Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Ad lib opportunities     [cuppa prose - 1]


He began by viewing life as an almost unlimited ad lib opportunity.
His sentence commenced on Monday, on Thursday he paused for breath and water, and Saturday was his day of rest. On Sunday, the weather being fine, he went for a stroll in the park. The rollerskaters were in fine fettle, and his ad lib entered high gear. Pigeons and policemen took him in stride, and all in all, it was a superior day.
On Monday, his wife phoned.
"How's it going?" she asked.
"It continues swimmingly," he ad libbed, surprisingly tersely.
"Any job prospects yet?"
"I'm considering astrology," he replied, always good for a notional career move.
"What sign are you?" she -- uncharacteristically forgetful -- inquired.
"Libra, darling," he allowed.
On Tuesday, he picked up several astrology volumes at the used bookstore. "It's never too late to learn a thing," he remarked to himself, smiling, ambling down the sun-dappled sidewalk.
Autumn, however, was on its way.


4 Comments:

Blogger Jesse said...

i love this poem. it also looks good. i can be very picky about the shape of poems. it's curious. :-)

Tue Oct 17, 03:34:00 PM PDT  
Blogger david raphael israel said...

Well thanks. :-)
Anecdotally to note: I happened to deem this a rare jag away from "poetry" and into "prose" (prose fiction being a form of writing I've seemed generally barely able to make inroads into). But as regards that (incidental / possible / essentialy insignificant) distinction -- no matter.

Tue Oct 17, 03:47:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Jesse said...

i love your vocabulary (insofar as i can approach a real cultural identity, i have to say "vocabulary"), compared to so much "string theory irony" out there, you know. :-)

i'm editing listenlight.net with guillermo parra. issue 03 should be live soon, and is all visual poetics. please consider making an offer for issue 04.

best to you

Wed Oct 18, 12:28:00 AM PDT  
Blogger david raphael israel said...

Jesse,
obliged for the invite. (One likes the polite dignities of publication invitations a good deal more than the mild degradation of blind, bootless submissions.) Your zine has some good stuff! Some of the poems seen there remind me (in a happy way) of poems by my friend, the late Lynne Beyer. Will consider putting something together, thanks.

Wed Oct 18, 08:29:00 AM PDT  

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