Phrases and Fragments of Unusual Language

Too reductive? You fold up
The plaid blanket you had wrapped

Around your waist, rummaging
Memory as you do so.

The best stories had three things—
Characters you found yourself

Deeply emotionally
Invested in, never mind

That they were only phrases
And rehearsed performances—

Plots whose basic outlines served
To provide a scaffolding

For comprehending
This or that schema of life—

And unusual language
At points in the narrative,

Memorable turns of phrase
In the mouths of characters

Or in the surrounding words
Describing scenes and events.

Focusing on the latter
Alone, apart from the plot

Or character, yes, that is
Reductive. You put away

The blanket in the cupboard.
Locally, another day

Had begun, dominated,
Like all the rest, by events

And various characters.
But here, in the quiet room

Where you watch the sun alone,
You find your mind hunting down

The footpaths of memory,
Hungry for just the right phrase,

The remarkable fragment
Of unusual language.