Thank you to Glory Sasikala for publishing my poem in the October issue of GloMag.

 Thank you to Stephanie J. Bardy, David K. Montoya, and Jeff R. Young of The World Of Myth Magazine for publishing my poem in the October issue.

Talking To My Mortician 
By: Linda Imbler 

I am lying still with a mannequin's programming, 
at some sort of turning point, 
all my busy days behind me.

Standing over me 
is a meaningful consultant 
whose job it is to lessen the obscenity. 
He'll make me a faint resemblance 
of what I was. 
Upon my chalk-white face, 
he will give me a pretty cover 
before they place me in that wretched cell, 
and my sleep strengthens even further inside profound dark.

He seems decent enough, 
and shows an earnest curiosity 
about me, therefore, 
I do not wish to be a bad client, 
and want us both to be comfortable 
with this interaction about to take place.

I've always been somewhat of an eminent blabbermouth, 
and as the clock ticks, 
I feel induced to speak, 
to explain to him the origin of every scar and blemish: 
the dappled birthmark on my leg, 
the sharply defined scar across my brow, 
the swirly pigmentation of the follicles in my wavy hair.

As his final touch, he sews my jaw shut, 
and although I now lie mute with deadened lips, 
I do have to say that he was a very good listener, 
and I look marvelous!

POETRY and PLACES

Sharing our travel adventures and celebrating our planet…through poetry

Walking Along the Music City Walk of Fame by Linda Imbler

Walking Along the Music City Walk of Fame
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.
by Linda Imbler

The pale shy away from the sun,
but this garden of stone
is worthy of a venture out under Mr. Sol.

Here lay the names,
a judicious fare of music greats:
Songwriters, singers, guitarists.
There’s no questionable bigotry laid here.
All genres of music represented
by those who have a connection
to this musical land.

An international hand
planted this piercing granite,
replete with buggy epitaphs,
offering godlike flattery,

Loretta Lynn to Jack White.
Peter Frampton to Keith Urbam.
Hendrix to Garth.
Bobby Hebb (“Sunny”) to Ernest Tubb.

A stroll along this sidewalk
presents one helpful campaign
toward human solidarity.
A possible answer to the ills of the world,
all differences laid aside on the music stage.

PHOTO: Music City Walk of Fame, Nashville, Tennessee. Photo by Adinda Uneputty.

NOTE: The Music City Walk of Fame in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, honors significant contributors to Nashville’s musical heritage as well as significant achievements in the music industry. Each honoree is commemorated with a large stainless steel and terrazzo star embedded in the sidewalk in Walk of Fame Park between the Country Music Hall of Fame, Bridgestone Arena, and Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The walk was established in 2006 by the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau. Gibson Guitars is a founding sponsor. Honorees are inducted twice annually, in the spring and fall.

PHOTO: Dolly Parton star on the Music City Walk of Fame. Photo taken by Christy Frink on the day of Parton’s induction (Nov. 8, 2009).

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: From March 30 through April 7, 2019, I traveled by bus with Diamond Tours. We, calling ourselves The Silver Striders,  traveled through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee, stopping at various places along the way.  We spent  four days in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A. This poems was previously published in my poetry collection titled Bus Lights, Travel Sights.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Linda Imbler’s poetry collections include five published paperbacks: Big Questions, Little Sleep; Lost and Found; Red Is The Sunrise; and Bus Lights, Travel Sights. Soma Publishing has released her three e-book collections, The Sea’s Secret Song,  Pairings(a hybrid of short fiction and poetry), and That Fifth Element. Examples of Linda’s poetry and a listing of publications can be found at lindaspoetryblog.blogspot.com. In addition to writing, she helps her husband, a Luthier, build acoustic guitars in Wichita, Kansas, U.S.A.

 

 

 

 Thank you to Mark Antony Rossi of Ariel Chart for publishing this piece in the October issue.

https://www.arielchart.com/2021/10/what-happens-on-stage.html

What Happens On Stage

The

play’s

the thing,

so let the

actors express the

styles of their smiles by not

regulating their very breath

until all words fade.