The cot strains
As he turns—unconscious—
Facing the cramped trailer.
His parents sleep within;
His dog snores without.
A vacation unstarted.
The day’s swelter,
A sweaty night guest,
Has overstayed its welcome.
The previous seasons’ essentials:
The tent, the sleeping bag—
Packed and stored.
Only a fleece blanket protects
His hard knees from colliding—
Minor discomfort (by comparison).
Inside,
Tempests stir/
Tornadoes spin/
Monsoons swirl—
Means to escape.
Outside,
Waves whisper unknown lullabies
Across an unbusy highway—
An uneasy calm
Before an unarriving storm.
1 comments:
Your poems all have a very natural rhythmic flow to them: this one's no different. I like the idea of the subject camped in a tent, a place of solace from the wilderness, as the embodiment of the dangerous wild, and the outside as the calm safety: it's a nice play on expectations. The only "un" that seems out of place in the final stanza is the "uneasy calm," which, unlike the other "uns," is a bit threatening. Or are they all threatening and am I missing something?
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