Friday, May 20, 2016

May 22, 2016 The Sunday Whirligig #60/ No Streetcar Can I Ride -- The Sunday Whirl Wordle #252/Emptiness -- Poets United Poets Pantry


Emptiness

the day ends         storm clouds gather on the horizon                all is quiet

except for an occasional thunder or flash of lightening              i have lost track

of when it last rained         the thirsty earth is waiting                as i stand waiting

i watch the horizon      it is as though            you have just disappeared from view

will reappear at any moment      as long as i live             you will be here with me



today is your birthday        you would have been 50                 hard to imagine

my son                               my little boy                                    a grown man

eyes of blue                       your funny smile                    how wise you had grown


today is late spring           summer is not far behind                  with its' hot breath

in the garden plays a familiar tune    on the wind chimes      still... before you know it

another year will pass     there is no stopping time              no way to fill the emptiness



wonder where you are        and how could this be                 i can make no sense of it

no myth or fairytale            can explain what has happened        the bell tolls

a clear peal                          summons worshippers                it is not that i am unwilling

to live fully each day        but there is always a price to pay       i have grown comfortable

                                                                                                               with emptiness

May 22, 2016

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No Streetcar Can I Ride
        today
this minute
this hour
the air still
no breeze in sight
nor felt upon my skin
no gritty sand between my fingers

        no fetid scents
no filthy faces
lonely
alone
lost
abandoned

       in this twilight of my life
still searching
investigating
weighting and measuring
trying to get at “it”
...what is “it” after all

       still i am home
i work at home
no longer lost
sometimes found
the search continues
i walk in desert sand

        broke
broken
broke down
broke back mountain
broken heart
in this moment breaking

        skunk cabbage
grows in the wetlands
grows in eastern america
smells awful
i leave it for skunks
...don't know if they like it or not

         each day the same
up early
make my bed
go to the studio
continue work
one day follows the one before
like soldiers in a parade

          vow to meet today
where yesterday left off
no streetcar can i ride
the journey long
the time short

May 20, 2016







11 comments:

Sherry Blue Sky said...

How I feel "the journey long, the time short". We keep doing our work. The clock keeps ticking. I so feel this poem.

Gillena Cox said...

I muse with your juxtapositions in the first poem, my favourite of the two

Happy Sunday Annell

much love...

Sumana Roy said...

emptiness rips the heart apart & i wonder if time is merciful...

brudberg said...

I think a birthday like that has a weight of lead... so heavy your words.... yet they are... thank your for sharing.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I so feel the emptiness poem. "As long as I live, you will be here with me". How sad, the lines "you would have been 50." I know the feeling of finding emptiness rather comforting. A poignant and beautiful poem, my friend.

Jae Rose said...

We do become comfortable with emptiness in a way - perhaps more so than loss? Each piece is precious..and I am sure he is with you in ever drop of paint and rain drop on its way...I admire the ability to keep on living very much

Sanaa Rizvi said...

I echo Jae's sentiments above.. so beautifully written.

Mary said...

Very sad, Annell. Being comfortable with emptiness & knowing there is no way to fill it... And the birthdays are especially hard.

Anonymous said...

I can understand being comfortable with the emptiness, it marks the place where nothing else will do. Ever.

Elizabeth

Old Egg said...

You really pull at our heart strings with you beautiful emotive writing. We are always searching for answers to our questions knowing that we will never get them, but that doesn't stop us as love is so powerful.

ZQ said...

Both, excellent pieces.
ZQ

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