play doh universe
Would it have been worthwhile…To have squeezed the universe into a ball
T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The ball of Kool Aid-red clay
in my hand yields under my thumb
like the skin of a ripe banana.
A bow tie fans out into a butterfly.
Shape a little star, then pinch points,
a sea turtle suspended in the surf
unmoved by turbulence while waves
wash overhead. How long to wait?
I am coiled in a palm, wondering
when the universe will press
the next strange design.
Jean Janicke resides in Washington, DC. She is a retired economist and finds her creative outlet as a writer and dancer. Her work has appeared in The Passionfruit Review, The Orchards Poetry Journal, and Willawaw Journal.
Would it have been worthwhile…To have squeezed the universe into a ball
T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The ball of Kool Aid-red clay
in my hand yields under my thumb
like the skin of a ripe banana.
A bow tie fans out into a butterfly.
Shape a little star, then pinch points,
a sea turtle suspended in the surf
unmoved by turbulence while waves
wash overhead. How long to wait?
I am coiled in a palm, wondering
when the universe will press
the next strange design.
Jean Janicke resides in Washington, DC. She is a retired economist and finds her creative outlet as a writer and dancer. Her work has appeared in The Passionfruit Review, The Orchards Poetry Journal, and Willawaw Journal.
