Triptych
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By Kilb50
- 2236 reads
1.
We live among shadows
the colour of despair.
They inhabit a past
abandoned too soon.
A cold-hearted playground -
we were taken there
to explore uncertain secrets
beneath a waning moon.
The moon glistened
like a brooch of regret
a trinket, pinned tight against
an old coat's wide lapel –
the kind my great aunt wore
as she walked these city streets,
adhering to the invisible wealth
of God, church, heaven, hell
and other superstitions
recited on days of prayer
to the dull refrain of
a cracked Roman bell.
2.
We cleared her house
of memory – its crucifix,
brass, altar-crystal - filled
a crate or three with the stuff.
The sideboard that stood
beneath a picture of her saviour
(healing the blind, prostrate in Jericho)
we struggled to move it.
It was as if she had taken
its form, eager to remain
refusing to vacate, her
spirit frightened before
the eyes of the Lord. It made
me sad. All that was in her,
would it now infect me ?
The long years ahead,
an unwieldly sea.
The disbelieving nomad
within spat three times
at the thought.
3.
To dream is to live.
To live is to swim
in a river of dreams.
I caught a train and made
my escape beyond
the city’s boundaries,
beyond the streams
and hedges of countryside,
beyond the disjointed
shape of my life.
Flight cleanses the soul;
emptiness is encouragement
when faith intervenes.
And faith arrived
in its most natural form.
It spoke the language
of thunder and rain.
The churning clouds
turned blue and black.
The north wind shook me
until I lay in bewilderment
at what I had become.
The rock face became
my confessor.
Water became my crystal.
Earth became my altar.
The lizards and birds
and life-pulse of all things
rooted me like my
great aunt’s sideboard
to where I wanted to be.
And when the sun broke
cover, illuminating
the world in a clearer
light, all my fears
were left undone.
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Comments
Interesting to put the three
Interesting to put the three pictures.
So-limited symbols of 'faith' can just distract and irritate.
Peace to be alone in creation can clear the mind to realise and think of the unkown realiites, and its Source and Maker;
But we do need the even clearer truth he spoke, and in his Word. Rhiannon
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alter or altar, all of
alter or altar, all of humanity is in flux.
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Juxtaposition
of attachment and imbued meaning in cherished "stuff" and that of personal freedom in that which is free of ritual meaning nicely done.
"It was as if she had taken
its form, eager to remain
refusing to vacate, her
spirit frightened before
the eyes of the Lord. It made
me sad. All that was in her,
would it now infect me ?"
Best as always
Lena x
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I will need to read this
I will need to read this again. But it struck lots of chords with me. As a child, remember my Dad inheriting a HUGE sideboard from his Aunt. It needed six strong people to bring into the house and was such dark oak. I felt it didn't want to be in our house, that we were too frivolous. It was the kind of thing you would never ever consider hiding in. Though Dad kept his vast and varied collection of potent brews from around the world in the top, and glasses in a part of the bottom, it was always half empty and I felt it was because of emanating disapproval that it never got full up with stuff like the rest of the house.
You struggle with religion resonated with me, too. I loved the lines "cold-hearted playground / we were taken there" which reminded me so strongly of early school, but guessing refers to either religion or the home of your aunt?
"We cleared her house / of memory" I liked this very much, too
"emptiness is encouragement" which made me think both of the God shaped hole, but also of ground waiting for a seed to fall. And also about decluttering! We inherit stuff, guilt and fear that we carry like sideboards
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Read this a few times and
Read this a few times and enjoyed it more with each reading. This is really well done -- for some reason, it reminded me of Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev.
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Haha! Alas, no trace of The
Haha! Alas, no trace of The Smiths. Meat is Murder has always been my fave album.
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Cpngrats -- this is our Pick
Cpngrats -- this is our Pick of the Day -- please do share on Facebook, Twitter et al.
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oh this is very good - I'm
oh this is very good - I'm going to have to come back to it on a less fraught day (phone just died) and reread. Very well deserved golden cherries and comments too - I love the metaphor of the sideboard too and might nick it for our Inspiration Point - it's brilliant! Thank you for posting this
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This is our Poem of the Week
This is our Poem of the Week - congratulations!
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fantastic*
Carried me in words & vision like a traveler through all 3 parts*
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