Out of my Mind

It’s been a while since I felt poetic. When I read the poem “In the Yellowstone” by Harriet Monroe, today, it inspired me to give it a go. And in the spirit of appreciation, I decided to go with a Golden Shovel. Buckle-up for this one…its a bit of a wild ride.

Out of My Mind

From “In the Yellowstone” by Harriet Monroe


Little,
Upon the head of a pin
Threatening to prick
Fast and furious geysers
Spitting
And
Sputtering.

Not at all little,
Sea-sized foaming
Geysers
That
Gurgle
Out
In tall-tales fabricated of
See-through sails pulling the
Mind’s calyx
Of
Morning
To glory
In whirling pools.

Unbridled laughing
Geysers
That
Tickle my fancy and dance
In
The
Name of the spirits, our father, and the sun;
And
Spread
Folly upon their
Cast-off robes
Like
Down feathers escaping from lace
And wafting over
The
Techno-colored rocks.

Angry, raging
Geysers
That
Can’t wait to rush
Out
From the reach of
Good intentions with scorching hell
Raised neurosis and with
A
Great
Strike of lightning and its grumpy rumble of noise
And
Blurt
Out
Curses across the vast
Sky, summoning the demonic dragon
With gulps
Of
Lusty urges and steam
And
Finishing
Upon her breast, sink
Back
Spent and wearily
Into
Singed darkness.

Gay and glad
Geysers
Escaping the forest like nymphs
Dreaming of
The
Mid-night sun
That
Arise
When sleep is slim
And
Nude
Figures cast shadows out
Of
The
Sweet, hot
Musky, dark,
Earth
And
Ebbs into a stand
Of trees
Poised
In
Twilight’s beauty
Awaiting a
Moment
Perfect for un-veiling
Their
Wild brows
And
Boyish breasts
In
The cooling mist.

Clip-winged
Geysers
Broken spirits
Of
Smothered fire
That
Fail to rise,
Not tall,
And
Limp, not straight,
Like
A
Half-cooked noodle, a sequoia
Seedling stepped upon by heavy boot and
Aborted plume
Falls short of the
Sky
With
Tepid foam.

O,
Wild
Geysers, choral
Fountains
Of absurdities forever
Singing
To laugh-tracks and
Squelching the seething
Voices forever
Boiling
Disquiet in
Politics of despair from too deep
Places
To be safely conceived and
Leaping
Forth
For
Joyful and bright
Moments
Before disappearing into
The
Air.


How
Do
You
Like
It
Up
Here?

Why
Must
You
Go?

Going back?
Going to?
Will the
Spirits
Of
Light and darkness
Remain, or what?

Do
You
Tell
Them
Down
There
About
Your
Little
Adventure, your brief, glorious
Life
Out of my mind and in
The
Sun?

Be well,

Monty

• It’s Complicated (2025 NaPoWriMo #5)
  I’m celebrating National Poetry Month! It’s complicated – click link and see prompt for April 5th. I followed the prompt loosely. napowrimo.net It’s Complicated BreakingContinue reading “It’s Complicated (2025 NaPoWriMo #5)”
• Drawn (2025 NaPoWriMo #4)
  I’m celebrating National Poetry Month! Write a poem about living with a piece of art. napowrimo.net Drawn He drew me with everlasting lovingkindness,The only loveContinue reading “Drawn (2025 NaPoWriMo #4)”
• Licensed to Poet (2025 NaPoWriMo #3)
  I’m celebrating National Poetry Month! Write a poem that obliquely explains why you are a poet and not some other kind of artist napowrimo.net LicensedContinue reading “Licensed to Poet (2025 NaPoWriMo #3)”
• Dear Me (2025 NaPoWriMo #2)
  I’m celebrating National Poetry Month! Write a poem that directly addresses someone, and that includes a made-up word, an odd/unusual simile, a statement of “fact,”Continue reading “Dear Me (2025 NaPoWriMo #2)”
• Moto (2025 NaPoWriMo #1)
  I’m celebrating National Poetry Month! Today, we challenge you to take inspiration from this glossary of musical terms, or this glossary of art terminology, and write aContinue reading “Moto (2025 NaPoWriMo #1)”
• The Portrait (2025 NaPoWriMo #0)
  I’m a bit late, but that is not going to stop me from celebrating National Poetry Month! Pen a portrait poem of your own. ItContinue reading “The Portrait (2025 NaPoWriMo #0)”
• Adding My Light to the Sum of the Light
  Be well, Monty
• As Time Dances Along
  East bleeds west,As time dances along,Urging the day forward. Be well, Monty
• Sitting in the Dark
  The lights burnt out,Darkness cast across a nation broken,Lit only by fiery wrath and ire,Graffiti hate betraying fear,He watches from his Oval Office,Admiring the powerContinue reading “Sitting in the Dark”
• I’ll Be Ok
  I fell down, hard. First tripped up by my own feet, I’d lost my balance. Then they saw their chance and pushed me. Slammed meContinue reading “I’ll Be Ok”
• Burning Slow
  I’m slow to anger, how biblical of me! But the truth is I burn low and slow and resentfully. You won’t catch me shouting loud.Continue reading “Burning Slow”
• Re-reading Monty
  They claim to be my words, but I’ve no memory;They seem too deep, too wise, beyond me,Yet there they are, on the page,With a typoContinue reading “Re-reading Monty”
• An Act of Love
  She ripped a page out of my book, literally.Tore the page right out of it,Transforming words undercover into an act of love,A passionate invitation toContinue reading “An Act of Love”
• Textures
  Be well, Monty
• Psych 101
  A mystery, a silent roar,Boiled down to an atmospheric essence,Unlimited in a formless dress;The girl from Baylor Hall. Be well, Monty
• Boing!
  Be well, Monty
• Another Absurdity
  Up the bean-stalk he climbed,Exposed arse whistling in the wind(the score to some old sitcom frombefore all the screens turned blue),He was compensating for theContinue reading “Another Absurdity”
• Explicit Absurdity
  Hydrogen uppers gaslight me into obsolescence,Escaping gravity, wound-up, and ready to bounceAn engineer’s failed experiment in abstinence,A human bot,Go ahead and tariff me – what’sContinue reading “Explicit Absurdity”
• Poof!
  Be well, Monty
• The Dancer
  Be well, Monty
• A “Selfie” Portrait
  Be well, Monty
• And There it Was
  A simple request. An ask to take the decision out of my hands. To be open to receive. That’s all it took. It wasn’t longContinue reading “And There it Was”
• A Return to Patterns
  Be well, Monty
• Poetry in Motion
  Be well, Monty
• A Simple Joy
  The citrus spritz bloomed,Awakening my senses,A simple, wondrous joy,The sweet scent from a bitter rind,Perhaps a lesson there. Be well, Monty
• A Life Being Lived
  I’ve been retracing my steps all morning. Not deep into the past, but shallow moves forward followed by equal measures backward. Stuck in a reciprocatingContinue reading “A Life Being Lived”
• The Visitor
  He chatters away downstairs, the sound carrying upward as he tells a story in a rush, interrupted only by the laughter of a captive audienceContinue reading “The Visitor”
• Seasons of the Sun
  Be well, Monty
• A Gray Day
  Finally a gray day,All those expansive bluesWere wearing me down,As if compelling me to good humor,Trying to get me to forget it’s still mid-winter. WellContinue reading “A Gray Day”
• An Evening’s Inventory
  The dog lays flat out as if to emphasize the basis of the saying “dog-tired”. The TV chatters in Chinese in the background, almost quietContinue reading “An Evening’s Inventory”
• Firework Extractions
  Be well, Monty