# Jen taking the salad out of the refrigerator



## dannyboy (Sep 30, 2014)

so 
she bends at the knees 
leans 
into the open fridge
talks to me 
about events of the day
her hair 
falls forward 
her face 
faces me
even as her hand 
reaches into
the refrigerator’s light 
catches her 
perfectly 

and this frozen moment
reminds me 
of all the reasons why
and isn’t it just like the mind
that it takes a shard 
to capture the whole

all the years
all the moments 
that blend 
and are forgotten
until a moment such as this
when she leans into a fridge

and I remember
everything 
but not everything
just the essence 

the way a smell
can capture all
when in reality
it is but a part


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## Firemajic (Oct 1, 2014)

I saw the title, and thought "what the.." and was not prepared for such a loving, intimate,elegant poem.The last 2 stanzas brought this to a gentle close. So very well done, and a pleasure to read, you put a new twist on a poem about love, Thanks for posting.   Peace...Jul


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## E. Zamora (Oct 1, 2014)

Good job. This is really nice. I can totally relate to this kind of moment and you've captured it very well.

But after all that, you didn't say if the salad was any good or not. Hopefully it wasn't in the fridge for too long.


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## Cran (Oct 1, 2014)

Hi danny, long time no read. 

This one is a lovely portrait, not of Jen so much as your/the narrator's ... experience? ... perhaps grokking ... of Jen. 

Good to see some light.


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## dannyboy (Oct 1, 2014)

Thanks and yes Cran it is about me which is the thing about writing isn't it. What catches our eye says something about us.


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## wainscottbl (Oct 2, 2014)

I was a bit snobbish and at first looked at how it was written and said no. I'm not a fan of the so called post-modern and all that, see. I was saying the point of poetry is not to write about the mundane! The everyday stuff should be made lofty by the beauty of poetry, not kept mundane. Otherwise just write in prose! Boy was I made wrong. You did raise a mundane thing to something higher.  To me it could be called "impressionist". You too some event in this case and painted your impression in poetry. How a everyday, simple thing can cause such deep thoughts. Great job at proving that snobbery is folly.


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## dannyboy (Oct 2, 2014)

There is a poem by Mike Heald — it's a normal Saturday in a country Australian town and the poet hears the "click' in the distance of the cricket bat hitting the ball. That sound is such a distinctive sound, it fills the spaces around us and brings to mind so many other things...That's the power of poetry, not to tell a story, but to capture an essence; essence of language capturing essence of some thought/thing/moment.

Also I have been heavily influenced by the thoughts/poems of the "Imagists" and by Seamus Heaney.

And I thank you for the comment.


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## Chesters Daughter (Oct 3, 2014)

Only the very talented can make the ordinary extraordinary as you've done here, Danny. I absolutely adore the truth of your last two stanzas. The depth of an enduring relationship beautifully captured in a moment of musing while watching the most mundane of acts, superb. This is the only way to write a love poem. I have to ask, though, have you ever posted this anywhere before? I may be having a serious case of deja vu, but your title is one that is very memorable and it struck an immediate chord, as did the emotions the piece left me with. Thanks so much for posting this one.

Best,
Lisa


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## dannyboy (Oct 3, 2014)

Hi Lisa, thanks for the feedback, its funny how swiftly a poem can come sometimes. This was written the night I posted it but there may be other poems of mine (and I am certain of others) with similar titles? There is one called poem on a fridge by Paul Hostovsky...perhaps that's the one.


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## Chesters Daughter (Oct 3, 2014)

Perhaps some serious deja vu, after all. I'm in a constant state of preoccupation, and it's hell to find the memories in my mess lately. I never joined, but I did lurk a good deal at LM, and I thought I may have read it there. "Jen" may have influenced that obviously wrong association, lol. My bad, Danny, I do apologize. It's still nagging at me, so I may just figure out why I felt the way I did in time. Your swift far outdoes most people's prolonged efforts. I usually shirk love poems, thanks again for posting a piece about love that I could enjoy.


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## dannyboy (Oct 4, 2014)

No offense taken Lisa, in fact I'm seeing a lot of similarity between this and Seamus Heaney's St Kevin and the Blackbird (not is terms of equality but that mine obviously draws from it).

http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/st-kevin-and-blackbird


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## escorial (Oct 5, 2014)

erotic piece for me


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## dannyboy (Oct 5, 2014)

good get escorial...part of this is a recognition that the dumb part of the brain (think a male, blue tongue lizard) that thinks different partners is what its about really doesn't get how erotic one partner over 20 odd years can be.


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## AnnePrice (Oct 6, 2014)

I adore this. And yes, I admit to stopping by just because of the title. Call it prejudgment, but I was not quite prepared for such a lovely read. Thanks for posting.


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## dannyboy (Oct 6, 2014)

Thank you AnnePrice


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