Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Weathered Wing

Empyrean and earthy,
along morning's earliest peak
The water, steadily, falling
The only way I would find her,
in trance, listening to an early bird calling

She lived her nights in a hallowed out tree,
feasting on bugs, feathers, and feet

Today, she offered me a different treat,
a handful of berries:
sugar pear, saskatoons, elder, globular in shape
They were sweet and smelled of September sun

I wanted to tell her how beautiful she had become,
but her skin had started falling off,
revealing brushed flesh and swollen vessels

I rubbed my fingers along her back,
her spine ached and curled underneath her gown,
as old as the decades that had long passed

She coughed and hissed,
spraying out a mirage of seeds and blood

My time with her was short now,
as Earth searched for its coldest hour,
beckoning frigide seasons filled with powder,
swallowing her breath,
stale and sour

And on the darkest hour,
when Anubis comes back to wash away all that is fertile,
the soles of her feet, I'd watch
sink into bearing soil

Her arms, reaching out
holding on, as the rest of her flesh,
ripe and bittersweet,
would silently fall

And Earth,
closing its mouth, once again,
on all that has lived
long enough

For the celebration over at dVerse Poets on Open Link Night. Congratulations on the year, glad I've found you guys! Cheers!

18 comments:

  1. Like the beautiful butterfly, it lives long enough to share its beauty!

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    1. Yes, and for us to hold onto what is left thereafter. Thank you for your visit!

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  2. dang....visceral imagery in this with her decay...and from her once more maybe life...death into life, life into death...smiles...

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    1. I like that death is placed before life...In my culture we put a cup of rice next to the departed-the image that forms in the cup defines the form that they will take in the next life, 'once more maybe life'. Smiles.

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  3. "She lived her nights in a hallowed out tree" ... Sounds lovely.

    "They were sweet and smelled of September sun" ... Gorgeous description.

    These are more of my favorites:

    "I wanted to tell her how beautiful she had become,
    but her skin had started falling off"

    "as Earth searched for its coldest hour,
    beckoning frigide seasons filled with powder"

    "closing its mouth, once again,
    on all that has lived
    long enough"

    ~Shawna

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    1. Shawna, I'm happy to see you around. I'm glad that it was just time for a change. :)

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  4. The circle and cycle of life in vivid pictures. So sad to see death and yet, it is death which leads to knew life, isn't it.
    This is an amazing write. One of the best of yours I've read so far! Wonderful writing.

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    1. Thanks so much, Bren! There is so much healing in accepting the whole of nature. :)

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  5. yes such is the circle of life you have truly captured it all.

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    1. Yes, our own orbit inside of the larger one. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your holiday.

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  6. oh i just love how you write about death in your last stanza...that's the way to put it...

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  7. Wow how you beautifully described the passage from life to death ~ The fruits offering was specially lovely ~

    Great to see you at D'verse ~

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  8. It is strange that mankind is often unwilling to embrace the cycle of life that you so eloquently describe. We are good at thinking somehow we are in charge ignoring the fact that we are not, being only an irritant in its plan. You have captured its beauty in your wonderful words.

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    1. Thanks and you're right, the fulfillment of life is easily lost when we force ourselves to understand and control its plan. I can imagine how irritated the larger force must be. :)

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  9. We are all reduced to dust and ashes..and for some of us there is no reincarnation so we have to make the most of our short time here. Life is not a dress rehearsal so thy say:)

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    1. Wow, no reincarnation. Our understanding is so loose. I like the thought in both directions, equally forcing us to 'make the best of it'. I hope that we keep our spirit fertile. :)

      Thanks for this lovely comment!

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