After Benning Road pt. 1

I ought to be working, but after my poetry group meeting this afternoon, I am inspired to post again.  We (the DC Poetry Project) met at the Benning Road Library, a new neighborhood for me.  It was wonderful to see everyone (hi!), and we had a different format, too, to go with the new venue.  Will Dennis, a poet from San Antonio, led the event, performing his poetry and encouraging us to discuss the issues that his poems raised.  And, of course, we all read our poems...or performed our spoken word.  There were a few new poets, and Anastasia promptly collected their contact information so that they may join us at future events.

Here is the poem I read.  It is a little more emotional than my usual although it is about a fictional character.  I mention Chinese astrology in it as well.  See this link for more information about the rat and the rabbit.  http://www.chinese-astrology.co.uk/  

Even though this poem did not pertain to the topics we discussed, I was inspired to read it at the open mic because the poem is more intimate than most of the ones I read.  The depth of the discussion told me that I needed to go a little more deeply myself.

Thursday Night Is Date Night

On one side of a plate glass window
in Chinatown,
the tourists glance
at the chef who rolls out noodles
while upside down corpses
of ducks and rabbits watch.
Their glassy eyes see everything
and nothing.

Rats dart across the alley.
They emerge
from behind boxes and trashcans
and enter unlucky kitchens.
Their beady eyes see anything
and everything.

On the other side of a plate glass window
a waiter serves
slippery black and white noodles
to couples celebrating
Thursday night, Date night.

Alone again,

she studies the Chinese zodiac.
Her year is the Rabbit’s.
Her husband’s is the Rat’s.

To her, this explains
everything
and nothing.

This poem originally appeared in Napalm and Novocain, one of A.J. Huffman's sites:  http://napalmandnovocain.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in reading about the painful aftermath of love, Napalm and Novocain is a good place to go.

p.s.  Here is a link to an intriguing poem about the Celtic Zodiac:  http://www.jellyfishwhispers.com/2014/01/a-poem-by-martin-willitts-jr.html
There the signs are trees and plants, rather than animals.

BTW, I later found out that the Year of the Rabbit in Chinese astrology is sometimes referred to as the Year of the Cat.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqZc7ZQURMs

Do you remember Al Stewart's song "The Year of the Cat"?