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Open Poetry #49
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jwesley
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-04-30
Posts 7563
Spring, Texas

0 posted 2015-05-21 09:14 PM


The Grass Between The Graves


I've never walked in a graveyard
where the stones and crosses
and the grass between the graves,
failed to call,
to call my name,

Come,
they whisper,
Come.

Always
my footprints
linger in the grass,
following the path I take,
around, between,
at the head, the foot,
kneeling,
for some time,
beside a name.

Her name.
Whispers from the past.
Associating with angels, now.
Calling my name,
calling me,

linger now
they breathe

linger now . . .

forever.










©wesley james beard, jr.
may 21, 2015



(Please don't assume everything I write is based on my personal life...)




© Copyright 2015 Wesley James Beard, Jr. - All Rights Reserved
JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
1 posted 2015-05-21 09:21 PM


I used to frequent a few of the graveyards in New Orleans. Those storm mausoleums most definitely spoke to me. Or was it the acid? What ever it was it was righteous at the time.

~*~ When they give you ruled paper write sideways. ~*~

jwesley
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-04-30
Posts 7563
Spring, Texas
2 posted 2015-05-21 10:25 PM


Yeah, me too, Jerry.  One of my favorite was St. Louis (#3 ???) down on Esplanade Ave, just up from Moss St. (I believe it was) that ran along Bayou St. John.  The cemetery runs along the back of the Fairgrounds (back then (50's - 60's) it was a horse track, is it still?) and I lived near Ursuline Ave and  Rocheblave St.  We went to McDonough #9 jr. high, and she lived  just off of Desaix Blvd the other side of the Cemetery/Fairgrounds.

Anyway we used to walk from school to her house down Esplanade to the cemetery gate, , cutting through the cemetery and necking for a while.  I used to go to see her, cut through the cemetery, and collect flowers for her and her mom!  And I always said "Thank You" to the "resident" that gave them to me.

I "visited" many of the N.O. cemeteries, many times, but that's why that was my favorite!!

j.

Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666
California
3 posted 2015-05-22 08:42 AM


Been known to linger in graveyards myself.  I have heard that call you speak of in the quiet and peace there.  Enjoyed this one.
2islander2
Member Ascendant
since 2008-03-12
Posts 6825
by the sea
4 posted 2015-05-23 12:37 PM


hi jwesley, i adore the poem, I dont't like graveyards, your poem is purely magical, i can feel steps on the grave yards with all the emotional weigh of the soul and the steps, thanks for sharing


yann

jjote
Senior Member
since 2002-12-25
Posts 1088
Ontario, Canada
5 posted 2015-05-24 02:18 PM


Nowadays, there are big buildings with mausoleums, and cubicles where the cremated ashes are housed. Looks impersonal to me (I visited just recently one where my brother's ashes are). Just a flat wall with the names of "tenants" inscribed on them.

How can one write such a tender poignant  poem such as yours  on these "cemeteries"?. So uninspiring. No grass to tiptoe on, or trees sighing maybe. *sigh*

jwesley
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-04-30
Posts 7563
Spring, Texas
6 posted 2015-05-24 04:13 PM


jjote: I agree with you, in essence, my friend ,about ". . . big buildings with mausoleums, and cubicles where the cremated ashes are housed."  But on the other hand, the heart doesn't throb for the edifices themselves, but the representation of the last place on earth one would ever be. And personally, I don't need any of it – memory is with me always.

I think I could write for a name on a wall just as quickly as for a plot in the ground, or a photo in the mind, because I'd be writing for the essence of the life that's passed, that lives inside of me – inside of us all.  And I can do that even for someone I've never known, because the heart and the soul of us all, grieves, and loves, in basically the same way . . . and I can speak to, and for that.

Thanks for your wonderful and open comment.


jimmy

jwesley
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-04-30
Posts 7563
Spring, Texas
7 posted 2015-05-24 04:16 PM


Thanks Michael and 2islander2 - I think we can all relate . . . after all, we're all going there - in the end.

j.

devina
Member Elite
since 1999-10-28
Posts 3539
Cali
8 posted 2015-05-24 08:44 PM


the hush read here is hauntingly sweet J.

beautiful render!
~d

"..But a tyrant spell has bound me,
And I cannot, cannot go.."
~Emily Bronte
'The Night is Darkening Around Me'

jwesley
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-04-30
Posts 7563
Spring, Texas
9 posted 2015-05-25 10:29 AM


Devina, Much appreciate your thoughtful comment, my friend and for dropping in to see . . .

j.

JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
10 posted 2015-05-26 10:33 PM


well written...james
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