My Curious Lil’ Curio

Poem (audio)

If you find yourself stuck in a writer’s block, just look
around your room, observe and write…

Audio preview

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A rustic, repurposed medicine cabinet
with French antique shop charm;
probably made in China;
well-built nonethless;
solid wood and glass;
frame and base in alabaster
with a touch of trout gray
on crown moulding
with window-ed door,
usually left cracked open.

Inside, a 3-tiered world set
of miniature-sized trinkets.
There is an adorable
one-of-a-kind menagerie:
a glass penguin from Swaziland;
a carved teakwood brown whale
from, perhaps China or Australia;
a bejeweled, tiara-crowned sea turtle
and two little white rubber duckies
from origin unknown (likely from China).

This curious curio is so meta,
with an unpainted, birchwood
hutch—meant for a fancy
dollhouse never made—within itself.
Below on another shelf are
two empty Ball mason jars
meant for salt and pepper —
but, later, will make for better
containment, as jars of candies,
breathmints or CBD gummies.

Serving also as an impromptu bookshelf,
the curio holds booklets packed
with gorgeous, vivid photography
of scenes along the Danube,
the Seine, the Rhone and Saone;
as well as of the Loire Valley and Paris
Along with these stacked—
a tiny book of The Tower of London
and mini fold-out LAX guide (in Japanese?).

Through a door pane is a cute cherub
with its ivory arms wide open,
waiting cheerfully for a hug
or even for a little rub;
and a cute as a button,
broken-nosed Pinocchio toy,
(indeed made in Italy)
outfitted in cream cordouroy
and standing in an “Italia” mug
too cute to use for coffee!

Nearby situated are two other mugs
from Italy, small ones for shot chugs
Also placed within: a peachy, dainty
grandma mug meant for and formerly
sipped by my dear mother,
who’s the doting grandmother—
though the cup was actually taken over
by me after ma’s failed attempt to pawn.
I gave this cup, with sunflower
adorned, a new dawn.

Randomly placed by the cup, another
lovely, lovely heirloom piece: a darling
ceramic black girl with hair
parted in bows, playfully holding a red
rotary dial style phone to her ear.
What, if anything, should be read
from this? Perhaps that she’s a symbol
of me holding happily onto yesteryear?
Why, yes, this is a fair surmisal.
or whatever... She’s just a cute lil’ thing!

I stare and marvel at my curio
while the wall clock tick-tocks,
e-mail notifications ping,
chat notifications knock,
birds all along on the patio
chirp and gloriously sing,
while my next meal is sizzling,
boiling or broiling
and whilst I wait for my next
poetic inspiration to come in full text.

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