Live Encounters Poetry & Writing September 2024
On Death and Dying, poems by DeWitt Clinton.
On Death & Dying
has the time, anymore, to read a line, a sentence that doesn’t
really make all that sense, but that’s just talk, isn’t it, yet that’s
probably what keeps us above ground, for those who are thinking
that someday, somewhere, they will be carefully planted with
others, but here’s the thing, so many of our dear ones, and yes,
that’s a nice way of putting it, isn’t it, so many we’ve loved
have already died, and aside from some bogus holding hands
and closing our eyes from the flickering candles, well, nobody’s
going to talk back, right, they’re gone, and the longer we’re
here, the chances are we’re going to forget most of our loved
ones, or if you like, most of our acquaintances we’ve had a
conversation with, and that’s probably what’s the hardest as
so few are left to have a conversation with as most of our
high school chums are disappearing so fast we start to wonder
why in the world were we here in the first place, but of course,
that gets complicated and absolutely no one knows, and probably
you as well, knows what to do with something like that, so
I do have a few crackers and a bit of moldy cheese, and I’ve
got a nice cold Sav Blanc, so please don’t forget to come by,
and come by soon as we could figure out who we could
even remember after all these years almost as if we never
ever knew them, for we can’t even remember what we said,
when we said something so important or so we thought so.
C’est la Vie
Just the other day we were talking about regrets
and of course you’ve had them, right? as who in
their right mind doesn’t have some regret(s)
about how that went so long ago or wishing
whatever it was that was important hadn’t
worked out that way, not that way, as that
way wasn’t your way, and so many of us are
now in some clusterfuck and don’t even know
how to get out of such a mess, but what if
we didn’t have regrets about what we did so
long ago, what if we don’t look back wondering
why we did something that way or another
way, as so many have forgotten the exit for
this entirely erasable fiasco that all of us make
over and over, so relax a bit, get out your French
famous slogans phrase book, and savor what
just might help to lift you out of such a funk
so go ahead, but first, you need to just say it,
say c’est la vie, not that you can even pronounce
it well enough in a French grammar class, but
that’s not important, unless you insist that
pronunciation is everything, and if you can’t
get this one right, well, it’s worse than any
of you can even imagine, the end of the world
as so many know is coming and none of us,
not even you has prepared an emergency
grab bag just in case you do flub up the ever
so popular phrase that usually can get so
many of us out of our funk, and again, who
hasn’t been in a funk, ever, really, no one
no one is going to believe that, so get over
that as it makes for such a happy go lucky
song even if the song sounds French and
you still haven’t learned even how to order
soup in French, but no worries, just hum
that tune, and all your worries, all your c-f’s
might just not be so gob smacking important,
a little like whatever it is you’re in, you’re
not really in it, you just think you’re in it,
so let’s review everything you’ve ever done
that ends up in your head as regret(s), and
haven’t you figured it out yet that all that
was just you thinking you were doing the
right thing, when the right thing wasn’t
even right, or wrong, in fact, it wasn’t even
in the mix, as they used to say so cleverly,
perhaps what you wanted was just up there
in your head plotting and scheming away
when those weren’t the options at all,
even though you thought they were so
“optional,” but just something you thought
you should do, and now you wonder why
you did that and wish you hadn’t so let’s
join in the chorus, once again, without
a care with no regrets, yes, c’est la vie.
No Worries, Call Soon
It’s not complicated, really, is it, or is it?
remembering all the stuff you’ve ever done,
seen or wish you hadn’t seen or done, but
just the other day, out of nowhere, I couldn’t
remember which room I wanted to walk
into, or even if I wanted to, so there I was,
forgetting about just about everything, ever,
and then, and this really is a head scratcher,
as if I really had any hair, but I do, really,
though I do enjoy (quite a bit, even) someone
else rubbing her genii’s shaved head, oh for
crying out loud, now you’re crying and why
now, what in the world just happened, yes
there were two of us, but now, at best we
can only find one plus another nine tenths
for somebody here doesn’t know, and please
excuse my French, squat, and yes, we know
by now you could be a bit lost, and why
shouldn’t you be, yes, and are you always
hoping the days ahead will be clear as a
cow bell, or even better, the deep gong of
calling Buddhists to pray, and, you know
this, don’t you, you do know the clarity
and richness of those bells in your head,
well, dear, they’re going to be a problem
soon, not now of course, but soon you’ll
be wetting your fingertips to turn
even more pages, looking, forever, it seems
or the word tonality as now that is sinking
into you, even though the tonality is a little
fainter every other day or so, though hearing
anything these days is not necessarily
the most pleasing, is it, but I can’t really
talk about that as I’m actually not here
as I left days or weeks ago, I think, now
on a Queen Mary bound for Lisbon of all
places, and just now you’re remembering
where you thought you were just now for
it’s only been a second or two, but please
don’t forget to ring me up as I wouldn’t
want to miss out on anything without you.
© DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton taught English, Creative Writing, and World of Ideas courses for over 30 years at the University of Wisconsin—Whitewater. Recent book collections include At the End of the War (Kelsay Books, 2018), By A Lake Near A Moon: Fishing with the Chinese Masters (Is A Rose Press, 2020), and Hello There (Word Poetry, 2021) which was awarded the 2022 Edna Meudt Poetry Book Award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers. His poems and essays have appeared in a variety of national and international journals. He is a student of Iyengar Yoga and offers a gentle yoga class to seniors in the Milwaukee Public Library System.