The Mad Poet of the Year blog posts share the poetry of a long-time Mad Poet. This year-long appointment provides readers with a deep dive of the writer’s work and thoughts on poetry. We are thrilled to have Ray Greenblatt serve as the inaugural Mad Poet of the Year for 2021.
ALONG IN LIFE
by Ray Greenblatt
We have slid beyond rivalry
hostility
hate
into old age.
Middle age was crammed
with bestial instincts
animal energy
we raked the walls
with nails of jealousy
gurgled excuses
acid tainting the air
we slung back & forth
discuses of lies
did the bear hug shuffle
of one-upmanship
with strong arm raised swords
to clang harsh upon arch
we spun nightmares of
the slaughterhouse
or lime pit
a shallow depression
beneath the rosebushes
behind the coal shed.
Then
an earthquake night
pried up a piece of roof
to let some light in.
Now we fumble
in the bean field
slowly wielding mattock and trowel
for its own sack
letting natural heat
help the vineyard
we slump on the verendah
not even an elixir as buffer
we creak our heads
in disbelief
look up more often
no more the truffle pig
letting glare water our eyes
we peer into
each other’s pinched face
clasping hoof
in horny hoof
emit a soundless chortle
a sigh.
My wise father-in-law—who lived until 90 and played tennis nearly to his demise—stated that middle age is ten years older than you are. By middle age we have traveled quite a long path in life. As we grow, we change; recognizing who we are at times can be challenging. Literary and social references speckle this poetic path: “slaughterhouse…lime pit…rosebushes…coal shed…bean field…vineyard.” When we near our end, we have to resolve all that we have done.
Ray Greenblatt has been a poet for forty years and an English teacher longer than that. He was an editor of General Eclectic, a board member of the Philadelphia Writers Conference, and is presently on the staff of the Schuylkill Valley Journal. He has won the Full Moon Poetry Contest, the Mad Poets Annual Contest, and twice won the Anthony Byrne Annual Contest for Irish Poetry sponsored by The Irish Edition. His poetry has been translated into Gaelic, Polish, Greek and Japanese.