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Open Poetry #47
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Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666
California

0 posted 2011-09-29 08:26 PM


The Dig


Up and down – pick striking ground,
The digging never ends.
Shoveling the hurt away like dirt,
What, truly, ever mends?
The treasure buried, a smile ferried
Long ago across the Styx.
Resilience lands but blistered hands
‘Top the woe such dream inflicts.

A lifelong quest, enough to test
The limits of resolve…
I yet dig on, my penance drawn
In watching dream dissolve.
Till foundation aches, and the soul quakes,
Raising that pick one more time…
With all strength held, still yet compelled
To gift with voice this mime.

And so I plunge into the grunge
Of emotion, infantile…
A man yet stirred by hope deferred
‘The ever elusive smile.
The world still turns – the soul still burns,
Eyes glow mad in the dark…
Ambition razed I stand, unfazed,
Having not yet reached my mark.

The days pass long ‘twixt woe and wrong –
The nights nearing forever,
And still I dig… and dig… and dig.
There’ll be no stopping… ever!
Till bloodied palms and quaking psalms
In dark mist die away…
And the smile, unfound, curses the ground
Where the stricken soul lay.



Michael Anderson

But dreams — of those who dream as I,
Aspiringly, are damned, and die


EAP

© Copyright 2011 Michael Anderson - All Rights Reserved
JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
1 posted 2011-09-29 09:37 PM


For some strange reason I kept seeing Paul Newman digging that hole for the "Bossman" in "Cool Hand Luke," and then having to fill it up, and so on and so on. In your case you never get to the end of the dig, because the soul isn't there, is it?

~~ Those who are silent are the first to be shot. ~~

Margherita
Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236
Eternity
2 posted 2011-09-30 07:39 AM


There is no doubt about you being a masterful writer, dear Michael, but you already know that I will say "stop digging"!

Your soul is immune to any attempt of "dirt" to affect it. The soul is the transparent sparkling nucleus, forever whole and perfect.
Visualize it as the purest gem and the mending process within your mind will restore your perception.

Love,
Margherita

BluesSerenade
Member Patricius
since 2001-10-23
Posts 10549
By the Seaside
3 posted 2011-09-30 11:31 AM


I applaud your writing, it is deep and versatile, it is a poem within a poem, and brings to mind raw human emotion.

Keep your pen warm, I enjoy reading you.

suthern
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Seraphic
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723
Louisiana
4 posted 2011-09-30 11:44 PM


The internal rhyme is exquisitely beautiful and serves to portray the pain even more powerfully. This is magnificent!!
ebonygirl
Member Elite
since 2011-07-14
Posts 2000
California U.S.A
5 posted 2011-10-01 01:36 AM


Michael, as Margherita says, you are a masterful poet,
but, where your soul may lay, now, it's time to play, so come out to play, we are all waiting for you. ms. e

Nicole
Senior Member
since 1999-06-23
Posts 1835
Florida
6 posted 2011-10-01 07:57 AM


We all have our holes to dig, I'm afraid.  It's always amazed me how wonderfully lyrical your poems are.  The meter in them is very easy to read, and it actually adds to the dark nature of what you write.  It creates something that feels very epic when it's read.     I enjoyed this, as always.
Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666
California
7 posted 2011-10-01 02:00 PM


JP, lol, I actually thought of “Cool Hand Luke” while writing this… having just watched that a couple of weeks ago.  Indeed, that’s how I feel sometimes… like I will never reach the end.  It’s not the soul that’s lacking here though… it’s the “smile,” or at least the ability to smile.  The soul is all that keeps me digging.

Margherita, my perception has, for at least as long as I can remember, always been the same.  That it is damaged I have no doubt… but I cannot begin to fathom a restored perception, having no recollection of an undamaged one.  Even so, I love the idea of the flawless gem.  That, in itself, inspires hope within me.     Thank you.

Blues, Ruth, Thank you.  I’m glad you enjoyed.

Ms. e, lol, I don’t play well with others… but I agree, it’s time to try.

Nicole, that’s quite a compliment, coming from quite a poet.  I thank you.

Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666
California
8 posted 2021-07-11 11:56 AM


I found it Diane.     Thank you for all the encouragement you gave me.
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