Wednesday, August 10, 2022

PRATIK'S LA ISSUE SPECIAL : AMERICAN POET & ARTIST DENNIS MCGONAGLE'S "Disaster in Paradise"

 

DENNIS MCGONAGLE

 

Disaster in Paradise 



Dogs hear it first. That awful rumbling sound

Coming from deep down underground

You think you feel a shudder and

You hope it was just the wind

Or maybe a large truck

On the next block

 

The kitchen is rattling

Like a flivver with a busted tie rod

The rattling gets louder and turns into a roar

Then all of the dishes fall to the floor

The house is hopping up and down

Like a sugared up five-year-old

On a backyard trampoline

 

There’s a tidal wave in the swimming pool

Sidewalk moving like a roller coaster

The street splits down the middle

Like cheap jeans on a fat guy

Uprooted trees moan as they

Begin their slow motion fall

 

Here in SoCal, we’ve got it made

No twisters or ice storms

No hurricanes or snow

The Rose Parade is on TV and

America is watching

Nothing but sunshine

 

But we do have to suffer

A quake now and then,

The end of the world

As we know it

 

I take a walk uptown

And all of the chimneys have fallen down

Rows of buildings like sandcastles

Washed away by a wave

Shattered glass storefronts wrapped in yellow tape

 

 


Dennis Mcgonagle
earned an MFA Degree from Cal State Long Beach in studio art in 2004. He is best known for his urban landscapes and street murals. Each of his paintings is a poem about color. McGonagle has recently added poetry to his creative output. His poems have been published in River’s Voice, the literary magazine for Rio Hondo College. 



 

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