In the woods of old poetry
I find lost moments of clarity,
fragments of unabashed emotion.
New lightfall on the thicket
obscures the darkness of self-destruction;
mitigates what only I remember.
Clean verse and clean hands:
meticulously sculpted stories
contain the broken nut of my shell.
Bristlecone-memory is a curse
and a companion. Its branches
scrape the shadows without compassion.
With compass and cutlass
I inch through the forest:
leaves whisper ugliness and truth in one breath.
Now I gust past rage to finger twigs of wit,
lilt through old poems like prayer:
barely spoken, barely there.
Prostrate in duff, I crack apart the pages,
cast each to the fire as a voice to the wind –
watch the flames finally have their way.
© 2009 Jade Leone Blackwater
* * * * *
Thanks to Anita Marie Moscoso for once again generously sharing her audience here at Anita’s Owl Creek Bridge. I always welcome constructive feedback on my writing. To learn more about my work, or to contact me via email, please visit me at Brainripples.
and the scary monster award goes to …. seriously, sometimes when I start a story I always feel like I’m heading into a dark place too.
But I do it on purpose
and you know what Jade? I think you do as well.
By: Anita Marie on February 11, 2009
at 5:12 am
Oooh…I like Jade’s poetry. I read it over and over until the words permeated my thick skull and marinated my grey matter. I likee lots!
By: Sally on February 11, 2009
at 10:30 am
Anita, it’s true, and that’s why I really appreciate you inviting me to share here at OCB – not everyone wants to read into the darker corners of the imagination, but it’s fun to share with those who do.
Sally, thank you for reading, it’s always good to hear when someone enjoys chewing on a chunk of my poetry.
By: JLB on February 11, 2009
at 8:47 pm
Love your poem, Jade. It has great depth and requires the reader/ listener think, and that is good.
Vi
By: woodnymph on February 12, 2009
at 6:32 pm
[...] to share my darker shades of poetry at the Owl Creek Bridge, which most recently includes my poem Dehiscent. In turn I invite you to join us there to read poetry and stories (such as my current favorite, [...]
By: Show and Tell Friday « Brainripples on February 14, 2009
at 5:50 am
Thanks Vi!
By: JLB on February 14, 2009
at 6:02 am
bristle-cone memory.
fab.
By: perrystrange on March 10, 2009
at 5:22 am