propelling him back
to his place of his origin.....
a babbling idiot.

[sweetwater]

resentment

[saw]

not the intention here....it's actually about the circle of life...from cooing baby to articulate genius to demented codger......our lives a flash in the pan, the blink of an eye...15 minutes of fame in the history of the universe........

[stilltrucking]

I thought it was a very good poem
I thought it was about me
I was happy to see you posting again

15 minutes out of 15 billion years

[constantine]

great to read you here again, brother steve. great to read you anywhere - anytime.

[hester_prynne]

Indeed, I savored this....I savor most if not all of your work saw...
This one made me stop in my tracks and feel something powerful...yet humble.
It felt very good.....

H

[saw]

thanx truck, it was about you...and me....and the universe...appreciate
the welcome back....guess I got distracted by reality....peace

thanx too to my friend Dr. D.....thanx for your most generous words

and hester...thank you for your astute feedback, always a distinct pleasure.......