“Polyglotony,” “Quadrophonic,” and “Photogenia”

“Polyglotony,” “Quadrophonic,” and “Photogenia”

Polyglotony

Disrupting the murmuring stillness,

the nasally whine of a two-stroke motor,

hedge trimmers whipsawing

weeds framing sidewalk, infiltrating

cracks; cussing, shutting the sliding door,

blinds, hanging slats chiming emphasis.

YouTubing the same forty or

fifty tracks to obscure loud-talk,

daily spiels, tag lines, slogans,

old soundtracks from The Day juxtaposed, abandoned

settings, faded scenes bent at the corners,

consigned to the junk drawer of a life.    

From behind the trees, beyond the berm

the kinked-up noises of a marching band

drilling on a high school football field,

Apala, Sakara commemorations, a

rogue clarinet, Samba-inspired beat with

a repetitive three-chord riff, a motorcycle

igniting, revving, a stray epithet uttered

beneath the drone of a single-prop banner-

toter, Ron Jon Surf Shop, AYCE shrimp. 

For kitty interpreting noises

— an iPhone alarm, toilet flushing,

plop-hiss of an opened can,

faucet splurge, footsteps ascending

the stairs, a key in the door clicking

the pin tumblers, door unsealed,

grumbling thunder, thrumming rain,

jetwash overhead, television banter, dishwasher

churning — is a dialect she understands. 

Quadrophonic

1) If things went well, we’d die here;

 

2) Insurgency, a volatile word,

 

1) cautionary tale — five years later,

       after burning through his nest egg,

       after unsuccessful stints in various

       insurance jobs, cold-calling

       and blind-prospecting an

       oversaturated market

       when the hotdog stand didn’t

       fly, the beach hotdog scene

      monopolized by a tall, tan woman

      with long brown hair

      wearing a thong,

 

3) Burberry for Men, or

       Chrome by Azzaro?

 

1) he went back to the long

       winters and perennially

        overcast skies we escaped.

 

2) a defiant word, a Quixotic word,

       unless they intend to succeed 

       by attrition,

 

3) Would I be home tonight, or

       not until tomorrow?

 

4) Why do some squirrels have

        tails less bushy than others?

 

2) no matter how long attrition

       takes, decades, centuries,

 

3) Bursts of spray into the air, just three,

       moving under them, misting myself,

 

4) Mange or old age is usually

       the culprit AI informs me. 

 

3) more than that and I’ll reek

       of pretension.

 

2) by any means necessary.

 

4) Now, when I see a squirrel with

       a thin tail I feel like I do when

      I hear the cry of a loon, across a lake

      like glass in the middle of nowhere. 

Photogenia

Looking left of the camera,

Not directly into it,

(Face mostly toward the camera,

Slight turn to the side)

As if someone else is

Photographing them.

As though their attention

Was elsewhere, as if the pic

Weren’t premeditated

(Emotive pose, distracted).

As though we were admiring

Them as they pretended

To unnotice, accustomed as

They’d become to longing

Gazes or begrudging concession

(The slightest tilt of the head

Brings the shot to life).

There would follow the usual

Amount of validating comments,

Likes & loves, further

Incitement to post and

Repost when next they

Crave affirmation

(Mid laugh pose, slightly

Open mouth, raised shoulders).

About the Author

Steve Biersdorf

I've written professionally as a general assignment reporter, editorial writer, PR flak, freelance grant writer, fiction writer and poet. I am a four-time winner of Florida Writers Assocation Royal Palm Literary Awards, including 2024 Best Poem. I have a literary blog with 14,700 X followers.