Vanity Flare

By Wendy Videlock Wendy Videlock
Don’t get me wrong: I know   
that knowledge is power,   
that mystery’s water,   
that hunger makes   
a gargantuan   
lover,   
and yes, I’ve drunk   
of the river Lethe,   
from the breath of the Celts,   
from the echo of   
the bugling elk,   

and yet,   

alas,   
here I be,   
small and twee,   
all liquored up   
on song and love,   
hard as rails   
and light as air,   
expecting the heavens   
to throw down a flare,   
to send in the clowns,   
to burn a bush,   
strike up the sea,   
anything   

that might mean   
those cloudy bastards   
have noticed me.

Source: Poetry (February 2009).

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This poem originally appeared in the February 2009 issue of Poetry magazine

February 2009
 Wendy  Videlock

Biography

Wendy Videlock lives in Western Colorado. Her new book, The Dark Gnu, an illustrated book of poems, will be released from Able Muse Press in January, 2013.

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Poem Categorization

SUBJECT Religion, Faith & Doubt

Poetic Terms Free Verse

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Originally appeared in Poetry magazine.

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