'Blindsided'

Blindsided

by Donald G. Redman

Mary Jane kisses me in traffic.

Long.

I hurry to exit the vehicle

And shyly began to apologize.

“I just … you …”

She was amused.

I had been standing

As a rodent

On the side of the road.

She smiled

Slightly

And told me that it would be best

If I just got back

in the car.

I was nervous

But my mouth

So glad.

Blindsided is a “blackout” poem, created by blacking out large swaths of words in a newspaper article while preserving others to create poetry.

The original article appeared in the Slidell community section of the Times-Picayune. It was a columnist’s recounting of an earlier Halloween experience when she had dressed in costume as one of three blind mice and caused an auto accident. It contained a lot of references to being blind and being angry. At first, that’s the direction I took while trying to cobble together a poem. The name Mary Jane (as in the traditional Halloween candy) was a keeper from the start.

First stab:

Mary Jane,

dressed in black.

Dark Glasses.

Blind

And extremely heavy….

Second attempt:

Mary Jane kisses me

And two of my closest friends …

OK, that left me with nowhere to go.

Third try (I return to the black dress):

Mary Jane

Dressed in black.

Amusing and clever.

Blind and extremely heavy,

I did not want to miss the princess.

Too much of a hurry,

I walk up

And began to apologize.

“I am blind.”

She was not amused.

I summoned the dark for an eternity….

Dreadful!

So another attempt… back to the kisses:

Mary Jane Kisses me.

That is not amusing.

I did not want to.

I apologize.

She is not amused.

She summoned the dark.

She’s mad.

I think she’s going to

Cut off

My mouth…

Nope. Worse than dreadful.

Again …

Mary Jane kisses me.

That is not my idea of fun …

Scratch.

And then I finally let go of the angry aspects of the story and embraced the kiss and the nervous tension and the sensual Mary Jane. The title, Blindsided, pays homage to the three blind mice of the original article, while describing the unexpected passionate kiss from Mary Jane.

The idea of blackout newspaper poetry comes from poet Austin Kleon.