Coffeeshop Writers Group - Rain Man film - Poems: Ole Man Blank and Meteor Showers

I'm watching "Rain Man" on Channel 12. My brother David, who died at 27, was aso a rain man. "Raymond," played by Dustin Hoffman, walks just like David did, head tilted to the side. I think in the course of the film, the Tom Cruise character will undergo a personality change, and will lose his callous, narcissistic behavior. One hopes!

Had dinner with the Demings. Aunt Kathy is in from FL. Her husband Tom had the first anniversary of his kidney transplant and is doing great. 

Here's Aunt Kathy from FL. Kathy Young.

OMG, Tom Cruise is trying to get Raymond to fly on a plane. Raymond is screaming. He's afraid the plane will crash. He wants to fly Quantas.

"Quantas Airline has never crashed," says the savant. Now he sez he's gotta watch "Jeopardy" at 5 o'clock. Cruise has 'kidnapped' him from his group home.

Gosh, I loved this movie! Can't wait to finish this post so I can pay total attention in my comfy bed.

 Coffeeshop photos courtesy of Beatriz Moisset. Linda's drug of choice is Diet Mtn Dew. Mine is Decaf w/a shake or two of cinnamon and cocoa powder.

COFFEESHOP WRITERS GROUP.  Good turnout. This is so like Linda: she was 25 minutes late cuz she was finishing up a poem called "Lianne." What an amazing imagination this woman has. Me, I was only 10 minutes late since I was reworking my duo.

Here's always cheerful Carly with husband Charlie. When he came walking in at the end, it seemed like I'd known him all my life. Very friendly.

Carly read a fascinating obituary notice in the Intell - she gets the paper - and turned it into a wonderful short story. Very imaginative. It's called NAILS. The main character is a female roofer named Sam.

Donna (on left) read a poem about her attempt to get a job she really wants and is perfect for. She's still waiting to hear from "the puffed up gentleman" who interviewed her and gave her "two thumbs up" for the job. She did the right thing by calling them a couple times to see if they made up their mind.

Not yet, that "Infernal Job!" (the name of the poem). Great lines in it.

Beatriz read one of her pollinator essays, fascinating as always. I hadn't known that bats are now an endangered species. Instead of coming out at nite, they emerge during the day to find food. They can't find the food they normally eat.

We moaned about how our planet is gradually being destroyed, inch by inch.

OMG, Tom Cruise is yelling at poor Raymond. He's so frustrated cuz Raymond won't wear Cruise's Hanes shorts but wants his boxers he buys at K-Mart. It's hilarious and sad at the same time.

Kym read her piece off her iPhone, an amazing contraption where she demonstrated how you can dictate into it and writing will come out!

She's very interested in serendipity and paranormal events and shared some amazing events in her story. She admires a man named Dr Richard Alan Miller, who you can find on YouTube.

I admire a man named James Randi, now in his 80s, who is a famous skeptic. You can see him on TED Videos here. My family is divided about believing or not. A few of em regularly visit mediums. I wrote a story for the Times Herald years ago about medium Theresa Roba who was very vague but her believers thot she was "hitting" and communicating with spirits.

Whatever! Just so you vote for the big O.

I actually had the nerve to read this poem at Dan's house. I'd emailed it to him and so it appeared on his iPhone.

"Why don't you read it?" I asked Dan.

"Never," he said.

"Well, gimme your phone and I'll read it! But I want you to listen. He's your cat!"

"Lemme get a glass of wine first."

Dan actually liked it. And Sarah, who I emailed it to, said it made her cry.

OLE MAN BLANK

These soft pads I touch

on the bottom of your curled up toes

a fashion plate, they match your

charcoal gray coat of fur that

smells sweeter than oranges

Once you fit in the palm of young Dan’s hand

the kitten no one wanted

too scrawny

with baby yellow eyes that

opened for no one

but young man Dan

How beautiful you grew

you lovely duckling

your still regal walk strutting through the dining room

or curled up in a sunbeam that traveled a million miles

to be with you

Silken ears swiveled at every sound

remember how you purred on my chest

when we were in love and lived together?

Now, you don’t remember me,

ole man Blank,

you sleep the day long on their living room couch

on the street with no sidewalks

Bubby here?

your eyes no longer greet me as I

sit near your thin gray tail

Sleep is your ole man’s job and

I, too, am getting old,

newly collecting Social Security

a harbinger of what comes next   

when I too shall lie sleeping

with no cat or man beside me

just disbelief that it’s true

a racer nearing the finish line

let me walk in the sun.     

OKAY, last nite I was on the couch typing and listening to WRTI, the classical music station, and heard the beautiful lady's voice on Stardate, at the McDonnell Observatory in Texas, talking about meteor showers that are happening right now.

Mon dieu, I thought. I did indeed see a falling star thother nite. I must write a poem about that.

See how poems just fall into your lap?

ORIONID METEOR SHOWERS

Heaven!

I need to see you tonight

and walk the sidewalk

in my new flannel pajamas

billions of years have passed

since the making of these

one-of-a-kind flannels I bought

at a yard sale down the street

O black night

I kick aside the golden leaves

and acorns as I walk

night is not the companion of the day

it is a whole new planet where

wondrous things occur

Look!

A star is losing her balance

see her tumbling with terrible speed?

slipping through the firmament

a beauty still, but dying of old age

so sorry to see you go

but so beautiful

alone, with no one to help her

as she flies like Margot Fonteyn

into the valley of the lost.

How many others are watching

this grand stage play?

Never do I feel so lonely or wonder about

the meaning of life where two new red couches

have defined my week with joy.

Star-watching!

acorn-collecting

most wondrous of all

when will I join the Orionid meteor showers

and slip into the valley of the lost?