Jill's Ekphrastic Poem for Thursday June 29, 2023 Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, Someday

[jill stockinger]

 

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, Someday  

 

            after Twittering Machine (Die Zwitscher-Maschine) by Paul Klee, 1922

 

Yesterday began with heavy rain.

Today, sunlight streams in.

You sing to me, and I beat in time

with you on bongos; you smile.

I wish this moment could last forever.

 

We hear cries in the distance.

Children? A foghorn? 

Are they warnings? Sounds of pain?

I can't tell from where I am;

this seems true most of the time.

 

We make plans for tomorrow. 

Where to shop. Choosing 

a restaurant for dinner. I acquiesce

to seeing a movie I expect to be

boring but all your friends liked it.

 

Someday, will we have children?

How long will your love last? 

My mind twitters, churning out 

such questions. I know I am doing this

to myself but how do I stop? 

 

Undermining questions assault me like beaks

of small birds pecking at me.

I chase after shiny lures of good feelings

and grab for them and instead I’m pierced 

by the barbs of self-pity and doubt.

 

I lower my guard and sing to you.

You grow impatient and say

you have other things to do. I wonder

what you are really thinking.

I am afraid to ask.

  

You say it’s the big things that are important.

I think life is mostly made up of small things.

Will my love for you last? My questions

go round and round in an endless loop,

paining me, and they never stop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twittering Machine (Die Zwitscher-Maschine) Paul Klee 1922