Janet Locke, Two Poems

Attention
Janet Locke

The microwave clock
tells me I’m running late,
even though it runs slow.

So also say my cell phone,
my watch, and my wall clock.

A good friend was late for
everything, and she was perfect
in every other way.
Her tardiness was even a perfection
so not to intimidate others
with flawlessness.

When I cook my oatmeal before
work, the microwave dings after two
minutes, switching from the
countdown time display, to scrolling
the words “Food Is Ready.”
That’s what time it is:
Food Is Ready Time.

I sit down with my bowl and
think about my day to come,
the week to come, my friend,
and become more perfectly tardy.

Partial Tragedy
Janet Locke

What if your
lost, ruined,
destroyed or dead
beloved person or thing
were still with you, and had instead
just been irreparably damaged?

The house surviving a fire will always smell charred.
Perhaps there are some conditions
worse than death.
How long can you keep up
your level of angst?
How much energy can you spend
before you go numb?

Janet Locke was born and raised in South Dakota and has spent the last 27 years in Pennsylvania. She attended the first meeting of the River Poets in Bloomsburg, May 1994, before they even had a name. She is now their secretary and treasurer. She has read her poetry in local venues such as Priestley Chapel in Northumberland (First Sunday Program of Words and Music), area festivals, the rotunda of the State Capitol (when the River Poets were invited), and many dozens of River Poets meetings.

Image Source, CC License