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Open Poetry #41
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aziza
Member Elite
since 2006-07-09
Posts 2995
Lumpy Oatmeal makes me Crazy!

0 posted 2007-08-22 04:20 PM


You read Shakespeare under the flicker of a kerosene lantern.
The wind wracked the unpeeled logs around you,
snow pelted the windows and iced the panes into obscurity.
Oblivious, you read on. Pages flicked softly and the light danced
over your features (lips pursed in concentration).
This is when I loved you the most.

Dried spruce logs popped in the Franklin Stove, sparking
into the stove pipe and dying in the winter cold. Dark cold outside,
yet, inside warmth filled the open spaces within, heart to hearth.
Soft music welled and created a downy blanket of security
as each moment softly ticked into memories. Who knew
that the peace was merely an illusion.

Bones were already stuffed into the closets, secret skeletons hidden
under the dirty laundry that was never to be aired.
Seeds of fear were sowed and tended by surreptitious touch
Sparks, untended, lay as ash, forgotten until tossed to the winds;
lantern mantles dimmed under sooty globes.
Frost's intricate art shuttered outside eyes.

King of your castle; master of your domain, you directed the actors.
Act One and intermission was over. Act Two left you alone
as the star of a conquered stage. It's true you took no prisoners,
casting aside those of no value. A slayer of affection,
author of your life story, the tragedy of your opera
swelled around the lonely self of you.

You read Shakespeare under the flicker of a dying lamp.
The winds shook the walls about you
snow pelted the windows and you sensed your obscurity.
The emptiness swallowed ranting litanies, failures listed
of those who left you behind (face contorted in rage).
Your legacy was already written

before you took your final curtain call.

---

Alison

© Copyright 2007 Alison - All Rights Reserved
sweetbomb
Junior Member
since 2007-08-07
Posts 48
Canada
1 posted 2007-08-22 10:39 PM


This is wonderful.
inkedgoddess
Member Rara Avis
since 2002-11-19
Posts 7392
Ohio
2 posted 2007-08-22 11:06 PM


very rich in texture and taste
latearrival
Member Ascendant
since 2003-03-21
Posts 5499
Florida
3 posted 2007-08-23 01:38 AM


Excellent. Enjoyed very much. "late"
Larry C
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Patricius
since 2001-09-10
Posts 10286
United States
4 posted 2007-08-23 01:55 AM


Hey you! I was hoping for a quick read but not tonight. I'll be back, I swear. It looks so intriguing.

If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane,
I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again.

Dark Stranger
Member Patricius
since 2001-03-19
Posts 13631
West Coast
5 posted 2007-08-23 06:13 AM


ms az, you are someone else here...enjoyed it
JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
6 posted 2007-08-23 06:49 AM


Nice writing...James
Honeybunch
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-29
Posts 7115
South Africa
7 posted 2007-08-23 07:49 AM


Great write, Alison!  Yep - indeed it is.
MoonShadow
Senior Member
since 2001-08-02
Posts 943
Dark side of the Moon.
8 posted 2007-08-23 09:22 AM



Alison... Wonderful imagery. Captivating write.

                MoonShadow
.

Gentle Spirit
Member Patricius
since 2000-10-09
Posts 13989

9 posted 2007-08-23 09:28 AM


A?      Yes lady indeed you arrived, you read, you studied and your wings....... took flight.  Outstanding work here LadyA.  

after a fall I get back up,
move on 'cause the past is the past and theres no tomorrow if remaining in still waters while the river flows on ~dsmith

JL
Member Ascendant
since 2004-04-01
Posts 6128
Texas, USA
10 posted 2007-08-23 11:36 AM


" A slayer of affection,
author of your life story, the tragedy of your opera
swelled around the lonely self of you."

Love this format!
Keep up the great work!!

JL



Susan Caldwell
Member Rara Avis
since 2002-12-27
Posts 8348
Florida
11 posted 2007-08-23 12:17 PM


"You read Shakespeare under the flicker of a dying lamp.
The winds shook the walls about you
snow pelted the windows and you sensed your obscurity.
The emptiness swallowed ranting litanies, failures listed
of those who left you behind (face contorted in rage).
Your legacy was already written

before you took your final curtain call."

Wow.  just wow...

True talent seeps from every line.

"too bad ignorance isn't painful"
~Unknown~

XOx Uriah xOX
Senior Member
since 2006-02-11
Posts 1403
Virginia
12 posted 2007-08-23 12:47 PM


Outstanding !!!!  ::saving this one::

::bows::

Larry C
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Patricius
since 2001-09-10
Posts 10286
United States
13 posted 2007-08-23 08:35 PM


Alison,
Well worth coming back for. Where to begin... This write creates so many images and emotions and is so well done. This is quite amazing. Thank you for sharing.

If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane,
I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again.

The Lady
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-12-26
Posts 7634
The Southwest
14 posted 2007-08-24 12:40 PM




"A slayer of affection,
author of your life story, the tragedy of your opera
swelled around the lonely self of you."

oh Alison
what have you done here

my favorite of all your works
toothsome


aziza
Member Elite
since 2006-07-09
Posts 2995
Lumpy Oatmeal makes me Crazy!
15 posted 2007-08-24 12:49 PM


Thank you all.

A

Yvette
Junior Member
since 2007-12-08
Posts 19
Texas, United States
16 posted 2008-01-13 05:46 PM


I will not lie.  I enjoyed Keys on a Key Chain much more.  This did not have the unusual balance, but it was nice.  You are a poet, indeed.
Clang
Member
since 2005-12-15
Posts 222

17 posted 2008-01-13 08:04 PM


This is incredible.
Jaime Fradera
Senior Member
since 2000-11-25
Posts 843
Where no tyranny is tolerable
18 posted 2008-01-13 08:16 PM


O so many complex metaphors in here, laced with old, still festered pain.  
Very complex but I want to understand ...
Very complex

Roniece Dawson-Bruce
Member Ascendant
since 2000-01-29
Posts 5689
Sydney, Australia
19 posted 2008-01-14 06:13 AM


simply B E A U T I F U L  Ali.. simply beautiful xx love RDB

Be kind at heart....for everyone you meet has their own battle to fight.........

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