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Open Poetry #48
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birdsong
| Open Poetry #48 |
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birdsong |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631
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I’ve death in me, watch how it stills, desperately from the tree’s high crooks, a grey flash, tipped red and lit upon a fencepost, its wings smolder, it smells of ginger caught in the fretful brambles of night, the rain has turned everything to junipers, shagged and spooked, and everywhere, at the edges, the dark, verdant canopy of green envelops, suffocates and sneaks sidelong glances at hummingbirds astir in the curves of Heliconia blossoms, silently it stalks the schema dream, bird, how I envy you, for I am not often given the luxury of a lyric, a song that makes my own undoing, or killing sweet even as I go down into the fire to rise as smoke, bird, your life would terrify me, bones full of air, belly all hunger, the underbrush dense with murders, death is a twist, a pine feather lost, a stumble over a stubborn pebble, this is not a life of flight, but flight from, perhaps you do not suppose there is any other way, which is itself a kind of mercy, your heart is the size of a tiny clod and so I’ve heard, egg-shaped, I’ve learned to measure mine by the scale of my fist, and my height from the distance between the forefingers at the ends of my spread arms, physical logic is contrast, ratio, degree, I’ve learned desire by the scarcest shades on my skin: brief flushes, bitten lips, as if love were something that requires, a witness, it isn’t… there are acres more night than moon, hours more sleep than dream and slowly, I am learning their count, though numbers fray in me, and the loaded minuets graft, coming always to the same tangle: the distant cry merges with the song at hand, bird, you silly, incomprehensible thing, drenched in the color of something like joy, stuffed with something of music, make of me a body that pools in its brine, for I’ve death in me, still. |
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secondhanddreampoet Member Ascendant
since 2006-11-07
Posts 6394a 'Universalist' ! |
VERY fascinating 'write' ! ... wonderful imagery ... I find it most interesting how very different the 'writing styles' are of the v. best 'poets' who traverse these fine blue sands of "P.I.P.-land" by the cyber-sea ! |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
thanks 2ndhand dreampoet!  |
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suthern
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723Louisiana |
this is not a life of flight, but flight from, perhaps you do not suppose there is any other way, which is itself a kind of mercy, This is exquisite! I was mesmerized, start to finish! |
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana |
Finally got around to tacking this one Baby Girl. I loved it from first to last line. . . "there are acres more night than moon, hours more sleep than dream and slowly, I am learning their count, though numbers fray in me, and the loaded minuets graft, coming always to the same tangle:" What a surreal passage. In fact the complete poem, taken as a whole is like a thunderbolt throughout the universe, and settling on the tiny . . . bird . . . A metaphor for the sum total of whatever it is that makes us think, rationalize and judge. Dynamite write. ~*~ If they give you lined paper, write sideways. ~*~ |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
(((Thank you, suthern)))~*~*~ XOXOX |
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ice Member Elite
since 2003-05-17
Posts 3404Pennsylvania |
 Hummingbird feeding on Heliconia ma belle mia Love this poem, but too tired to reply. But I will be back, to look at it with wolf eyes. |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
Mr. Pat~ I am so pleased you found so much in this! I adore birds...especially in poetry...for everything they can symbolize... (((Thanks so much for the kind review)))~*~ XOXO |
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana |
I still doubt I got it right. ~*~ If they give you lined paper, write sideways. ~*~ |
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JamesMichael Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336Kapolei, Hawaii, USA |
Fine writing so I leave it at the top...James |
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JL Member Ascendant
since 2004-04-01
Posts 6128Texas, USA |
BG: Pleasure to read you, you never cease to amaze with the way you blend your word weaving. Like those little birds you seem to like so much, very distinct and unique.  I agree with James on this one! JL Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
Icy....just saw the pic! Wow...thank you for sharing such a beautiful illustration of my lunacy! |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
Oh my dear Mr. Pat...u are right on target with your interpretation....the bird here is a metaphor for many things ...certainly for those things I dare rationalize...and those things....sometimes I find...terrifying Thank you again for stopping in~ |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
Thank you, James!!! |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
JL, You're a doll. Thank u so much for the warm reply! Xoxo |
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Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666California |
"I’ve learned desire by the scarcest shades on my skin: brief flushes, bitten lips, as if love were something that requires, a witness, it isn’t…" I find love to be incomprehensible most of the time... and death to be lurking in us all. Indeed, there is no escaping either once they're upon you. I envy the mindlessnees your bird seems to reflect... the complete lack of concern of what is is she is flying in, or from, as the case may be. Some deep thinking this one brings... alot beneath the surface. Enjoyed much. Michael |
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jwesley Member Rara Avis
since 2000-04-30
Posts 7563Spring, Texas |
Enjoyed this, my friend... "I’ve death in me, watch how it stills,. . . " and that's an absolutely awesome line! j. |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
Michael~ Thank you for the insightful response~*~* quote: me too! In the words of a famous scarecrow..."life is painless for the brainless" ~words to live by...love...is often unfathomable for me, as well~ Thanks again for the look...inside~ |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
J~ Thanks so much! |
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ice Member Elite
since 2003-05-17
Posts 3404Pennsylvania |
ma belle mia Wow! it took me a long time to get back here...sorry. This opens, bittersweet.. "I’ve death in me," Indeed there is, as well as life, that you do not overlook as a companion, throughout the poem. When I see an opener like that, I see once again the wolf in Sandburg's poem, I begin to see, and read through that wolfs eyes..as tat animal can sense the "smells of the ginger" better than my weak human facilities. "physical logic is contrast, ratio, degree, I’ve learned desire by the scarcest shades on my skin: brief flushes, bitten lips, as if love were something that requires, a witness, it isn’t…" To me, this is the connecting stanza...desire is learned through the "scarcest shades"..and does not "require a witness" It just is, just like the theme of this poem is.. Death comes in birdsong naturally, and does not require any other authority but itself to be notarized. The hummingbird clicks ("how I envy you,") and does not sing...but unlike ourselves, it does live a "schema dream" without need of re-cognition, its cognition is built in, needs not be learned...how wonderful would that be for humans, To live without the binding briars of personal history, and conditioning, like it does? The ending lines of this poem are amazing, well thought out, perfect. When I read them, I needed no more..satisfied that the theme was fully covered, and stopped in me the wheels of thought turning on the axel of subject. But I needed to reread several times...the gist of the words are that profound. Thank you "Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance." |
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Nicole Senior Member
since 1999-06-23
Posts 1835Florida |
There's a simple obliviousness that the bird has, that even though I could never live with, I feel myself envying. For just a small time, ignorance definitely gives the appearance of bliss. |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
Icy~ I am absolutely humbled by your reply ... that you so easily swim the depths of the things I struggle with so much...is just...humbling...and leaves me...I must say...a tad stunned. quote:how wonderful indeed...and a pursuit I have endeavored often to my chagrin... quote:my gosh....(((thank you)))~ quote:...no no no...thank you for having the inclination...and taking so much time with this.... really...I am so moved by those wolf eyes. XOXO |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
Nicole~ Yes. absolutely ...I envy that bird quite a bit! Thanks for reading! |
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soul drifter Senior Member
since 2004-09-08
Posts 711Colorado |
Truly exceptional. Yep, adored every line, savored them like wine, old but sweet and with a mysterious, enticing aroma. Wonderful! |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
Thank U, souldrifter! |
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