It's not that I have nothing to say; it's that by the time I have a chance to say it, it's gone again.
Moon asked, and although my work is of a much rougher/lesser caliber than what I've seen of his and others here, why not share anyway? My work tends toward trite; it's an ongoing battle. :-p
Down in the valley
Of the fog-shrouded mountains
I wandered lonely as Wordsworth’s cloud
As if the valley had called me out
While the rest of the world lay sleeping
The face of time boldly returns my searching gaze
Gentle mockery as yet benign
Will not remain forever so, but
Somehow, even this,
The touch of something I do not yet know
Brings comfort to a restless heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(this one's unfinished)
How did you exist
On the tiniest specks of love
That slipped through the cracks
In every broken dawn?
Midnight tugs me forward
Relentless tide of my soul
And I find myself on the doorstep of a dream,
One which nightmare’s butler answers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hidden Song”: an alba
Night drops notes of quiet perfection
Music composed in crystal starlight shining
Lips, arms dance at heart’s direction
Silver moon over glad-broken long-pining
Sweet kiss of dusk on ripe fruit lingers
Swaying gently in wanton breeze
Just in reach of thirsting fingers
Yearning limbs trembling to please
Burn the hours in the night
Go down in flames, love’s bright light
Get up, get up all too soon
Bid farewell to the fading moon
Songs of passion with dawn interred
No wrath of daylight dark incurred.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“To Ben Johnson and His Admirers”: an elegy (written Jan. '04; I miscarried in Dec. '03)
Curse that Ben Johnson, ungrateful beast
Given seven years – six months the least
Never will I hear my child’s tiny cry
Or lift my voice in sweet lullaby.
And yet you wonder why I still grieve
Having less to lose, ten weeks conceived?
More, say I, I lost than thee
Thou who sat thy son upon thy knee
You held your daughter, safe and warm
I rock cold womb and empty arms.
But love is strong and will not falter
The hand of mercy will grace faith’s altar
And barren forever I’ll not remain
All that is lost, in joy regained.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Rowing”
As into troubled sleep I fall
I answer to the beck and call
Of restless dreams, storms that blow
Their sandman mists to and fro.
In the illuminating darkness, now I see
The illusion of truth revealed to me
By everything that came before
And everything that is no more
The promise of things yet to be
No longer chained to reality
A waking dream, a dreaming wake
With every breath the dreamer takes
Time flows at the mercy of the id
There where deepest desires are hid
And inner wishes slumber deep
As I lie there, fast asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm rather fond of the sestina, but I won't bore you with any of mine, as they're rather long. It's one thing to read a few short, bad poems and quite another to slog through longer ones. Yuck.
the_infernal_optimist posted on Sep 26, 2007
| views: 188
Comments
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Mamie said on Sep 26, 2007....
these are FABULOUS!! ///sweet, true and gentle....thanks so much. Your last footnote cracked me up. "Yuck."You are so funny!! Keep writing!! xo, Mamie -
wombat said on Sep 26, 2007....
In the illuminating darkness, now I seeThe illusion of truth revealed to me...Touches me where I live...Good work... I like this! -
moonriver said on Sep 27, 2007....
infernal -- i'm so thrilled that you finally opened up your precious hoard, my friend, and i like what i've read so far. i particularly like "hidden valley" -- the sense of seeking something that you still don't know ("Somehow, even this, /The touch of something I do not yet know / Brings comfort to a restless heart.") and also "hidden song"... ;-)
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silverwhisper said on Sep 27, 2007....
i particularly liked the first one where you explicitly invoked wordsworth's poem! :D
ed -
the_infernal_optimist said on Sep 27, 2007....
Mamie: Always glad to share a grin. :-D
wombie: Thank you - it's always nice to feel that someone can relate. :)
moon: I'll confess that those are my favorites of these few as well. You'll probably see more in time, though I think I'll draft these posts after a while - not exactly something I want to get featured and wind up in people's email inboxes.
ed: After I wrote that, years ago, I looked at that line and thought, "Can I do that?? Well, I just did!"
~Infernal
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GypsyRoseII said on Oct 16, 2007....
i loved "hidden song"what a beautiful poem....Very good Wandering...xoxo,GR -
the_infernal_optimist said on Oct 16, 2007....
Thank you, Gypsy. :)
~Infernal
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