1~Clear out the lint-filled clouds,
the inky sky’s settled in
forming a permanent stain,
and the sun’s spin cycle
can’t wring out worry
lines that need to be drained.
2~My womb’s a vacuum
unseen things swirling
in a bulging, upright bag;
self-love uses a lighter hose,
stretched umbilical cord tension
ends this gestational tidying session.
3~Sick of the small rack,
my mug is stacked sideways,
oversized, she’s hard to handle,
the saliva of our time together sanitized,
but the stickiness never dries
making room for more soiled vessels.
4~Damage is done in degrees,
only time dethaws the toughest meat
crispy from insults, broiling underneath,
and hatred warps too many tin trays;
to get flavor from your kill
roasting’s the only way.
5~Appliances lack self-reliance, and
I was stronger before convenience
modeled my emotions passé.
My air-conditioned aura captured by
a spotless energy-efficient gloom;
modernity’s an over-filtered room.
Artwork: Kelly Reemstens Spotted, 2015
Took my time crafting my very first Cadralor for Björn Rudberg Thursday d’Verse prompt. Let me know what you think.
What’s a Cadralor you ask?
The cadralor is a poem of 5, unrelated, numbered stanzaic images, each of which can stand alone as a poem, is fewer than 10 lines, and ideally constrains all stanzas to the same number of lines. Imagery is crucial to cadralor: each stanza should be a whole, imagist poem, almost like a scene from a film, or a photograph. The fifth stanza acts as the crucible, alchemically pulling the unrelated stanzas together into a love poem. By “love poem,” we mean that your fifth stanza illuminates a gleaming thread that runs obliquely through the unrelated stanzas and answers the compelling question: “For what do you yearn?”
Yard Sale of Thoughts 
Amazing! ❤️
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Thank you very much, John. Place is clean and poem crafted; now that’s multitasking.
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Many thanks. Always wanted to write about the dishwasher, and that bothersome small rack. 😉
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❤️
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wow ! I’m with John 🙂
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I echo both of the comments!! It is obvious you took time, gave considerable thought to the challenge!! Beautifully penned.
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Thank you kindly, Helen. Inspired while cleaning for a dinner party, I think both are a success.
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This is fabulous!! It rocks the custard… this phrase is some joke left over from my Uni days but I can’t remember what the joke is. But your poem definitely suits it. 🙂
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This is incredibly potent. I especially resonate with; “Damage is done in degrees, only time dethaws the toughest meat crispy from insults, broiling underneath.”
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Thank you so very much. I feel I spend a lot of time with these appliances with lots of time for my imagination to wander. Glad these lines resonated with you.
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I think what you have done here is get the edginess and experimentalism just right. There are lots of striking images here, such as ‘My womb’s a vacuum’ – that make the reader sit up and take notice. Great work!
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Thank you, Ingrid. I enjoyed trying out a new poetic form. A bit like putting on a new pair of shoes. Still thinking about the fit and cut, but having a great time experimenting.
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That’s a great analogy!
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I agree with Ingrid’s comment, but also with the image in the end of living in that perfect home, leaving me with a yearning to leave perhaps?
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Thank you, Björn. Yes, there is something that becomes mechanical about this modern housewife, as she goes through the motions in this verse. Really excited by this new form. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.
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K, it is clear you took your time putting this together. The visualizations are skillfully manifested based on your original concept. I also am chilled by and in agreement with your conclusions in the final stanza. Such a good poem!
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Thank you kindly, Lisa. These conveniences can be quite controlling. I am grateful for the moments in my life that exist without electronic interference.
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You’re welcome and I hear you.
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This is excellent, K! ‘womb as vacuum’, ‘damage is done in degrees.
Final stanza wraps it up nicely.
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Thank you so much for these kind comments. I think this is a new form I will continue to explore.
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Me too!
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Wow, hats off to you – there are so many wonderful images in your stanzas. Just goes to show that inspiration can come from many places!
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Thank you ever so kindly. I am intimately acquainted with these appliances in a love/hate kinda relationship. It was fun to play with their forms and functions, as well as my own.
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