Surprise and Wild Connections

~ Yet another post drawn from my Sketch Pad ~

Your Poem, Man . . .

unless there's one thing seen
suddenly against another--a parsnip
sprouting for a President, or
hailstones melting in an ashtray--
nothing really happens. It takes
surprise and wild connections,
doesn't it? A walrus chewing
on a ballpoint pen. Two blue tail-
lights on Tyrannosaurus Rex. Green
cheese teeth. Maybe what we wanted
least. Or most. Some unexpected
pleats. Words that never knew
each other till right now. Plug us
into the wrong socket and see
what blows--or what lights up.
Try

untried

circuitry,

new

fuses.
Tell it like it never really was,
man,
and maybe we can see it
like it is.

by American Poet Edward Lueders (b 1923)

Lueders was well - known in the 1970s as one of the editors of Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle... and other Modern Verse, a popular poetry anthology for young adults. That book was on my shelf -- still is -- but the collection I much preferred was Some Haystacks Don't Even Have Any Needle, which included his poem, "Your Poem, Man . . . ."