Something About Someone Else's Poem by Joseph Riippi
Something About Someone Else's Poem
A friend emailed me a poem out of the blue from the Caspian Sea. I read it late last night after a five-hour bus ride. L was asleep in her clothes on top of the duvet. I took a shower and then it was 2am; she was still sleeping. I sat wide awake and naked at the kitchen counter reading my email on the laptop and read: I am too ashamed to be unproductive. I toweled at my face and put on my glasses. A few lines later: I am the right man for the job. I rose to hang up the towel. I peed. I flushed. I put on some underwear and covered L- with a blanket. I went back to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. I took out a beer and sat back down to write something. I stayed sitting. I need to get something done before I sleep, I typed. Then deleted it. Then retyped it, redeleted. I pondered the meaning of that word: redeleted. I typed the word redeleted. I deleted. I revised. L said something in her sleep and I wrote my answer down. And I am the right man for this job.
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About the Writer: JOSEPH RIIPPI
Joseph Riippi is author of the novel DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING!. His new book, THE ORANGE SUITCASE, is forthcoming March 2011 from Ampersand Books. This piece of flash fiction is included in that book. His writing appears in The Brooklyn Rail, elimae, PANK, Everyday Genius, and others. He lives in NYC. Learn more about Joseph at his website, here: Joseph Riippi.