Quiet on the Outside
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About this ebook
Quiet on the Outside... is Kevin J. O'Conner's fourth collection of poetry. This time around, the poems are a mix of autobiography, observations of the world, dreams, whimsy, and exploration of short forms. O'Conner still employs a straightforward approach to tone and language, but works with an expanded palette.
Kevin J. O'Conner
Kevin J. O’Conner (56) is not your typical poet. After 30 years of writing only sporadically, Kevin J. O’Conner returned to poetry in 2013—first as a creative exercise, then for the therapeutic benefits. Since 2015, he writes every day, exploring the craft of poetry through monthly writing challenges—‘my ongoing effort to write something that doesn’t sound like something I would write’, he says. Kevin’s poems explore isolation, memory, life’s small moments, and the experience of starting over at ‘a certain age’—always with an emphasis on straightforward expression. As of Spring 2019, Kevin has published eleven collections of poems, the latest of which is WISHES SOMETIMES HAVE CONSEQUENCES, plus four volumes of ‘love notes’ to the days of the week. His poems have also appeared in Raven Chronicles, Spindrift, The CDC Poetry Project, Lament for the Dead, and the anthology VOICES THAT MATTER, and as part of the Clay? VI (2016) exhibit at Kirkland Arts Center. When not writing poetry, Kevin can be found copy-editing documents from far-flung places, attending open-mic readings, designing books, and contemplating what to cook now that he is tired of soup. He lives in Bellingham with his mom's neurotic cat, Cleo III. (updated 28 October 2019)
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Quiet on the Outside - Kevin J. O'Conner
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
SUNDAY MORNINGS AT GRANDMA’S HOUSE
Coffee with jersey milk
and toast straight from the oven
Crumbs floating in the coffee
after I dunk my toast
The taste of soggy burnt toast
with butter and cinnamon sugar
Never wanting to leave
this warm, sunny kitchen
I DON’T GO FISHING ANYMORE
I used to like fishing
when I didn’t catch a thing
Casting the line
waiting
enjoying the relative quiet
of the lake
Then came the day
I got a bite
and I had to kill the fish
THE UNEXPECTED AFTERMATH OF A MISHEARD CONVERSATION
In the haze and confusion
came the kiss
I was so thirsty
The rest of the summer was a blur
of restaurants and night life
and melancholy music
It couldn’t last
I was not prepared
for the places it was taking me
With distance
came clarity
and a definite end
Feelings lingered
but I knew it was right
It was never going to last
I HAVE PROBLEMS WITH PHILOSOPHY
Oh, in small doses it’s all right
but some philosophers take things too far
I was fine with Nausea
but Being and Nothingness?
I have a feeling Sartre loved the sound of his own voice
above everything else
Either way
that’s six months of my life I’ll never get back
and I still got no answers
(that I could use)
After that
I decided it was pointless
to look further
A SCENE FROM NOVEMBER 1991
For a brief moment
I found myself on the wrong train
heading in the opposite direction
I had visions of missing my friend at the station
and having to figure out another way
to navigate unfamiliar streets
in a town I had visited before
but never seen very much of
As the last car of the adjacent train
went past the window
the platform came into view
I realized that we hadn’t been moving at all
I breathed a sigh of relief
and opened the can of coffee
I bought from the vending machine
before boarding
ONE OF THOSE SMALL MOMENTS THAT COME BACK AS RANDOM MEMORIES
I remember the smart young woman in the first car of the subway. She usually had a little too much blush, and wore what we referred to as an eggshell skirt (because of its shape—it was a pencil skirt).
She was always alone. I assumed she