Skip to main content

the places i go

i go there often
up the creaky staircase
up to the third floor
fingers tracing
braille
left behind

here and
theres
embedded 
on mahogany
handrails
a love song
unfinished

 a brass talisman 
tickles
the throat of time
unlocking
lemon yellow
hellos
and 
see you laters

kitchen arias
curlicue up
from stock pots
charmed
by memories 
made 

and held by love
stuck  
fast in time
i was never any good
at saying goodbye


Rene ~ January 2011

Every once an a while I'll read something that just stitches it's way into my DNA...
Here is a link to the poem  "my mother's kitchen" written by Marian of "runaway sentence".
Her poetry served as inspiration for this piece. Thanks, Marian :)

Comments

  1. JoanieJanuary 8, 2011 at 8:20 PM

    ah! The memories you can find in an attic! (at least, that's my take on this wonderful poem!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. PearlJanuary 8, 2011 at 8:23 PM

    i go there often
    to hold on or maybe
    to just simply be held by time

    :-) Wow, Rene. Your stuff really speaks to me.

    I wonder if I read it in the same spirit it was written? I just wonder, that's all.

    Pearl

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJanuary 8, 2011 at 8:28 PM

    Thanks Joanie and Pearl...this is my Grandparent's apartment and kitchen in Staten Island, NY circa 1970.

    I can't go back there physically anymore but in my head I am there at least twice a day :)

    Thanks for reading

    ReplyDelete
  4. MarianJanuary 8, 2011 at 10:50 PM

    rene, love it. let's have this poem stand next to my poem that you like, about my mother's kitchen. they go together. love. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  5. Irish GumboJanuary 8, 2011 at 11:09 PM

    I'll toast you with a Flintstones jelly jar glass.

    My grandmother's kitchen...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Brian MillerJanuary 9, 2011 at 7:09 AM

    you unlock some memories with this one for sure...yeah i go there too...

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownJanuary 9, 2011 at 9:07 AM

    Marian, IG and Brian..

    Thanks guys, and Marian your poem set this one in motion :)

    ~ Rene

    ReplyDelete
  8. Vodka MomJanuary 9, 2011 at 9:16 AM

    lovely.


    we do know how to time travel, don't we?

    ReplyDelete
  9. MarianJanuary 9, 2011 at 11:51 AM

    really? oh that makes me super duper happy. xoxo!

    ReplyDelete
  10. FireblossomJanuary 9, 2011 at 12:43 PM

    Suh-weet.

    Odd the things that send a sweet twinge through us, yeah?

    ReplyDelete
  11. JoanieJanuary 9, 2011 at 5:27 PM

    When I think of my Grandmother's kitchen, I see a coal stove for cooking, and Fritz the dog hiding behind it, staying toasty warm.

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2011 at 10:08 PM

    Great stuff Rene!
    I go there all the time.
    We go there more often as we get older, appreciating all the little things that helped shape the person we are today.
    Keep it close, hold on tight and share the stories!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Casey FreelandJanuary 9, 2011 at 11:11 PM

    I'm sitting here listening to the 80's station. I told my wife I loved 80's music. She said it was because it reminded me of a simpler time. I agreed. Then I opened your poem. Perfect thing to read at this moment. Thank you.

    Casey

    ReplyDelete
  14. Coloring Outside the LinesJanuary 10, 2011 at 7:20 AM

    I can see white curtains and brown pom-poms so clearly, yet now I am stuck trying to remember which kitchen, where, when?

    ReplyDelete
  15. UnknownJanuary 10, 2011 at 7:37 AM

    VodkaMom,Fireblossom, Joanie, Gio, Casey and Arkie...thanks for stopping by and coming along for the ride
    ~Rene

    ReplyDelete
  16. RashmiJanuary 10, 2011 at 7:42 AM

    Beautiful picture you portrays...we can rally visualise that creaky mahagony staircase..all of which you talks with a love which we can feel through your words....

    Here's my entries to the Potluck,

    http://poem-myworldofexcitement.blogspot.com/2011/01/poem43hesitation.html

    http://poem-myworldofexcitement.blogspot.com/2011/01/poem44live-in-present.html

    ReplyDelete
  17. Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis HallJanuary 10, 2011 at 10:07 AM

    Happy 2011, dear Rene.

    Glad to visit the places you go in your writing...

    fabulous sentiments.
    well put.

    A++

    ReplyDelete
  18. Brother OllieJanuary 10, 2011 at 12:14 PM

    cool - enjoy your style

    ReplyDelete
  19. signed...bkmJanuary 10, 2011 at 1:33 PM

    superb writing Rene -- you took me right up the stairs and into the kitchen where I made myself quite at home...thank you..bkm

    ReplyDelete
  20. RJ ClarkenJanuary 10, 2011 at 1:56 PM

    Wow, Rene. This is a place I visit in my imagination so often - a place of nostalgia and memory. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  21. hedgewitchJanuary 10, 2011 at 1:57 PM

    An intricate and lovingly built picture--especially liked the line about " forty years stuck fast in the throat of time..." I was thinking at first this was a close friend's house, and that says a lot about your grandparents and what they gave you. Really good work, Rene.

    ReplyDelete
  22. AnonymousJanuary 10, 2011 at 8:03 PM

    Handrails to history..
    "..black bumps on the handrail
    comings and goings
    embedded on mahogany.."

    ReplyDelete
  23. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2011 at 10:32 AM

    once in awhile i like to go to my favorite haunt like you.. great write! here’s mine for this new year potluck.. http://fiveloaf.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/life/

    ReplyDelete
  24. Fred MillerJanuary 11, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    This is my favorite of the last four.

    I guess I just have to touch things in poetry. And hear and smell things. I'm such a mammal.

    ReplyDelete
  25. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2011 at 1:43 PM

    Thanks for the lovely participation, Happy Tuesday!

    Potluck Week 17 Treat/Awards 4 You, Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  26. UnknownJanuary 11, 2011 at 5:23 PM

    Thanks everyone for reading!
    I really appreciate the feedback as well.
    Fred, me too :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Eileen T O'Neill .....January 11, 2011 at 7:49 PM

    Rene,
    I really enjoyed reading this lovely life experience, New York style!

    Eileen

    ReplyDelete
  28. Eaton Bennett aka Berenice AlbrechtJanuary 12, 2011 at 8:50 AM

    A gorgeous piece of poetry, I was climbing those stairs with you. I enjoyed this very much. :))

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Please drop a penny in a poet's hat :

Popular posts from this blog

bridesmaid

Image via Magpie Tales i won't be leaving here with you nor will you be staying with me for any longer than you see fit that is just the way of it it is the silent refrain of my being i won't be leaving here with you but i will stay, until my time is done as your ceremonial chosen one no, this won't be my last tour though it is the first time i won't be leaving here with you shh, now, darling. this is what i do i see it in your eyes, our time's drawing to a close. please don't mind  the tears  they come, they go, it's true... i won't be leaving here with you Rene ~ December 8, 2012
40 comments
Read more

blue willow

i don't like eggs but you knew this already i know you're thinking such a terrible waste but it's not, you see i'm feeding them to the dog she loves them just as much as i know she loved you and the way you walked her as if every single thing she sniffed mattered to you as well sorry, dear pardon my red wine opera crowd violin string tugging (your words) i ramble at breakfast like a fussy percolator but you knew this already morning is when i am most honest and vulnerable i know that's why you left after dinner oh god dammit you i miss you so much what i did before us is a mystery and what i do now is insanity i'm frying up eggs just to smell them again and to perhaps coax you down, from wherever you are for breakfast did you know i believe that there is still a ghost of a chance Rene Foran ~  April 2011 photo by Tess Kincaid for Magpie Tales click for more info
46 comments
Read more