Skip to content

The Radiological Work Permit Day Labor Line

April 2, 2010 • • 24 Comments

And each day the workers waited
for the renewal of their daily permits.

And when the clouded sky lightened,
they watched insects flicker and glow.

And old folks spat on the ground,
mumbling toothless legends of times

when all bugs weren’t lightning bugs,
when leaves burst forth from trees in spring,
when you could drink the rain and rivers,
when the sky was dark and there were stars.

And the memorists were shoved back,
kicked and beaten for their lies.

And everyone agreed with what we know:
since the beginning, all bugs have glowed.

—

A response to Read Write Poem’s NaPoWriMo prompt #2: The Old Acronym Switcheroo. I went with RWP as Radiological Work Permit.

I’ll be sticking with my usual no blogging on weekends routine, though I will still be doing NaPoWriMo, but the poems will be micro-poems posted at a gnarled oak, to which I do sometimes post on weekends.

Published inPoemsPoetry

24 Comments

  1. Elizabeth Elizabeth

    I read this a couple times and liked it more each reading. It is sort of a good old days poem but has a contemporary feel. The idea of renewal of what is true stood out for me.

    # April 2, 2010 Reply
  3. pamela pamela

    Ahh! Joseph,
    This is what is really happening. You did a wonderful piece of work here.
    I love the pics of your cat and dog! I have 4 dogs, a cat and a bird myself.
    Pamela

    # April 2, 2010 Reply
    • James James

      Thanks, Pamela. It sounds like you’ve got quite a collection of pets. What kinds of critters are they?

      And it’s James, btw 😉

      # April 5, 2010 Reply
      • pamela pamela

        Sorry about that! I’m bad. Shamrock is a mutt but we have had for 8 years since we have been in Mexico. Warren is Sussex Spaniel,Flubert is French and Maltese, Angie is a peekapoo. Back is part Persian and who knows. Choochu is a parrot. And that about sums it up. Whew! They are my family and I love them dearly.
        Pamela

        # April 5, 2010 Reply
        • James James

          Sounds like a great family. I wish we could have a bird–I had parakeets when I was a kid–but with the cat and fast dogs, I’m not sure the bird would be happy here. Or alive for long.

          # April 6, 2010 Reply
  5. Heather Heather

    P.S. I don’t see any way to leave comments at a gnarled oak, so I’ll have to comment here. April first’s entry is absolutely priceless!!! Have a good weekend!

    # April 2, 2010 Reply
    • James James

      Thanks for the gnarled oak comment. Tumblr doesn’t allow comments. I’m probably going to move it to WordPress after NaPoWriMo. Or sooner if I fade out 🙂

      # April 5, 2010 Reply
  8. angie angie

    this reminds me of a stephen king movie but I can’t remember which one.

    I love the word “memorists.”

    😉

    # April 3, 2010 Reply
    • James James

      Thanks, angie. I haven’t seen many of his movies–read more of his books. If you think of which one, let me know.

      # April 5, 2010 Reply
      • angie angie

        hey, I actually found it by looking up ron perlman. I remember him in the starring role. memorable, I suppose!
        (geez — stephen king has a lot of stories.)

        your poem reminded me of “desperation.” it’s pretty good, if you’re into that old kingish paranoia, everyone-but-me-is-a-flesh-eating-creature sorta thing.

        a linky — http://www.stephenking.com/library/novel/desperation.html

        # April 5, 2010 Reply
        • James James

          Thanks for getting back to me on that. I have the book–my wife’s been telling me how good it is for years. It is on my list!

          # April 6, 2010 Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.