February 09, 2010
Tuesday Poem
Stuck in the Mindin the common parlance
stuck in the mind
means a fixation
on a single unmoving object
stuck in the mind
can be represented
by a powerful peasant
in a furry winter coat
appearing in the midst
of objects all too mobile
he steams like a horse
has a thick oaken eye
—easy to have something
stick in the mind all it takes
is a moment of inattention
but to get it out is harder
another thing altogether
big inept stuck-in-the-mind
simply stands cap in hand
panting like a stable of studs
—not clear how to address it
"Sir" would be too much
"beat it Jack" —would be
too familiar
so stuck means stuck
stocky and apathetic
a medium quake might help
say 4.6 on the Richter scale
but no way glorious weather
he's like a rock
a general sense of fatal
paralysis
stuck in the mind
a whale of a guy
by Zbigniew Herbert
from Poetry Magazine, Jan. 2007
Posted by Jim Culleny at 06:53 AM | Permalink
Comments
Mr Culleny won't you fix the typo - 'too familiar', not 'to familiar'?
Otherwise, nice piece.
Posted by: M Cope | Feb 9, 2010 12:55:20 PM
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