In honor of the opening of one of my favorite novels, The Great Gatsby and its author F. Scott Fitzgerald, I'm reposting a poem I wrote a few years back.  I know a lot of people who identify with Nick and maybe that's correct but for it it was always Gatsby.  I saw the movie today and though I had some quams about a few things overall I enjoyed the adaptation. 







I am Gatsby

I long to be Nick

the country mouse to their city mouse

small, fragile pink tail and ears

downy white fur

scent of cedar and pine

 

But I’m not.

I stare out across

green plains of liquid

promise, hope, renewal

for others but not for me.

I try to hide

behind yellow cars

behind blond tresses

behind fur, one size too small.

I am large;

thick muddy tail and a flash of scarlet eyes

oily grey wires prickly to the touch

my nails scratch and tear to survive

scent of sweat and desperation linger

a rat in a mouse suit.

I balance on precarious fence

between two worlds.

I shrink back from the inky truth,

the dark abyss of murky emptiness.

I step into the false brightness,

the shining crystal fragments of light.

Blush champagne tickles

my nose while

roses of garnet, amethyst violets,

and an opulent pearly daisy

dance across my path, swirl, twirl and catch

sunlight in each creamy petal,

perfume wafts

into my quivering nostrils and

tiptoes over my sensitive tongue.

My ears fill with airy laughter;

tantalizing

my desire,

Daisy takes me

in her arms

and we spin.

Swaying while I wait,

knowing,

everything will come

crashing down –

one hunter’s gun,

one bullet shot

in the end.