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RSWells
Member Elite
since 2001-06-17
Posts 2533


0 posted 2004-11-24 05:29 PM


'Ah, that day of tears and mourning! From the dust of the earth returning.'"
                        (opening verse "Lacrimosa," Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
.
.
.
.
.
.
(suggest reading while listening to the above titled song at;
http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/
(requires either RealPlayer or WindowsMediaPlayer)
.
.
.
.
for ‘Mum’
.
.
.
.
You thought you’d locked out the past.

How could one like you fathom the
skills of such an accomplished burglar?

Who is safe from the dark?

It was there the boy lie (nightly so it seemed)
listening to his mortars, your badminton returns,

accusations of infidelity, his vulgar denials

(astonishment that the boy remembers
all the names of the foolish lovers)  

the inevitable thump, slap, shriek, and often
in pajamas the boy would appear, pre-wept,

to plead an end (forever) to the nightmare

(for a long time it worked, only seeming to cost
the boy some vertical creases ‘twixt hazel eyes)

siblings slept through it (though all have paid)
and each has his/her own unversion (inversion?)

night school advanced to the boy leaping on
a hairy back and the bull ride in drunken air,

red badge awards for your rodeo clown-hero.

As soon as the boys’ fist matched the size
of his heart he broke through the dark clouds

and it was never spoken of again.

But it still rains Mama, it rains


© Copyright 2004 Richard S. Wells jr. - All Rights Reserved
Cpat Hair
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1 posted 2004-11-24 05:33 PM


damn....


  

Martie
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California
2 posted 2004-11-24 05:39 PM


Hugs Richard, for the courage to write this!
Midnitesun
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Gaia
3 posted 2004-11-24 05:54 PM


talk about a lump in the throat
*sigh*
heart hugs

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

4 posted 2004-11-24 05:55 PM


gawd Richard this aches......
  Hugs.  
(nice new pic too.   

Sunshine
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Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
5 posted 2004-11-24 06:08 PM


You didn't have to reach too deep for this,
and I am sorry for that.  I did not know this
type of life until I married for the first time,
and then...I wasn't a child.

Your title was hanky alert enough, Richard,
and I do wish I could comfort that ache away.

But all I can do is

passing shadows
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since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577
displaced
6 posted 2004-11-24 06:41 PM



RSWells
Member Elite
since 2001-06-17
Posts 2533

7 posted 2004-11-24 06:52 PM


Thank you all. I didn't intend to write anything today but after hearing that song it poured out (along with sobbing the length of a mile long coal train with diggin's from deep down and where that wind came from I'll never know) The courage was in posting it.
Janet Marie
Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554

8 posted 2004-11-24 07:29 PM


As soon as the boys’ fist matched the size
of his heart he broke through the dark clouds

and it was never spoken of again.

But it still rains Mama, it rains

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll have no words to define all that verse stirs ...  


In your reply you mentioned courage....


night school advanced to the boy leaping on
a hairy back and the bull ride in drunken air,

red badge awards for your rodeo clown-hero.



by your own words....its always been there.

heart-hugs...to both...
the man and the little boy who still lives inside ...

Zinsser
Senior Member
since 2001-02-27
Posts 1641
Calif.
9 posted 2004-11-24 07:37 PM


Bravo......

very well done

Janet Marie
Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554

10 posted 2004-11-24 07:51 PM


"I have given, I have given and got none
Still I'm driven by something I can't explain
It's not a cross, it is a choice
I cannot help but hear his voice
I only wish that I could listen without shame

Let it rain, let it rain on me
Let it rain, oh let it rain
Let it rain on me

It isn't easy to be kind
With all these demons in my mind
I only hope one day I'll be free

I do my best not to complain
My face is dirty from the strain
I only hope one day I'll come clean

Let it rain, oh let it rain
Let it rain on me"



Amanda Marshall
Let It Rain
written by Kristen Hall

Mysteria
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Member Laureate
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada
11 posted 2004-11-24 10:07 PM


"Who is safe from the dark?"

No one, for our demons seem forever present to haunt us.  I could say so much, but I know you know what I would say.  This is all part of what made you who you are, a gentle man Richard, a very, gentle man.

stevebrklynnyc
Member
since 2004-01-04
Posts 292
GA, Camden
12 posted 2004-11-25 09:08 AM


All I can say is wow!  I dont know if I could or would ever have the courage to post something like this.  Your writing is very  contagious and I hope to be half as good as you someday.  Thanks for the read.  Steve.      
Enchantress
Member Empyrean
since 2001-08-14
Posts 35113
Canada eh.
13 posted 2004-11-25 01:17 PM


Heart hugs to you Richard for writing and posting this.
Warm hugs also to the little boy locked away inside of you.
You do have courage sir.

*Alli4000*
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Member Elite
since 2004-03-21
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The World of Poetry
14 posted 2004-11-25 01:19 PM


  

~Alli~


*:.AIM = Alli4000.:*   My Journal
Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened...

Seymour Tabin
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since 1999-07-07
Posts 31720
Tamarac Fla
15 posted 2004-11-25 01:25 PM


RSWells
I think that JM said it best. Well done.

latearrival
Member Ascendant
since 2003-03-21
Posts 5499
Florida
16 posted 2004-11-25 02:51 PM


RSWells: What passion! My heart pounds to read this, as you suggested, with the music you choose, heart rendering.  So sorry  for the hurt.. so thankful for the sharing. marty
ThisDiamond
Member Rara Avis
since 2002-02-22
Posts 9353
Michigan, USA
17 posted 2004-11-25 03:01 PM


The holidays speak magic to the heart here...and the dredge of reality is often not soft.  You did good.
Have a happy and healing holiday.
TD

Susan Caldwell
Member Rara Avis
since 2002-12-27
Posts 8348
Florida
18 posted 2004-11-25 06:59 PM




It rains over here sometimes too.

Somewhere it's always raining.

May we learn to embrace the cleansing.

"cast me gently into the morning, for the night has been unkind"
~Sarah McLachlan~

Marge Tindal
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Florida's Foreverly Shores
19 posted 2004-11-26 10:38 AM


Richard~
I read you and I weep through this poignant penning~

Remarkable ... just remarkable~
*Huglets*
~*Marge*~

~*When the heart grieves over what it has lost,
the spirit rejoices over what it has left.
- Sufi epigram <))><

Email noles1@totcon.com

inkedgoddess
Member Rara Avis
since 2002-11-19
Posts 7392
Ohio
20 posted 2004-11-26 11:37 PM


are you on the lam or something?
within its complexities, the poem rises

RSWells
Member Elite
since 2001-06-17
Posts 2533

21 posted 2004-11-26 11:45 PM


To all those kind folks who commented since my last thank you, Thank you. Such support from folks I'll probably never meet is encouraging.

latearrival, welcome to PIPs
stevebrklynnyc, high praise indeed.
Janet Marie, it's very good to see you reading me again.
inkedgodess, you must be referring to my double picture change. Well you said you didn't like the other one (and I didn't really either)

VAS
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-11-16
Posts 7450
Oregon
22 posted 2004-11-27 01:36 AM


Powerfully poignant, painfully real and those last four lines nearly knocked me over, especially the punch of the last one as it rips as the heart.

Whether on the shoal or on the shore,
I'll seek the lighthouse evermore.

latearrival
Member Ascendant
since 2003-03-21
Posts 5499
Florida
23 posted 2004-11-27 02:29 AM


Thank you for the welcome. marty
ice
Member Elite
since 2003-05-17
Posts 3404
Pennsylvania
24 posted 2004-11-27 06:03 AM


World class poetry...Bravo!
__________ice
   ><>

suthern
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Member Seraphic
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723
Louisiana
25 posted 2004-11-28 08:39 AM


I know this isn't fiction... but how I wish it was... how I wish such situations existed only in imagination... This goes straight to the heart.
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