.

Telepathy

Your reticence to speak is no deterrent
To my delight to be in your vicinity—
Presence and chatter need not be concurrent;
Lack of the latter won’t change my affinity
For your dark liquid eyes: I’d rather plumb
Their depths at leisure, while your lips are dumb.

.

.

Straight Talk

I’m oft averse to views in black and white
when such a range of gray abides between,
and yet, some hues arrive too recondite

for me to scan, their undertones to glean.
I like a simple gray that’s not abstruse—
some solid slate or shale on which to lean

while putting my own gray matter to use
decoding and deciphering at leisure
the wonders in plain sight, wild and profuse,

that offer readily their bounding measure
of miracle and mystery—whose scope
is well within my senses, for their pleasure.

To other minds than mine I’ll leave the trope
that proves too enigmatic and obscure.
Not that the thing’s complex beyond my hope

to disentangle—no, it’s just I’m sure
my time and mental powers I can invest
with ample yield in such a sinecure

as reading works that suit my fancy best,
that share their wisdom with me—sans the test.

.

.

Did You Get That?

Communication—
9 parts frustration,
1 part success—
At least, I guess…?

.

.

A Pennsylvania native now residing in Colorado, Anna J. Arredondo is an engineer by education, a home educator by choice, and by preference, a poet. She also has poems published (or forthcoming) in The Lyric, Time of Singing, Light, Blue Unicorn, Better Than Starbucks, and WestWard Quarterly.

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24 Responses

  1. Mary Gardner

    My favorite of these is “Straight Talk,” itself a solid slate or shale containing wonders in plain sight. Your skillful teaming of terza rima and enjambment carry the reader smoothly.

    Reply
  2. Margaret Coats

    Use of the word “telepathy” often imagines persons at a distance from one another. Your poem, Anna, explains then exemplifies the telepathic power of a good, long, close look.

    Reply
    • Anna J. Arredondo

      Thank you for your comment, Margaret. I suppose I was thinking loosely of telepathy as “communication without speech”…

      Reply
  3. Joseph S. Salemi

    The impressive thing in the terza rima of “Straight Talk” is the expert enjambment, which allows the poet to tie a twenty-line poem together in just three sentences. And the first of those sentences takes up four entire tercets.

    Reply
    • Anna J. Arredondo

      Thank you for your generous words! I am afraid you may have overlooked one full stop, but I’ll take the compliment. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Roy Eugene Peterson

    These are well-conceived and beautifully rhymed poems that probe the depths of communicating on various levels of the mind.
    1. “Telepathy” is a subject that has always fascinated me. For example, if I dreamed of a special someone on a particular night, did she also dream of me? You chose well the eyes as a place to look for meaningful communication beyond the spoken word, where saying no could actually be yes or maybe.
    2. “Straight Talk” is an enchanting poem of leaving behind words that are spoken and instead relying on the written word for substance. I love your choice of words in this one.
    3. “Did You Get That” does leave us guessing. Concise and enigmatic.

    Reply
    • Anna J. Arredondo

      Thank you, Roy. I appreciate your noticing my general theme of “communication”. As to telepathy, though the subject is fascinating, I honestly wasn’t thinking of it at all when I wrote the poem. When I decided to submit the poem (and thus needed to give it a title) I came up with “telepathy” to sum up the speechless fellowship transpiring therein. I rarely title my poems, unless and until I decide to submit them, whereupon it becomes to me an onerous task, indeed! I’m not sure why I find it so challenging.

      Reply
      • C.B. Anderson

        I, too, Anna, sometimes find choosing a good title to be a struggle. It’s important because it’s the first thing a reader sees.

    • Julian D. Woodruff

      All 3 are excellent, but actually the 3rd resonates most with me: sometimes joining a conversation is like waiting to make a left turn at 5th Avenue and 42nd, sometimes it’s arriving at the big game just as the clock runs out, sometimes it’s speaking Chinese when everyone else is speaking Swahili (and you may never realize the problem–and these don’t begin to cover the dimensions of communication that must have been on your mind when you composed that miniature. Your mastery and distinctive humor shine brightly, Ms. Arredondo. Thank you.

      Reply
      • Anna J. Arredondo

        Julian, thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! I suspected that the limitations and frustrations of communication (or its utter failure to take place) would be relatable to many.

  7. Cynthia Erlandson

    I like that “Telepathy” explores the idea of being comfortable with silence. I enjoyed all of these poems.

    Reply
  8. Russel Winick

    Anna – All three of your poems provide cerebral and highly relatable depiction of the complexities and challenges of communication, in impressively different ways. Very fine work – I’m so glad that you shared it.

    Reply
    • Anna J. Arredondo

      Thank you, Russel. I’m so glad you enjoyed them. I recently came across this amusing quote on the issue, attributed to George Bernard Shaw: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” 🙂

      Reply
  9. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Anna, what wonderful poetic observations on communication and interpretation. I’m with you all the way on “reading works that suit my fancy best,
    that share their wisdom with me—sans the test.” – when I read poetry, I do it for the entertainment value, first and foremost, and your three wonderfully woven marvels have made me smile with delight. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Anna J. Arredondo

      Thank you, Susan! Perhaps that is why I enjoy your poems so much — they are never lacking in entertainment value, and their wisdom, even when not in plain sight, is not frustratingly far beneath the surface…

      Reply
  10. C.B. Anderson

    Very nice work, Anna, for all the reasons others have noted and because I enjoy psychological inquiry.

    Reply
      • Anna J. Arredondo

        And thank you for your comment about creating titles. It is nice to know I am in excellent company. 🙂

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