The Case of Mad Steelhead and Slides

Comments

2 responses to “The Case of Mad Steelhead and Slides”

1. 

   Unknown

   January 14, 2015

   Scott,
   We were so glad to have you at the Hoffman Center Writer's Lounge this week and last. you are clearly a gifted teacher of creative writing! Your prompt suggestion to write about your earliest memory and relate it to something very recent was fantastic for me. Here is what I came up with:
   Hot Oven Door

   This is fire, this is heat,
   these are heartbeats of pain pulsing
   through my blistering hands.

   This is the long ride to the doctor,
   no carseats, no seatbelts,
   just mother’s lap, her voice
   in my ear. This is her lullaby of fear.

   This is the sweat of her nightmares,
   these are the visions that shocked her awake
   like gunshots until the bandages
   were finally unspooled.

   This is her prayer and her plea,
   the wordless sound of every mother
   when she cannot breathe,
   this is the phone call that came
   fifty years later for me. Mom,
   there was a shooting last night.
   If you see it on TV, I’m fine.

   Reply
2. 

   Scott T. Starbuck

   January 14, 2015

   Hi Emily, It's great to see the poem along with hearing it. Seeing it, I want to add that I like the rhythm, sense of line, and comfort tone to my appreciation of your universal worrying-about-children theme,and your gratitude theme. The title is a perfect fit. It's a good tribute poem, and deserves to be published in a better place than my fishin' blog. I hope your sweater poem finds a good home in a literary journal.

   Thanks for checking out my blog. I hope your husband found some fish in the river today.

   Reply