The fifth installment of the 2013 TiL Poetry Series features work by mother/student of psychology/bookworm/native Californian Janette Papp. Among submissions from new poets, Ms. Papp's work piqued our interest with its clarity and intensity of voice.
Jack's
Journey
he'd
hopped the bus in Philly.
'westward,
ho'
he had
joked.
one
woman laughed, with a wry smile
and no
teeth.
no
memories before that remain.
six
years
four
women. five women if you count...
well,
six.
he had
told them his name was Kurt.
it was
really Jack.
as they
left him, inevitably, he said
"my
name is Jack".
he
craved that reverberating slamming door
the way
it vibrated his chest cavity.
that was
always the best part.
word got
around.
his name
is Jack.
now he's
ever alone.
he plays
Dylan on Sunset.
every
day.
hoping
for one of the seven women
to
chance by.
The Blue
Bench
This
thing before me is not the thing that was,
so many
realities ago.
I close
my eyes to verify the image.
There it
is, our favorite bench, sturdy and inviting.
Such a
lovely blue. Robin's egg blue.
We had
sat there finding each other
all
those long afternoons.
It was
our blue heaven, that bench.
A
long-lost smile lands on my lips.
A
peculiar feeling.
I open
my eyes to force-feed them
the
truth that is no longer our bench.
It sits
broken, abused and scarred,
spray
painted with words I don't understand.
That
wayward smile threatens to leave,
but I
command it to stay.
I leave
that bench for the last time,
taking
with me the unexpected smile
that
found me there.
Tea for
Two
"Honey
and lemon?",
she
asked him,
even
though she knew the answer.
It was
the same answer every morning.
Yet, an
unexpected silence
coaxed
her to look up
from the
tea she was pouring.
His
chair sat empty.
And
dusty.
She was
reminded,
just
like yesterday morning,
and the
morning before that,
that she
and his chair
had been
left behind.
Two
years ago.
Or was
it three?
It
seemed like just yesterday
when she
heard him mumble,
"But
I don't like tea".
Oh,
dear, she thought.
She
finished pouring the two cups.
Well,
then, "Honey and lemon, it is".
***
Janette
Papp is a native Californian whose main focus is her four children.
She has always been an avid reader, but has only recently found a
passionate interest in writing. She attended California State
University, San Bernardino many years ago, studying psychology. She
continues to have an extensive interest in how the human brain works
and changes through time, which one might catch glimpses of in her
writing.
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