Tarnished, poem by Jon Bennett

 Tarnished 

 

You can replace things 

an alternator, a starter 

but the real skill is in diagnosis 

you have to keep learning 

have a passion for it 

I’m passionate about passion 

but don’t have much left 

I drink tea, play the guitar 

the chord progressions are different 

but somehow all the same 

the finger picking patterns 

never progressed 

At work it’s the same thing 

I know what I learned 

in the first two years 

but then seized up 

I’m rebar in concrete 

old silver fillings 

rigid, rusting 

and hampered  

by a fear of pain 

these scribbles of a staid teetotaler reflect 

“Today I brushed my teeth 

and lost a crown,” I write 

but there are many things 

in my mouth 

that will never come out. 

Jon Bennett writes and plays music in San Francisco. You can find more of his work here and here.  A collection of his poetry is available through Amazon at Leisure Town.