Dragged Down, Reaching Up
Grieving.
Grieving.
It's a thing I do.
Making me homesick,
maybe clouds or birds ...
All transformations are delicate.
We find exactly what suits us.
The truth is in the heart,
which has its own activity.
Does the knife go in slant?
Is it everywhere the same?
The mountains are individual....
Belonging, of course they know….
It's not as if there are fixed answers.
I am always crying Yes!
Yet I don't recognise when it comes,
arriving immediately.
I've always looked to the sky,
seeking instruments of balance.
There has been enough time.
We shall mend. And not forget.
Linked to Poets United's Midweek Motif ~ "a bundle of contradictions"
Yes I know, not as clear and direct as my usual style. I just had some pieces published in a lit. mag. which the editor describes as avant-garde. ('What am I doing there?' I think – but also very thrilled to be included.) This piece is inspired by, and a response to, some other content. I hope it can stand alone. Written over the last couple of days, it seems to fit this Midweek Motif prompt.
Oh this is so wonderful to read. Love the title, resonate with every line. Stoic all my life through harsh times, i am a fountain of grief in old age.
ReplyDeleteRosemary, it's beautiful and sad, at the same time. As we honour the amazing talent of Anne Frank and the post-humoriously published dairy of her.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the publishing of your poems.
"We find exactly what suits us." Do we? Maybe in grief, homesickness or transformation--but surely not in all three!
ReplyDeleteAs I read and reread, I felt like I was in the wiggles of my own racing mind, and that last line is hope enough.
"I've always looked to the sky, / seeking instruments of balance.".....The lines are prayerful and make a good backdrop, a repository for the heartbreaking feelings. A beautiful poem Rosemary. I can so relate.
ReplyDelete"Does the knife go in slant?
ReplyDeleteIs it everywhere the same?"
Grief has its set of universal questions.
A Sad haunting poem
Thanks for dropping by my blog Rosdmary
Much💟love
Oh Rosemary this is so poignant.. so raw and honest! I love: "I ve always looked to the sky, seeking instruments of balance." 💞
ReplyDeleteDoes the knife go in slant?
ReplyDeleteIs it everywhere the same?... love that!
Congrats on the published poems.. do post the link to them!
Oh, Rajani, it's a paper mag, available only in Australia. But I was given a spare copy, and the only poet friends I know who would be interested in the avant-garde content are already in it. But I think you would find it interesting. Email me your postal address and I'll be happy to send it to you. (I did manage to get a small coffee stain on the cover, sorry.)
DeletePS The stain on my own copy is even bigger! Knocked my cup over while looking at them when they arrived.
DeleteI am thinking it is everywhere the same. It does come in an instant, it can overcome us. I enjoyed this poem...for I have known grief. I carry it every day, and I will not forget.
ReplyDeleteOh, my!
ReplyDelete“I've always looked to the sky,
seeking instruments of balance.”
The infinite human ability to look heavenward for answers. I believe I t’s what has kept us alive all these millennia. Not sure keeping our eyes on the money (literally) or some flickering screen that keeps spoonfeeding us would do the same...
I feel this poem, Rosemary, and I love the way you link grief and homesickness through clouds and birds. I also love:
ReplyDelete'The mountains are individual...'
and
'I've always looked to the sky,
seeking instruments of balance'.
Grief and suffering seem to be the lot of some no matter how hard they try to think positive and shake it. Misfortune has her favourites..It doesn't matter which way the knife goes in, slant, back, front, whatever...the purpose is the same.
ReplyDeleteExcellent piece - I really enjoyed, and was struck, by these lines: I've always looked to the sky,
ReplyDeleteseeking instruments of balance.
What an image.
How wonderful to look to the sky for balance. I love this poem
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your recognized Avant-garde-ness.