If you need anything while I’m asleep,
please feel free to smash the glass.
I think you’ll find your accommodations
are quite pleasant. We didn’t skimp
when it comes to the shag carpeting—
it’s wall-to-wall and double-ply, also
sealed for your protection. We believe
in safety here. Safety and sanitation,
everything buttoned up just like
God’s own sewing kit. A stitch,
you know, a stitch in time saves
feathers. That’s what they say—
or we say it, anyway. We say
a lot of things around here.
I think you’ll find us downright
chatty. Garrulous as gabardine,
and almost as sacred as mice.
If it’s Tuesday p.m., check out Open Link Night at dVerse Poets.
Marilyn Rauch Cavicchia 
There’s something very Edward Gorey, subtly menacing and off-kilter funny, about this one.
Thanks! Another venture into Persona Land …
as sacred as mice eh? ha. i kinda get scared when a place is too safe you know…but shag carpet can feel so good on the feet…smiles….it does feel a bit out of skew in a jarring kinda way…
Yeah, I was going for kind of jarring and unpleasant, in a way you can’t quite place. My personas are often people I wouldn’t want to know in real life, much less acknowledge as living in my head.
I liked your using mixed metaphors, we are so used to cliche that this jars us. I was trying to picture the speaker, perhaps the androgenous nanny-state. I liked this poem, but of course you know I would, you being a psychic at one time. 🙂
Thanks so much, Bill! I pictured the speaker as a man, kind of a John Waters or Gomez from Addams Family type. But I like your vision, too. Speaking of vision … I was totally fake as a phone psychic, but I do have random and not very useful flashes from time to time — moments when I seem to tap into something.
This was really a very disturbing invitation… I got the impression of a mental hospital… but some of the sentences give a surrealistical feel…
Thanks, Bjorn! Yeah, I don’t think I’d want to stay there, either. 🙂
A plush prison. But I feel it closing in. With a smile.
Thanks, Sentinel! Glad it made you smile (while also creeping you out).
I got sort of a Motel 6 in Wonderland vibe from this, Marilyn. Edgy and fantastic. And that last sentence punctuated it all for me. Nicely done!
Thanks very much, Joe! That line and some of the others appeared fully formed in my mind, and I had to resist editing them into something that was neater and made more sense. And I like your Motel 6 in Wonderland description!
Marilyn, this was very Addams family vibe. I loved that first line–talk about drawing me in! And garrulous as gabardine! So inspired and fun to say too 🙂
Thanks, Sara! Garrulous as gabardine popped into my head and wouldn’t be turned away. As for the Addams family, what I liked about them, and kind of see in this speaker, is that they were genuinely unaware how scary they were or that their attempts to be hospitable were way off-kilter. Glad you saw that!
Funny, edgy and a bit frightening too. Loved it.
Thanks so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it.