No hesitation
or junkie-shaking what-the-
fucking exigent begging
for absolution
gonna change this life’s atrocity;
nothing can do that.
It’s atrocious.
In a moment
I thought I lost you
and all the bullshit melted away
like a wax figure in a brick oven,
rendered insubstantial,
as meaningless as dust
in the desert.
We can spend all our days
searching for rainbows,
wishing for the power to fly
beyond the muck
of humanity,
or we can thank the sky for being blue
and focus on one another.
All I know is,
the prospect of your absence
spurred a tectonic shift,
the resulting tidal wave
washed me clean of what came before,
and I am purely yours.
No reservations.
Susan challenged the Real Toads to write about an event that answers the question, "What is love?"
This reads like a personal journey, a mind-opening revelation about how close we come to losing someone whose very existence is essential to our own. I love the positive message that underlies the piece: pride, selfishness and ego have nothing to do with what love really is.
ReplyDeleteOwWOOOOO!!! This is THE learning event to end all hesitation and bull . . . Your second stanza--its assertion and analogies--rocked my foundation too.
ReplyDeleteAll the forces of nature took part by the end of the poem. Thank you!
I should mention, too, because of your close attention to the challenge I gave, that the link between your first and last line in this poem, with the experience in between, is beautifully prepared and moving.
Deletewell also, i didn't link to it because the previous poem is just horrible, but parts of the first stanza are from an old poem i wrote, the parts that i liked and wanted to re-purpose, which was also something i think you are getting at with your first/last line thing.
Deleteright, everything else is just not important. thank you, Kerry and Susan!
ReplyDeletei was wondering if the elements and stuff was too haphazard and not so effective. deserts, tidal waves, ovens. but i guess it feels that big.
"We can spend all our days
ReplyDeletesearching for rainbows
...
...
or we can thank the sky for being blue
and focus on one another."
WOW. Sharp write, Marian.
hey, thanks. i already wrote a poem about thanking the sky for being blue, but here it is again. :)
DeleteLove this Marian, specially the last stanza ~ Happy Hearts Day ~
ReplyDeleteThis is powerful and moving....I loved how you summed it up in the last stanza. There is so much bullshit in life that is is beautiful when someone/something steps beyond it.
ReplyDeleteWonderful write, kiddo. Love the "tectonic shift"..........
ReplyDeleteDamn, Marian. Surely almost everyone knows this feeling, but I've never seen it expressed so well, both poetically and for emotional charge. It's so true; a person can be mad at someone they love, ready to wring their neck over some day to day thing, but let that person start to pack, or step out in front of a car, and that's just gone. All that remains is, I love you, stay.
ReplyDeleteReally really top drawer stuff.
Powerful verses and I love the honesty in this poem. "I am purely yours. No reservations" Terrific ending!!
ReplyDeletethis poem has a fitting desperation to it. i also appreciate the concrete peaks and troughs. "no hesitation...no reservations," love indeed.
ReplyDeleteI think thanking the sky for being blue and looking at one another is a wonderful way to spend a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteIn your (capable) hands the truth is that LOVE never sounded so sweet.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY xo
An anthem of a poem!!! May I add a WOW?
ReplyDeleteThat is a powerfully felt love!
ReplyDeleteNo better way to be devoted. Purely. Completely. Unabashedly. Atta girl.
ReplyDeleteWow, this felt like a tidal wave washing everything clean...
ReplyDeletewow, powerful write!
Oh, Marian...purely overcoming with emotion...swells like the tsunami...great writing,indeed!
ReplyDeleteoh sigh, thanks, everyone. love, love. all you need is?
ReplyDelete