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Open Poetry #46
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Cpat Hair
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0 posted 2010-07-26 09:13 AM


As was written within the age of paper
Old bindings tear apart to be laced with leather thong
And carefully tied with knots that hold
The letters to page and page to the chapters
That follow each telling of how
Comes the weather and storm nests are blown
Then gathered on ends of fingers
To be probed for what lay within when
There was a family born and fed
Nurtured to grow and find their ways to fly

So legends come to be
In a fairy tale of nocturnal vowels spread open
To reveal the scalpel that lies inside of curves
And of how she severed her own wing
That she might not flee or fly
And became instead the filigree of sighs
Written with care in the dreams she shared
With no one

I opened the page to where she lay
Curled between hard consonants and the clots of words
Scarred upon the skin of shoulders
Bound by her own decree to the middle passages
A transition yet formed into an end
But far paragraphs from the once upon a time
That is where it all began

My eyes read soft upon the words
And found the poems written in her blood
Then let fingers trace slow the curves of her
Till I found the corners of her eyes and wiped
The residue of tears she had cried
At being tied to the cruelty of verbs whose barbs
Had pricked her nouns as the nib had crossed
The grain of paper

Her watermark the stains

Old stories remain upon the page
That no slight of fabled hand can refrain from turning
Once upon the sheaf as the vellum cracks with age
But she lays
In her solitude of dichotomy
Maimed
~

Dissect the tale
Leaving severed wing to lie
While words bleed upon the page and stain
What once was white within the age
When bindings did not crack
And the heart that once could fly
Did not shatter as glass

“What of hope and dreams?”

Scalpel care not who drains away
Specimens captured between lines may die
Or become the allegory for the why things went wrong
And we left the vowels behind to prick our tongues
Upon the sharp apex of consonants that were residue
As we tried to read within the verse
Our own desires

Ah such the curious we become when cruel
Is just a word that has no bounds
And does not roll from the lips or stick harsh
To the roof of mouth when it is spoken

Free
To destroy the fable
We wonder always why and how it flies
And think ill of such homely words as trust
And fair as might be used to see
Into such simple homily prepared in kind

“who cares, it is just a wing”


© Copyright 2010 Cpat Hair - All Rights Reserved
Eldest
Member
since 2010-06-15
Posts 177
Alabama
1 posted 2010-07-26 10:02 AM


If I understand, a tale of self-sacrifice not appreciated for what it was.  We are too often cruel without meaning to be because we do not take time to read between the lines.
latearrival
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since 2003-03-21
Posts 5499
Florida
2 posted 2010-07-26 10:22 AM


Not knowing what was meant,I took this  to have meaning to me for all mothers and fathers or other nuturing people who did the best they knew how and were never really appreciated or even known as a person. Like the  page in a newspaper obit written about a mother who sounded like your post and has always disturbed me; although I never knew or heard of this woman. All that family wrote after her death and had it printed in the news line: "She loved to cook and clean". DID they not know one thing about this person they called mother?  I bled for her and others all over the world like her. Thanks for this post,even if I have it wrong, it brought a lot of  meaning to me. latearrival  
Cpat Hair
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3 posted 2010-07-26 10:22 AM


Eldest...
Thanks for dropping in on my scribble here... I'd like to think this could be several things within the story..one as you write, a tale of self sacrifice perhaps under acknowledged.

appreciate the words...
thanks again!

Cpat Hair
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4 posted 2010-07-26 10:24 AM


latearrival..
  thanks for the eyes and patience to wade through the scribble...
yes, it is in part about that... certainly appreciate your words...

Alison
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5 posted 2010-07-26 11:02 AM


I love how you use words in this poem.  I just found myself swept along, reading almost silenly outloud. I savored each line, each word and will be back to read again this evening.

Thank you.
Alison

Cpat Hair
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6 posted 2010-07-26 11:12 AM


many thanks ma'am... the idea in part for most fo what I write is for it to "read itself" to whom ever might take the time to look in.... it's nice to hear this had something of that effect on you as you read..

thanks for the kind eyes and words ma'am, much appreciated

serenity blaze
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since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738

7 posted 2010-07-26 02:50 PM


Your poetry is always a head above the shoulders of the crowds, but I wanted to share this with you--
http://sivers.org/drama

Please note that it's not a commentary on poetry, or anything else, I just thought you might find it interesting.

Cpat Hair
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8 posted 2010-07-26 04:16 PM


Karen,
Interesting article for sure. Most poets or story tellers tell the original version
of Cinderella I think. I'm guilty...
my expectations however out of life...well those are different than what I write.

appreciate your link! Like I said, an interesting article. I also appreciate your kind words above.... certainly doubt how good anything I write is, but it was nice of you to say what you did.

serenity blaze
Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738

9 posted 2010-07-26 05:19 PM


I just want to assure you that I wasn't using the link as an editorial--I happen to love utilizing the fairy tales and symbolism of collective subconscious as well, as you might or might not recall.

I seem to recall that you and I shared a fascination with the psychology of why people like the stuff that they like...once upon a time.

*laughing*


Martie
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California
10 posted 2010-07-26 06:16 PM


“who cares, it is just a wing”

That last line really got to me.  There is so much in the underneath of things, that all that flitting about takes attention away from the very meaning of life.  On the other hand, to fly without a wing is hard enough, but for no one to care, very sad.

Enjoyed this poem and the thought that went into it, Ron.

katahdin
Senior Member
since 2010-07-01
Posts 1196
ME. In the Shadow of the Mt.
11 posted 2010-07-26 07:30 PM


All I can say is WOW! I loved that last line.
Kat >^..^<

Cpat Hair
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since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793

12 posted 2010-07-27 07:38 AM


Karen,
  You and I shared a lot of thoughts "once upon a time" (chuckling) and my disappearance from here and my prolonged absence was very unfair to a number of people with whom I had become friends. I gave little to no explanations, little to no reason and simply vanished for all intents and pruposes from this lovely place for my own selfish reasons. I'm sure that in some ways seemed hurtful...
I won't make excuses.
I'll say that I enjoyed sharing those things we did share and hope to stick around and share a lot more as time goes on.

thanks again for the words ma'am.... and for the link. I didn't take any of it as a commentary on what I wrote or how I wrote, but as a connected string of thought brought on by the poem.

Cpat Hair
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Posts 11793

13 posted 2010-07-27 07:41 AM


Martie...I agree, it is very sad...
was written to convey that sadness and to some degree the way we toss aside those things that are important and make or sacrifices knowing in some small way that we may destroy our own happiness or freedom by doing them.
Doesn't make it wrong to sacrifice, and in fact it can be a honorable and noble thing, if the reasons are right.

thank you for the eyes and thoughts...
they are greatly appreciated ma'am

Cpat Hair
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Member Patricius
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793

14 posted 2010-07-27 07:42 AM


katahdin

  thank you.... I am pleased there was something in this that you found worthy the time it takes to wade through my scribbles.


Kaoru
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where the wild flowers grow
15 posted 2010-07-27 11:04 AM


Geez Cap, this work is astoundingly beautiful.
Cpat Hair
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Member Patricius
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793

16 posted 2010-07-27 11:15 AM


well, well, well.....  look who it is...

and leaving such kind words for me...

Thank you, for such a kind review...

nice to see you

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