The House Looks Like A Painting

The house looks like a painting
yet, we can’t agree on anything
What I want is meaningless to you
what you want remains awkwardly obtuse
and unreadable

I play my game, aligning the pieces
to get me whatever I desire
O, the house looks like a painting
but I never know what’s right
too adept at getting what I think I need

Meeting an old girlfriend
who talks of monasteries and monks
as I count the freckles on her nose
and wonder if she still swallows…

O, the house looks like a painting
yet, we cannot agree on anything
Is there an urge that we can harness
and repair
or just our feeble pushes
toward opposing goals
Two firm lurches toward different shores

It’s corrosive
it’s wholly limiting
it’s the only way we seem to know
to operate

The house looks like painting
and still we’re not aligned
on anything at all…

[2017]

Thanks for reading.

Published by

Tom Alexander

"Art is a lie that tells the truth"

19 thoughts on “The House Looks Like A Painting”

  1. I always thought this house looked more like a painting than an actual building. This poem is based on an argument I overheard on a train once. I often wonder if they ever got aligned…

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  2. “Meeting an old girlfriend
    who talks of monasteries and monks
    as I count the freckles on her nose
    and wonder if…”

    Amazing write!!! Yes, I like this kind of brutal lit.
    Thanks for the visit, and very, very grateful to find your blog back. :))

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    1. Ah thank you Lia. I tend to shy away from posting the more challenging poems because I don’t know how they’ll be taken. And I had even considered removing the section you’re quoting. People always assume everything is autobiographical… 😀 I should and will be braver though! Thanks for the encouragement and great to have you following along. 🙏🏼

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      1. That was the part that made it interesting though, to me it’s what distinguishes nice-to-look-at wall-art from something with more mettle. :)) I hear you though. I struggle sometimes with the same. But usually I act first and think (and worry) afterwards… 😬😉🤓🤷🏼‍♀️😊

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    1. I think it’s natural when a poem is written in the first person and helps give you a way in to the poem to imagine the writer is the protagonist. I feel like every poem should come with a disclaimer 🙂

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    1. Thank you Peter 🙂 There has to be one you’d missed eventually. I feel vindicated for reposting the older ones now… Which is a bit of a necessity while I am struggling to write anything new. Really pleased you enjoyed. I wonder if that house is still standing…

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