seven dogs
i drank nine beers in nine bars
a tribute to nine women who wrecked me
walking home i walked past the red house
over yonder
same one i’ve walked pass ninety-nine and one-half times before
i stopped right there and thought, how drunk am i?
so i did the math
nine bars, nine beers, nine times nine is eighty-one
in nineteen eighty-one i was nine years old
and in the nineth hour of the nineth day
of my nineth winter, i walked this very path
with the same nine mailboxes on the sidewalk to the left
and the same nine garden gnomes in the garden to the right
ninety-nine and one-half newspapers piled up
on the doorstep of the red house over yonder
and that’s when i saw what i saw
the thing that haunts me forever
i saw seven dogs fighting in the alley
for a leftover chicken bone
seven brothers forgot their bond and surrendered to the hunger
i saw their teeth grow long and their eyes grow sinister
i saw mortal fear up close and personal
and then i saw the blackest crow i ever saw
swoop down and steal that chicken bone
then perch high on a steeple, seven tail feathers pointed due east
i saw seven dogs in disbelief
seven dogs, one dead chicken
and a tax collector in the blackest crow-feathered trench coat i ever saw
nine creatures total
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You make this sound very portentous! And many other things – humorous, evocative, symbolic, even a little bit magical…. It was fun to read. You may post the prompt poem, if you get it working, on any later date you choose.By next Friday Magaly will have created a Page (at top of our Posts, along with the “About' etc.) for the Friday Writings badge which can be added to our posts, and a P&SU badge for our Home pages as well. And there will be instructions. Only if you want to use them. Some people like to make this acknowledgment on their blogs – and we are very happy to be thus advertised! – but not everyone wants to add such an element to their blog, and that'`s fine too.
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Nine seems like a very special number in this poem. liked how you see the crow as a tax collector.i am a beer person too, and i always wonder why most beer labels have an animal on it (think dogs, sea creatures, tiger).
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It's Really well done. The use of 9 is so John Lennon ish and it makes such a nice nonsense poem
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“nine times nine is eighty-onein nineteen eighty-one i was nine years old”That is my favorite part. That’s exactly how I think, constantly.I love the morphing of the crow into a man. Excellent political statement, but also a fascinating examination of your brain.
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A vivid journey that I was able to imagine in my mind's eye. I seem to have my own 9's and a murder of crows not one. Thank you for painting this
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The magic of numbers at work in this, and a manic quality that gives life to illusions and wild thoughts and forces them into a palatable, concrete-seeming form. Everything is a metaphor if looked upon in the right way, and this is full of them, pulled from the commonplace and made to bleed out their meaning. That image of the dogs is ace.
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Love your wacky math …. numbers are fascinating aren't they? Love the poem too. Happy Wednesday.
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The first thought that came to mind when I finished reading this one was “magical realism OCD dances with surrealism”. I love the organic strangeness of the speaker's thoughts, the way numbers tell the story, the metaphor feast, and the imagery…
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P.S. About the badges… There isn't much to know or do about them. Some of us like to add an image somewhere in our posts–usually at the end–that links our entries to the prompt and/or blog we are writing for.
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Now about those nine beers….I would be interested to know where you got these to inspire this very unusual (wacky) poetry LOL
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Yes! The crow! Sneaky little devil but gets what he wants. Always.
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I love how the repeat of the numbers makes it fell like a long time ago and timeless at the same time. And indeed, brother turning against brother over who gets the best scraps is a very old story that feels all too new to some these days.Also, I think we're the same age, as I was 9 in 1981 too!
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I am missing your poems. I hope you find time to write soon. Have a nice holiday—blessings to you and yours.
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