Sunday, January 24, 2016

January 24, 2016 The Sunday Whirl/ The End of the World -- Poets United Poets Pantry -- Sunday's Whirligig/No Time For Laughter

The End of the World

the heavy anchor                no longer set                                i am adrift

hours pass                           i walk on a plain                  of patchwork marshes

red wing black birds       grasp the shafts of reeds         gently sway in the breeze

the sun shines to light the world      it is summer           clicking sounds of insects

i return to this place            & return again                     when first i came

there were abandoned barns along the path                     no other humans in sight

a lonely place             the end of the world                       i can go no further

there is no further              you wait for me                               at “home”

like dorothy           i have forgotten the name of the place         where i belong

lost my way                ahead i see the barns                    silhouetted against the sky

large made of heavy logs             landmarks           i must be on the right path

 this time there are people       sitting outside                 unfamiliar faces

 leisurely smoking                                        or sitting at tables laden with food

i see them move their mouths     as if to speak         i do not understand their words

i enter a barn            there are colorful pictures                   in the windows

stained glass                 gargoyles everywhere                   i have seen them before

familiar                                         ancient                                     old

i am instructed to take the path        to the left                           there is a town

i follow the path up a hill                              at first there are only a few structures

then there are many          a town with a name unknown to me      hard to pronounce

there is a bus station        on the list are three towns with names          unknown to me

carefully chalked on the board       i have money              i could buy a ticket

i do not know where i want to go          by what name it is called       i cannot tell them

i cannot speak                it is always a risk                              to follow a path unknown
                             
you may also find yourself         at a place unknown                         the end of the world

January 24, 2016

_______________________________________________________________________

No Time for Laughter

hush                                 the mother whispers to her baby                    looks away

she has already witnessed too much      the world before her           is a disappearing act

she simply closes her eyes           her body begins to sway                 she hums softly

the wind like guilty fingers                   lifts her hair        her life has become a time of woe

she praises those who don't seem to notice                   the ground beneath her feet mossy

she is fierce in her determination          the moonlight glints off the ring she wears on her finger

there is much sorrow              about the history she knows              the future she doesn't

January 21, 2016






















10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Both of these demand the reader's attention and for different reasons. The first reads like a dream experience, while the second one is all too real and knowable. The first one reaches outward to possibilities and choices, while the second is a moment to moment struggle for survival.

Elizabeth

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Two powerful poems, Annell. The first one especially resonates, not knowing which ticket to buy. I love the field of marshes and the red winged blackbirds.

said...

This makes my ears very happy.

I especially love these sections:

"i walk on a plain of patchwork marshes / red wing black birds / grasp the shafts of reeds"

"she praises those who don't seem to notice"

brudberg said...

I find the first one touching... partly frightening and partly a wishful dream to me... Love the thought of finding a world so familiar yet distorted like looking through a kaleidoscope... thank your for the trip.

C.C. said...

I love this line: "like dorothy i have forgotten the name of the place where i belong"

Very clever and emotive.

Donna@LivingFromHappiness said...

Both poems are wonderful...such fantastic descriptions in the first. Like a dream when I cannot speak or move....not knowing where I am. Life can be like this sometimes...and the reward when we take a chance...

' it is always a risk to follow a path unknown

you may also find yourself'


loved, loved, loved this line!

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Loved both the poems very powerful & evocative.

Nicholas said...

Very thought-provoking visualizations/dreams/thoughts. I felt that it reflected my own visions of the end of the world. good to ponder on.

Jae Rose said...

Two powerful poems which stand at the edge of the world - majestically..with honour .. i have forgotten the name of the place where i belong.. yes i understand that xo

Old Egg said...

These two are almost too much to absorb in one reading. 'The End of the World' is a nightmare where lost powerless and speechless you come to the end whereas with 'No time for laughter' I pictured a refugee woman escaping from horror and loss given the chance to start life again with her child which is so pertinent today. Strong and pertinent writing.

Not Just A Cup

  Not Just a Cup       Southern born Not a tea drinker Always coffee For me   Although I often find  Bitter taste Of the dark brew A bit muc...