by Carolyn Martin

Phonaesthetics 

 

The study of the euphony and cacophony of words 

without regard for semantics.

 

I read somewhere 

that language experts claim 

when sense is pushed aside, 

the most ear-pleasing English sounds

slide through the words cellar door.

 

Not through the charm

of velvet/epiphany/ 

lithe/purple/serendipity/

cinnamon/soliloquy, 

but through the scraped-up entry 

to the stale dark space 

where my mother scrubbed our clothes 

and I escaped up-stair storms. 

 

Cellar door, celadore, seladore –

chant these words out loud 

and I’m strolling on Assisi cobblestones

while Cimabue’s frescoes peel.

Or flying to the Vegas strip 

where gondoliers row arias

beneath a painted sky. 

Or settling down in Vinnie’s Bar

with friends and pizza pie.

 

So much for sense 

when sounds annihilate cinder blocks, 

concrete floors, dank memories. 

Three notes – smooth and pure – 

soar like kisses from my fingertips 

toward the cobbled sky. 

Cellar door. Ché bella, cellar door.

First published in Cross Review, 2015.

 

Andragogy 101

 

Dear Adult Learner,

 

Welcome to “How to Live a Mature Life

with Autonomy.” For our first class,

bring a detailed list of your major mistakes

from the time you were six – particularly

the ones still burning in your gut.

They will form our syllabus.

 

We’ll excavate each gaffe for the lessons

they provide and problem-solve how 

to re-frame your life with time-tested strategies.

We’ll mitigate the past and lighten up today. 

Which path you choose is up to you. 

 

The requirements for a passing grade? 

Apply what you learn immediately.

Your spouse (current or ex-), kids, boss,

neighbors, friends, and near-by relatives 

will be asked to submit a final report 

confirming your complicity. In two weeks 

I expect a comprehensive contact list.

 

One caveat: if your motivation to learn

is not internalized or, if you’re still dipping

your feet in the childhood swamp of blame, 

revisit this semester’s catalog.

There are dozens of offerings that might be

better fits. Transfer into one today.

First published in Carolyn Martin,  The Catalog of Small Contentments (Portland, OR: The Poetry Box, 2021).

 

Hypnopedia

 

When you can lounge in a corner 

of your dreams–– sipping lattes 

or slugging whiskey neat––who needs

syllabi, seminars, or student debt?

 

Snooze while Shakespeare scratches out

soliloquies and Hannibal his battle plans.

Catalog the universe across your sheets

with Hawkins and Einstein, then race 

 

a bike or hybrid car around your quilt

and track the myths of origins.

Delight in mysteries of who created

whom/where/how/why/when.

 

If a garbage truck should drown out

Darwin’s speech or a nagging crow disturb

your dig-down-deep into the earth,

pull a feathered pillow over your head. 

 

Put your dreams on pause and focus on 

your breath. Then, as quiet settles in,

invite them back to their current course.

There’s more to learn before the next bell rings. 

First published in The Red-Headed Stepchild, 2020.