Poem It Out

I started an online seminar today called Poem It Out.  It is a month-long writing and photography class.  I am not sure how it will go since we will be given prompts for both the poetry and photos.  When I took photography at the college and the professor gave the prompts I never interpreted them the way my fellow students did.  When the final was assigned as 8 photos on any topic, I shot photos of abandoned items (a couch, some tires) and trash, my classmates took pictures of their kids and zoo animals.  I am not saying their photos were bad or wrong, I guess my mind just works different.  I am drawn to different things and to generally less "happy" topics.

This mental tendency is probably why I got into the habit of almost exclusively watching some sort of crime TV:  Law & Order, CSI, Bones, Criminal Minds.  I enjoyed the non-fiction shows just as much, Forensic Files, American Justice, Deadly Women and the like.  David would comment about how I was trying to learn how to off him and get away with it.  No matter how much I said I wasn't, that the solving was what I found interesting, not the crime itself, he would still eyeball me when I offered to get him something to drink for no reason.

On my last trip to Laredo a poem came to me in the usual way - fully formed while I was trying to sleep.  I finally got up to write it down so I could sleep.  Since my thoughts, and my writing, have a tendency to be somewhat dark, I had been making a conscious effort to watch more comedy and less crime. Unfortunately, options in Laredo were limited and the ever-present Law & Order helped drown out the noises my neighbors were making. So, I blame what you are about to read on television.  I am concerned that David is going to be more suspicious than ever (even though this is NOT ABOUT HIM) and my Poem It Out classmates might not be prepared for my kind of poetry.

My Husband Thinks I Watch Too Much Crime TV

You might as well go on

being who you are

because we both know

you and I both know

that any change you make

will be short-lived

and your half-hearted promises

will be forgotten tomorrow

and things will go back

to the way they are

to the way they were

to the way they will always be

so the only promise

that matters now

is the one I will recite

'til death do us part

'til death do us part

'til death do us part

while I stir your morning tea.