Ode to Country Music
If I wasn't such a deadbeat, I'd learn Greek.
I wouldn't write sonnets; I'd write epics
and odes. I'd love a man who was
acceptable and conformed to every code.
I'd put together my desk and write my epic or ode
at sunset over my suburb. How I would love my shrubs!
But all I do is listen to country (and the occasional Joni)
and smoke. Judge me judge me
judge me. Oh I've been through the shallows.
I shallow. I hope. I hole. I know
I wrote you the most brutal love poem that knows.
Copyright @ 2014 by Sandra Simonds. Used with permission of the author. This poem appeared in Poem-a-Day on August 19, 2014.
“I wrote this poem last summer which was spent mostly getting myself into trouble and listening to country music on my record player. So, I guess this is a little love poem that celebrates the laziness of the summer season and the remarkable beauty of everyday life that much of country music can convey so well. In addition, I think this poem is also a gentle critique of poetic ambition.”
—Sandra Simonds