Creative Muscle

Poetry. No new formalism views here, no emphasis on rhyme scheme or the like. Just writing. I used to think that poetry wasn't really my thing. Poetry, like narrative writing, isn't easy to write. Both require the extension and flexing of a fine portion of the creative muscle. Like most anything else, practice makes perfect, and in an effort to do so, I figured I'd pick up where I left off - with an open mind and ready to be critiqued my peers and the like.

So this concerns a poem I wrote most recently on assignment, which in my opinion is still in much need of revising. However, the general idea of the poem happens to be about the public transportation system in Los Angeles. Me, I'm just wondering if you can pick up on any references.

reinforced

your arteries took a while to form
and you were born without bones
but your brain came before you

your heart had been on ice for a century
but the procedure went well. it’s beating
without the aid of machines

your nerve endings reach then recoil
due to bruised pockets of heat
with nowhere yet to go.
that will correct itself on its own

as for the skeleton, there’s a waiting list
another ten years at best

your arteries, metamorphosed into intestine
are pushing out the waste
but you’re sure to get new ones soon


- Lindsey D.