Monsters Under the Bed
_______________
When the second shoe drops
where the dirt was swept under
in the childhood home
that burned to ground
will it make a sound?
________________
Will you hold your hands over your ears?
Or hold your breath until someone listens?
________________
If the shoe doesn’t fit
how long will you wear it
before you ask?
________________
Whose shoe is it?
How many are there?
When was the first one lost?
________________
More dVerse Open Link Night poems HERE.
August 30th, 2011 3:27 pm
Maybe Cinderalla should be asked..haha..shoe fly don’t bother me, if the shoe fits…haha had too
Wonderful piece, split yet work together perfectly, we shouldn’t wait for the shoe to drop, rather shove it on and use it the best we can I guess.
August 30th, 2011 3:28 pm
You’ve adapted the koan to your thoughts well here, asking the questions that have no answers, but need to be asked anyway.
August 30th, 2011 3:33 pm
wonderful and clever ! ” if the shoe doesn’t fit , how long will you wear it…” a universal question, I love it!
August 30th, 2011 5:19 pm
A bunch of life questions here. I hope shoes also fall where houses have not burned to the ground.
August 30th, 2011 5:28 pm
Consider me donating all my shoes that do not fit!
Really good write, this Colleen. We often do tend to hang onto so much that does not serve us without realizing we can release ourselves in an instant.
Goes off wondering if the shoe dropped DOES make a sound…
August 30th, 2011 7:44 pm
nice play on the old adage…waiting for the other shoe to drop…you breathe new life into it and ask some important questions…nice write…
August 30th, 2011 8:26 pm
And if the shoe gives you fits? I like the interplay of words in this, and your reference to a fire-destroyed childhood home. Made me think for no obvious reason of an ill-informed campaign some local folks here undertook after the sunami to send shoes to Japan — although most Japanese feet are considerably smaller and narrower than the outsized feet of most Americans.
August 31st, 2011 8:01 am
I read this yesterday and didn’t comment. But I am commenting today……..I understand! xo
August 31st, 2011 9:13 am
It means a lot that you do, but I don’t think the initial title “Koan Poem” is right. I think I may have used it to distance myself from the personal aspects of the poem. I’m going to try an alternative title and see what kind of comments it derives, if any.
August 31st, 2011 2:46 pm
good thoughts in this colleen…i may have to check my shoe size…
August 31st, 2011 4:16 pm
Great questions to ponder! 😀
August 31st, 2011 9:09 pm
When the second shoe drops…. This is great. Waiting and wondering for that moment can be tense and intense.
August 31st, 2011 11:34 pm
[…] Looking up the etymology of the word “koan” while writing THIS poem, I found this: “Two monks were arguing about the temple flag waving in the wind. One […]
September 2nd, 2011 9:42 am
I found this enigmatic, which is perhaps the meaning of the word koan?
Thank you for visiting my blog- I replied to your comment asking for the meaning of koan. I still don’t really know, but have enjoyed puzzling it out.
September 2nd, 2011 9:55 am
very clever write … deceptively simple but deeply contemplative at the same time
September 2nd, 2011 9:58 am
Off the top of my head: It’s a zen riddle to be pondered in the tradition of: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it make a sound.
July 19th, 2013 2:36 am
From the title to the questions posed, this has a great reflective and ponderous mood.