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The Minstrel of Maxwell

June 5, 2012 By 1 Comment

“You have defeated me and my sad songs.”

Once a minstrel, I,
Like Cleopatra’s lover,
Aspired for you Sunday night,
But you—invisible, air,
Alternating merciless and bastard—
Neither considered me nor arrived.
Now I am left with old tea and oranges,
Watching love stories from the 1950s
On my plastic TV.
You have defeated me and my sad songs.
I suppose I should be like Popeye
And declare that I am unvanquished;
I suppose I should talk of phoenixes and the advantages
Of other sublime nymphs and lovers.
But I won’t, indubitably.
I shall wait on Wednesday—
Beaten, frayed—
Hoping to ask a dance,
But I, brain-handcuffed by a rent-a-cop at the mall,
Shall say nothing.
A light, loud Strauss will play,
And I shall take a chair by the wall,
Wishing for nirvana or a cup of Maxwell coffee.

 

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—Photo credit: qmnonic/Flickr

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About Tim Ruane

Tim Ruane is an artist and writer. He is a graduate of Georgetown University, where he studied English and art, and has worked as a chief copy editor in the editorial department of The Washington Post, where he has also worked as a freelance photographer. He has written hundreds of poems, two novels a number of short stories. His photographs have been published by The Washington Post, Simon & Schuster and The Good Men Project. He has shown his photographs at Potomac MD Public Library and is scheduled to be published in ShareArt LA, Circumfleks Magazine and Splinter Literary Journal. He will have an exhibition of his photographs in September at the offices of Prudential FedRealty in Washington D.C. Mr. Ruane lives and works in Garrett Park MD, just outside Washington D.C. USA.

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  1. Oh I Got Published. « Modern Art and Poetry says:
    June 23, 2012 at 7:41 pm

    [...] Minstrel of Maxwell http://goodmenproject.com/the-good-life/the-minstrel-of-maxwell/ Share this:TwitterDiggFacebookRedditMoreTumblrEmailStumbleUponLinkedInLike this:Like12 bloggers [...]

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