In the meantime… [poem: famous raincoat]

I’m back on crutches for a few days and just beginning to fine-tune some new pieces I hope to share with you soon. In the meantime, here’s an older poem for this Thursday Poets Rally. It’s not one of my best, but to me the imagery is both dark and colorful, so I enjoy reading it. Be sure to check out the clip of me reading this piece at the Kalispell Get Poetry Open Mic last week.

Speaking of reading, for those who are local and still free tonight, I’ll be participating in a special reading event in Whitefish. The reading is part of a fundraiser for The Whitefish Review, a locally published literary journal. Come join us from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake for some music and spoken word! All tips from the first two hours will be used to help publish the next issue of The Review.

Also, I gratefully accept the Perfect Poet Award for the last Thursday Poets Rally. I nominate Neha Misra for this award.

famous raincoat

There is a madness about him
as he stands on the corner after the rain
reflected in the black, wet pavement
that curls beneath his highly polished shoes

He’s one who devours beauty
kills it, eats it
and spits it out like a well-chewed plug of tobacco
dirty and abused, sodden with his saliva

He has a taste for power
and fine French wine
for rich colors
especially green and cream

His hands are powerful
they create
create is a word synonymous with manipulate in his mind
His hands have the power
to create melodies
but his heart is incapable of filling in harmonies
like a gown heaped on the floor
with no body to fit it

And there is an edge about him
as he stands alone on the corner after the rain
reflected in the black, wet pavement
that curls beneath his highly polished shoes
shoes speckled with mud

—Julie Laing
Tracks
© 1999

You can hear me read this poem at the Kalispell Get Poetry Open Mic, thanks to the work of Mat Lee and The Jamhole. My reading starts around minute 3, but be sure to check out some of the other fabulous poets who were at this event. My other poems in this reading are “Longing at The Boiler Room” and “The Game.”