Back In Kansas

Gold cherry

By marandina

Thu, 02 Jun 2022
  • 2539 reads
19 comments
 

Audio version at: https://soundcloud.com/user-62051685/back-in-kansas-mp3

 

Back in Kansas

Lightening zags across a cobalt horizon,

splintered, spidered glass - dystopian skies,

ominous sounds of thunder rumbling as

whirling, wild winds forge sinister spouts.

Hurtling through the raging tempest,

a house flying, sheds bricks and tile,

if I look out of an upstairs window

I see witches, green faced on push-bikes.

Little dogs bark from handlebar baskets,

prisoners of erudite enchantresses,

storms rage like red spots on Jupiter,

fairytales, analogies, stories of the Old.

Present-day journeys into metaphor

from the tundra of silent Siberia to

the flatlands of besieged Donbas

where despots ply their evil trade.

Broken dwelling, spinning, falling,

plummeting from the Heavens above

to land on prostrate, prone,

autocrats - tyrants from the East.

At times I dream of Kansas,

a land of democrats and magicians

where freedom was hard-won in blood;

eyes closed, ruby slippers clicked,

 

I am home. I am safe. Enough.

 

Image free to use via WikiCommons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dorothy%27s_Ruby_Slippers,_Wizar...

 

*Audio is orginal version

Certificate PG
Poem
Fairy tales
Fantasy

Comments

Submitted by celticman on

yeh, these times do promote a sense of unreality. Kansas is as good a place as anywhere There's no place like home. 

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading it, CM. That is the point i.e. we could be anywhere like Kansas as long as we have freedom and safety. That being the difference between West and East, in general, these days. Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" had a lot to offer....

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thank you for the cherries, ABC Eds. Genuinely appreciated. Paul 

 

Submitted by Ewan on

I liked this. Informed by your boy's return from Oz as I read it.

I'd change "witches of green" to green witches, but it is, of course, your poem!

Very good.

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by marandina on

Ah thanks for reading it and the feedback, Ewan. Will tweak the wording. Paul 

 

Submitted by Ewan on

Captain Pedant here, think you might want to tweak again,

"I see witches, green faces on push-bikes." 

I appreciate that the storm scene from the film is surrealist fantasy, but this reads like the green faces are on the bikes. and actually disassociates the witches from the faces. "green faced on push-bikes" would work. If you're not looking for a syllable count (you're not, are you?) or some rhythmic pattern,

"I see green-faced witches on push bikes".

Sometimes a matter-of-fact, straightforward syntax in a patently fantastical statement, underlines the strangeness even more.

Anyway, that's enough from me.

Keep going

E x

 

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by marandina on

Ah yes, I see what you mean. Have changed to "faced" as that does scan better. Thanks for the invaluable feedback, as always, Ewan. Much appreciated. Paul

 

Submitted by Ewan on

I'm a sucker for anything that uses The Wizard of Oz as an extended metaphor. That's why it's our Facebook and Twitter Pick of the Day.

PLEASE, dear readers, share and or retweet if you like it to.

 

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by marandina on

Oh thank you, so much. A wonderful surprise. Thanks again! Paul 

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

such a great poem full of drama and I'll bet your son could identify with this poem.

There certainly is, No Place Like Home. yes

Well deserved on those gold cherries.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading, Jenny. I hadn't consciously set out to write about my lad but maybe it is in there subconsciously. There's no place like home for most of us. Paul 

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

 

"whirling, wild winds forge sinister spouts.

Hurtling through the raging tempest,

a house flying,"

You evoke the nightmare quality that so many wish they could wake from

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading it, Di. The storm scene is taken from the house going through the tornado in the "Wizard of Oz" story. The analogy then turns to the current situation with war in Ukraine and the autocrats in the East. It may be a nightmare for many living without basic freedoms. Thanks again. Paul 

 

Submitted by David Kirtley on

I like what you have done with the imagery of 'Wizard Of Oz'. It's a great story/fantasy, but like all the best such tales it can be used to symbolise so much of the problems, hopes and dreams of our real world! I like the way you have updated this new version with the Autocrat in the East and the Desolation of the Donbas! Very fitting!

Submitted by marandina on

Ah thanks for reading it, David. Paul 

 

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Your poem captures the reader from the start and with the familiar surroundings of the Wizard of Oz; it sets a pace we can all fly in until it drops us into the dark realities of current life here on terra 'not Kansas anymore.' And the last line: ‘ruby slippers clicked’ is one we are all visualizing in hope of safe haven. Well done and apropos.

Penny4athought

Submitted by marandina on

Ah thanks for reading it, Penny. Paul 

 

Submitted by jeand on

Hi Paul

 

I enjoyed reading this poem. Coming from tornado country, I remember the fear and excitement mixed when one was forecast. Once we were visiting my sister who lived in a trailer park, and worried about the ability of the storm to pick one up, we sought shelter in the basement of the park owner's house, but my new husband, crept out to get a picture. Luckily the storm missed us by a mile or two.

Jean Day

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading, Jean. Tornado Country. Yes. That must have been quite an experience! Paul