First day (for Jelly)

(based on suggestions from @twitofalili, @GretasTARDIS, @marklawrence, @suznannah and @snazzydee)

Careful born heroine she was packaged

often humorously stickered

with beautiful lemurs and gorgeous sloths

Someone knew the definition of roguish

one day in december they named her

after grace and grace and racing on one leg

running faster than everyone’s thoughts.

I could see what she was reading,

her wits and tears scripted oldish

jobs into newish beginnings.

We called like whales (deep notes, long songs,

soft crafts to keep her weaved in)

Even old lovers bowed their heads, they

blessed her cotton socks. We send birds

to tuck in the frame of her mirror.

It’s not as good as it sounds, we are

completely selfish in her sudden smile

Don’t be ridiculous, we looked up the true

meaning of folly in latin, instead

it told us more of ourselves.

It read: type letters into a crowd

grow leaves for more than one tree

shovel love back and forth

back and up into new hands

our fingers can hold so much more.

_____________________________________

Today’s poem is based on suggestions from five peeps:

• @marklawrence: “could u one day work in leaving jobs and new beginnings into a poem?”
• @twitofalili: “ ‘picaresque’, because of the Decemberists and because today I learned what it means.”
• @suznannah “Whales! #warrnambool.”
• @gretasTARDIS: “ex-lovers! Cotton socks! Annnnnnd”
• @snazzydee: “PACKAGE! MAIL! POST! STICKERS!”

But this poem is ‘for’ @jellyjellyfish. Because the definition of picaresque: “a form of fiction that describes the adventures of a roguish hero” immediately made me think of her. And Hornblower (but I chose Jelly).