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Open Poetry #49
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Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666
California

0 posted 2014-02-07 10:19 PM


Gargoyle


With weathered eyes and withered soul,
Set still as stone, while shadows roll
Across pillars atop the keep,
I hold the pass— I never sleep.
The sky darkens, images fade,
While armies of Silence invade;
And every minute's increment
Echoes mimicry of lament.

An enemy I can't engage,
Mere token on this marble stage.
I watch the night, vigilant— still,
And suffer her be as she will.
Till, by the whispers of the dawn;
Tomorrow's born and new hope drawn
Something might stir along a path
That rings too much of aftermath.

The gold-tinged leaves fall from the tree,
And turn to windswept memory.
The rains I can no longer trust
To wash these walls' time-layered dust.
But greatness I remember here,
And laughter lost, some distant year,
That lingers through the hall and dies,
A barren hope on stone-clad eyes.

Abandoned castle!  Empty field!
'Tis but the memory I shield,
As cobweb shackles recreate,
Night by night, my allotted fate.
With weathered eyes and withered soul,
Set still as stone, while shadows roll
Across pillars atop the keep,
I hold the pass— I never sleep.


Michael Anderson


...How many hours of night or day
In those suspended pangs I lay,
I could not tell; I scarcely knew
If this were human breath I drew...

Byron

© Copyright 2014 Michael Anderson - All Rights Reserved
Bluesy Socrateaser
Member Elite
since 2002-11-07
Posts 2417
In The Mirror
1 posted 2014-02-07 11:07 PM


Excellent flow throughout Michael with the climactic last stanza being the most prominent for me.

Thoroughly engaging poetry that will fast become a favorite.

Regards from Bluesy

...just bein' Bluesy

Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California
2 posted 2014-02-08 03:37 AM


Wow! Your best one yet, Michael.
                           Ida

Lori Grosser Rhoden
Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202
Fair to middlin' of nowhere
3 posted 2014-02-08 07:47 AM


Yes! This really is one of your better ones. Setting the drama on the third person worked very well here and like Bluesy said, it really made your last stanza stand out when you repeated it at the end. Loved this.

Lori

JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
4 posted 2014-02-08 06:02 PM


a pleasure to read...James
Margherita
Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236
Eternity
5 posted 2014-02-09 07:22 PM


Gargoyle is such a fit title for this poetic masterpiece, dear Michael. It is rare to find such perfect harmony in a write, there are no linguistic obstacles that could disturb the listener's ears. I am sorry if the content refers to you, but aren't we not all haunted to a certain degree by past events? But there is always the certainty of a new dawn ...

Peace.
Margherita

Rex Allen McCoy
Member Elite
since 2000-01-30
Posts 2863
Sippin a Timmy's in London
6 posted 2014-02-10 10:06 PM


read this piece through several times, to let familiarity blend with your perfect rhyme. The piece speaks so much, drawing upon locked memories... will return to enjoy this one again.
~
Rex

KJOTT
Member
since 2012-12-26
Posts 87
Canada
7 posted 2014-02-10 11:17 PM


These lines "The gold-tinged leaves fall from the tree,/ And turn to windswept memory." resonate so well. Thanks.
Redstart
Senior Member
since 2014-05-16
Posts 535

8 posted 2014-05-31 05:40 PM


Stunning!
Mark Bohannan
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-06-21
Posts 7269
In the winds of Cherokee song
9 posted 2014-05-31 07:35 PM


Thoroughly enjoyed this. A pleasure to read and reads aloud quite nicely. The images are dead on and as the reader, it is easy to place yourself as the Gargoyle and see as it would
Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
10 posted 2014-05-31 11:45 PM


I wish that one day your anguish would
be extinguished...
but all is as it will be, and all
will be as you wish...

I wish you better, my friend.

Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666
California
11 posted 2014-06-01 06:04 PM


I want to say thank you to everyone who replied here.  This was something from 2008.  I reposted it cause I've been in the middle of a severe writer's block.

Just a little background info:  In 2008, while doing some electrical work on a local mansion built in the form of an ancient castle I noticed a tiny, (like 8 inch tall) gargoyle above a minature turret on one corner of the roof.  The castle was empty and the gargoyle, its protector, was covered in cobwebs.
My children were fresh into their early twenties then, and heading out into their new lives, a fact I spent many a sleepless night dwelling on, so to say I just saw myself in that gargoyle might be a huge understatement... I was that gargoyle.

Karliea, I believe right now my anguish is as extinguished as it's ever been.  And while I might not be overbearingly happy, (not sure I am even mentally capable of such a feat.) I am very much content and at peace with my life as it stands and my progression through it.  Thanks in large part to my kids who have been my two biggest supporters through all I've been going through.  Big ((hugs)) to you for always being there for me.    

Michael

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