I believe in winds and
words, and the wild
contractions that come
of confusing them
I believe in
reaching
reaching
reaching
until the bone of
desire breaks farther
I believe in double-jointed
lips, a mouth of hips
and muscles bedding
bruises in memory
I believe in falling
for rising and the
sloughing of self for
a skin of becoming
I believe in
I believe
I
22 comments:
I can so relate to this one. I love the lines
believe in falling
for rising and the
sloughing of self for
a skin of becoming
Well said
Linda
I believe that this ranks in the top 1 of all the winding use of words that should make absolutely no sense when coupled together but make perfect sense because of their presentation...you are stunning Sarah!
I believe I should slink off somewhere to lick my wounds! You are an incredible poet! When I want to see how it's done, here I come.
"until the bone of
desire breaks farther"
"for rising and the
sloughing of self for
a skin of becoming"
These lines are amazingly beautiful. Bravo!
My goodness gracious me! Your wind and word confusion is my absolute pleasure Sarah. 'A mouth of hips and muscles bedding bruises in memory' That sounds painfully exciting!
This poem makes me think of breathing. Combined with the image, it is like a woman breathing, meditating, and coming to terms with herself.
Excellent Sarah.
You believe in beautiful things.
Great poetry, Sarah. Free verse at its best. I can see fingers curling around the knife-handle shape of the words and plunging the blade deep.
This is fabulous! So many wonderful gatherings of words! And I love, love, love the ending!
I'm suddenly feeling very boring and static. Perhaps I need to believe...the sloughing of self for a skin of becoming hit hard in my heart.
Thanks for inspiring thoughts and feelings as only a great poet can do!
Beautiful... that opening line just killed me... great work.
Gorgeous! At once airy and breathless, and then deep and purposeful. Just beautiful. Thanks for sharing it with us!
Linda, thank you for coming by, and for finding some kind of personal truth in this jumble of words. :) I hope to see you again!
Walking Man, yes--collecting sense from nonsense. This kind of fractured approach might be a more genuine reflection of my thoughts than some of my more laborious efforts. Thank you for the warm words, my friend.
Karen, thanks for pointing out those lines--I will admit to feeling in the zone a bit with this one.
But, ahem, I think you're doing pretty incredibly yourself. I'm so glad you've taken the plunge! :)
Cat, I wasn't sure of my intention here, except that I wanted to both shed the self and burrow deeper within. A kind of purposeful contradiction, I know. That's why I left the ambiguity at the end--it can be looked at as the pinnacle of self-absorption, or the ripping away.
Thank you, as always, for the kind words. :)
Jason, that's actually a pretty apt visual analogy. I think the winter cageyness was getting to me last night. ;) Still, this was a great release.
Thank you. :)
Aine, sometimes we want to slough that self, or at least become more, but the time and circumstances make it difficult. As long as that desire is there, it will find a breakthrough.
I think we need a winter break together, though. :)
Bob, I'm glad that first line gripped you in its teeth. :) Thanks for letting me know.
Jennifer, thank you for reading, and for swimming in those currents. :) I appreciate your kind words.
Sarah - what a perfect poem to go with Picasso. You penned with words, what he brushed with paint.
This is definitely one of my favorites.
"I believe in double-jointed
lips, a mouth of hips
and muscles bedding
bruises in memory"
Great rhythm and line breaks give this piece buoyancy. :)
K, this painting might be my favorite Picasso. It's called "The Dream." We have a print of it in our house.
Any comparisons to Picasso work for me! ;) I'm flattered--thank you, K. :)
Wonderful! I just read this to my wife and she seconds my opinion. Extraordinary poet you are.
David, thanks to you and your wife! :) I'm touched that you felt the urge to read it aloud.
Sarah, I like the way you summed up the whole poem by the last three words, to bring the reader back to your center of gravity..
Excellent!
I'm a first time lurking about your blog, very nice...
Sarah, I am bestowing upon you The Lemonade Award. Please come by my site to pick it up!
George, I love the way you phrased that--my "center of gravity." A very apt description.
Thanks so much for stopping by, and checking things out! I hope you visit again. :)
Cat, thanks again! That was a little bit of sweet in a somewhat sour day. :p I appreciate your thinking of me!
I've been away for too long and now I have so many letters to catch up on and it seems Patrick has taken a turn for the worse!
Sarah, I want to give you the Lemonade Award for your wonderful writing and presence here online... you can find out about it over on my blog... thank you for sharing your work with us all.
Sheri, there's plenty of time to catch up. ;) I've been reading your blog on bloglines, and know you busy you've been!! I'm sorry January's been such a grind for you, and here's hoping February will be much brighter. And slooooower. :)
Bob, I went over and saw that! Thank you!! I'm honored that you found something to like here, and appreciate the gesture. :) And I look forward to stopping by your blog more frequently in the future!
Thanks Sarah! I can use all the well wishes for a slower Feb! At least a more controllable Feb!
So very wonderfully written!!!
I am so cursing myself for my absence lately...
Almost each word of the poem has been praised already... But it really hit me hard when I was reaching with each iteration of the word "I believe in
reaching
reaching
reaching"...
This the first time I felt this way after reading "The Highwayman came riding riding riding..."
which is one of the all time favorites!!!
Oh... am sure I could survive the songs of the sirens... but your words... they always capture me!
Sheri, it must get better, right? Right?? :) You have all my well wishes, and then some. I'm sorry it's been so rough on you.
Aniket, your comments always make me smile!! :) Those sirens always captured my imagination, too.
I just read The Highwayman the other day, when Jason re-posted his Under the Willows poem. It's an awe-inspiring work, and any comparison to its haunting beauty has me feeling very humbled. Thank you, my friend, for your very generous words and spirit. :)
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