Two poems to kick off the month of September. Enjoy!
----
The Mythic Forest
At night, when light snags
the underbelly of ancient trees, once dark
like shrouded giants and whales–
light that grasps at straight lines
from car lamps driving home
through familiar country,
light that pulses like lungs
from a lantern in the black forest
of a deep backyard–
when light nails the unexpected,
a vast wild field or a large shadow
like a dragon above us,
we must feel it catch and suddenly
it pulls us close together,
out of our vague dreams,
into a wilderness stirring with myths;
a world free of our petty fears, it entices us
closer to the mystery of a presence
brooding over us; each moment
new shadows above shake loose
as leaves become scales, glistening
in our memory – mute flames
like angels who on the pathway home
stand guardian, night after night.
----
An Announcement of War
Through one cloud, two,
like a satellite passing,
a missile flew
and I was flying
like a satellite passing
through cavernous thoughts.
And I was flying
and twisting knots.
Through cavernous thoughts,
the truth (so dark) was calling.
And twisting knots,
I kept from falling.
The truth (so dark) was calling
at this late hour from a friend.
I kept from falling
to pieces on my end.
At this late hour (from a friend),
I knew and did not wish it so
to pieces. On my end,
my mind went hollow.
I knew and did not wish it. So
I entrenched myself here;
my mind went hollow,
a soldier struck by fear.
I entrenched myself here
on the couch, pretending,
a soldier struck by fear.
What was I defending?
On the couch, pretending,
through one cloud, two,
(What was I defending?)
a missile flew.
----
The first of these poems deals with how an encounter with the seemingly supernatural or unexpected and draw us closer, not only to each other, but also to a belief in things not seen. It is when we are confronted by events we cannot explain, or that feel out of the ordinary, do we begin to forget our doubts and believe in ways we didn't before. The poem itself was inspired by something simple – noticing how the headlights of cars also light up, for a moment, the trees directly above them. From that, I got to thinking about the giant shadows watching over us, so often unnoticed, but there nonetheless.
The second poem is a pantoum – a type of poem that is marked by it's repetition that changes slightly in meaning over time. Like the villanelle, it evokes a moment stuck in time. This moment of the poem never happened to me; I started writing with two questions in mind – How does war affect people? How do I view war? I'm not sure I arrived at the answer to either of those questions here, but I felt like I ended up recreating, in part, the thoughts of someone confused and detached from war. Few people desire war and bloodshed, but few also have any idea what to do about it. The "war" in this poem may be a real war, and it may be instead an argument between two people unresolved. Either way, such confrontations can leave us dumbfounded and unable to articulate our thoughts. That being said, I hope the poem itself wasn't confusing, but it is a first draft.
Any and all comments are much appreciated. Thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment