Photographer and musician Keith Spencer started taking photos of my leather satchel at poetry readings. My wife bought the satchel for me when we lived in Japan. My bag has a fan page on Facebook and nearly two dozen fans. And now, it has a poem. Thanks, Tess!
On Jason’s Bag
by Tess Lecuyer
Infinite possibilities has too many fucking syllables
so this is not a haiku, it’s a goddam sonnet.
Sonnets are like a leather bag, a rectangle filled
and folded and pocketed with various straps-on-it.
I did that on purpose. I’ve been reading Ogdan Nash;
the silliness just seeps in so about Jason’s bag…
We met at the Wordfest, late, at the very ash
end of the night, when adjectives wore hats and spit jagged
modified nouns, addled verbs. Antipestic sang, badly,
and iambs skipped along pretending to be sober.
Infinite possibilities lurked in Jason’s bag,
so mutely lying, so folded casually closed.
Posing for the camera in an understated, artistic heap,
while whispering Lily, sweet Lillian, to sleep.
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