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Open Poetry #46
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Amaryllis
Senior Member
since 2010-05-20
Posts 1306
Mi now

0 posted 2010-08-15 03:27 AM


Driving along the interstate
so many years
and realizations ago
before life`s roulette wheel
bounced me spinning
to the western shoulder of America
I recall an overpass
blazoned with the words
`Shaney I love you!`
in lurid crimson
against the old concrete
as I flashed beneath
and wondered at that..
at the force of love
in any human breast
which had not laid it`s
magnetic hand yet
upon my own..
what was this power,
enough to bring it to this
who was he
and what of the need
to honor his girl
this way
not content with
cards or roses
perhaps he could not afford these
yet could afford
to dangle by his toes
upside down above
the roaring death below
to mark this earth
with his heart, his art
a talent for writing inverse
exhilerant, triumphant
and did he lift the paint
from the local hardware
steal through the aisles
slick as a tomcat
to find just the perfect shade
of passion`s cinnamon,
for once the risk so worth it
not money, gold or electronica
but paint today
for his most important task?
And it has stayed with me
upon my concrete heart,
where nicks and cracks
disclose the years so well..
fading now but always there
to tell it`s  story.
.
.
.*edit:  Of course I do not truly like, condone or uphold graffiti in actuality.. it is defacement.. just was attempting to speak of a snapshot in time and the epiphanies they may bring..  

© Copyright 2010 Amaryllis - All Rights Reserved
Margherita
Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236
Eternity
1 posted 2010-08-15 04:56 AM


Dear Amaryllis, your thoughts so beautifully rendered in this captivating poem make us all feel a little bit less guilty for having written or engraved the intensity of our feelings for another at some time in our lives. Graffiti in itself is even considered an art now, but of course the scribbles upon monuments are intolerable...

As always you offer depth and beauty to your readers, dear Amaryllis.

Great work.

Love,
Margherita

Cpat Hair
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Patricius
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793

2 posted 2010-08-15 06:42 AM


I suppose that for the poets here, the markings we leave are much like that young man you write of.. granted not on overpass or even always about the love of another, but... for reasons so important to us that the right shades of color are found in words or phrase..painted while we hang upside down in the world at times.

I love this piece poet, but I suppose too one could expect the conversational and introspective style to appeal to me Truth is not everyone can pull it off and still have the poetic or the depths. You have both here..
and I truly enjoyed the memory...


Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California
3 posted 2010-08-15 11:25 PM


You're on a roll, Amaryllis. Some really good poems from you lately.
                               Ida

Amaryllis
Senior Member
since 2010-05-20
Posts 1306
Mi now
4 posted 2010-08-16 12:16 PM


Thank you, Margherita, Cpat and Ida.. you are too kind!  
~Amaryllis

Richy
Member Elite
since 2003-05-03
Posts 3050

5 posted 2010-08-16 04:43 AM



Graffiti has always been here and always will. A declaration of love like that, on some lonely overpass just doesn't bother me in the least.

That's how this all started, with some graffiti, or pictures, of life and animals inside some caves.

That's when we realized how important it was to share our thoughts, permanently with others.

Just like your's here, with us.

Beautiful my friend.
Richard xx

bel1e
Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631

6 posted 2010-08-16 07:16 AM


oooo~ I love this...it's endearing...and I will have to admit...growing up on NY's upper west side...tagging up the wall or subway car was almost like a rite of passage [sheepish grin]~*~*

         

Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA
7 posted 2010-08-16 07:55 AM


Ah, Amaryllis...

Reading you is like reading a Norman Rockwell painting. You present snippets of life in such an uncluttered and fresh style they tug at the heartstrings and memories of anyone who reads. I find myself in awe at some of the descriptive phrasing you use..

before life`s roulette wheel
bounced me spinning
to the western shoulder of America

Does it get any better than that? I don't think so. For those who complain there is nothing to write about, you show that there always is. I have become an avid fan of yours

Amaryllis
Senior Member
since 2010-05-20
Posts 1306
Mi now
8 posted 2010-08-16 10:19 AM


Thank you, Richy.. I suppose I sounded like a bit of a stodge  maybe.. truly many of the grffiti artworks are gorgeous and even obviously talented.. I romanticized it a little  here in this piece, at any rate  
Thank you for your kind words and support!  
.
Bel1e, thank you also! Goes to show the messages to the public do get noticed, as intended.. I wonder if Shaney ever saw it, and if she knows there is now a poem about it.. heh!  This statement was in such a particularly dangerous place.. yet he chose his heart to write, instead of profanity.. I was touched.
Thanks for your comments and support  
.
Thank you, Balladeer, for stopping by, and for your kind comment of my scribble-scratch.. it sure means a lot to me!  Great to `see` you again here on poetry #46!  
Best to all..  Amaryllis

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