Vivid: (adjective) producing powerful feelings or strong, clear images in the mind as in…vivid imagination.
Like I’ve said so many times, I’m sort of kooky when it comes to words. Take words that start with “v” for example. I really like a lot of them. They really pop out at you. Words like vigor, vitality, and volume. You simply can’t say them without popping them off your lips.
So…when I decided, today, to share a poem I wrote back in 1976, I enjoyed the fact that it had the word “vivid” in it. This poem is loosely based on my experiences riding a train twice a year from Texas to Kansas and back when I was a young kid. My brother and I would go through the cars and use our vivid imaginations to while away the 18 hours we spent on the trip.
We’d dream up some scenarios involving a starship…or cross-country race…or any number of things. Those images we made up helped us to forget that our trip was a result of our parents’ divorce.
This isn’t about that. I don’t do sad stuff here on TonyFunderburk.com. So I’ll skip any of those other details and jump right into…
Vivid Imagination
The bearded man on the pullman is a spy.
He’s recording all the secrets in his eye.
He has photographic memory,
A temperamental frame of mind,
And I’ll have him put in chains…at least I’ll try.
The name on his luggage is Francois,
So I think he’s probably loyal to the French.
Yes, he has a small mustache
And tiny, golden cuff links.
He’s a French spy, and the train is quite in trouble.
He’ll likely have the engineering blueprints,
And pictures of the engineer himself.
He’ll take a couple hostages if necessity demands.
He’s a spy, and we’re all lost in his hands.
“Oh please, Mom, I don’t want to sit down.
I’ll behave, if you’ll let me move around.
Let me play imagination till we get to the next station,
‘Cause I think that it’s the bearded man’s hometown.”
© 1976 Tony Funderburk
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