When Poetry Comes Knocking
So I went to my yearly CPR class on Saturday with nursery rhymes on my mind. I tried to jot them down in my notebook like I did many years ago while making fire alarms in a factory or when I worked in my friend Juniper’s bead shop. But the CPR teacher kept quizzing us, so I didn’t have time to write, but while watching videos and answering her questions my mind was repeating half written nursery rhyme stanzas like TV commercial jingles stuck in my head.
I found myself giving dummies rescue breaths to the tune of “loose-lipped tulips passing secrets.” Instead of repeating my CPR ABC’s (airway, breath, circulation) I was silently reciting “the boasting crocus woke us singing.” And while counting rescue breaths (30), I was remembering the ditty titled “Poet Cashier” that I taped on the bead shop cash register … It’s all I can do … not to … say “buckle my shoe” … after “One, two” … when I’m counting out the money.
I tried to stay focused on the Red Cross “Check, Call, and Care” refrain but like Alice lost in Wonderland I was inhabiting a world where woodpeckers were telling knock knock jokes and red poppies were stopping traffic. Who were the mocking birds mocking, I wondered, and if lilacs could talk what would they be saying?
The whole misaligned convergence made me imagine how funny life would be if bubble captions appeared over people’s heads and we could read what they were thinking but not saying.
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Note: I provide part-time care for adults with disabilities, which is something I used to do full-time as a foster care provider and something that requires knowing CPR.
April 20th, 2010 5:44 am
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April 20th, 2010 5:50 am
You brain is wonderful. Mine sometimes does that dyslexic dance but never comes up with anything so lyrical or if it does…I will never remember it!
April 20th, 2010 7:34 am
After I read this post, I scrolled down and read your poem in the previous post. It is utterly delightful, Colleen. Now I’m going to have that phrase “the boasting crocus woke us singing” going through my head all day. It is delicious and quite satisfying to say.
April 20th, 2010 9:26 am
Well, if you are going to have something distracting your thought to such an extent, I think that poetry is the best kind of something for the job. Lucky you!!
April 20th, 2010 9:30 am
I got a few looks when I started repeating lines slightly out loud. That’s the way writing works for me. I have to read a line or say it over and over to invite the next line or get the rhythm right.
April 20th, 2010 9:34 am
Reminds me of Waking Life. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243017/
Mindfulness can be at odds with creativity.
April 20th, 2010 6:37 pm
I LOVE..”the boasting crocus woke us singing”….Indeed! It is incredible how you are able to multi-task–CPR and writing poetry ALL at the same time. Fun picture, too, Colleen…!
April 21st, 2010 6:17 pm
You are a riot Colleen.
My CPR runs out in June…..I will have to renew mine too, but I have to keep my mind on just that or forget it!!!