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:
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
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.
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"
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.
I love this line: "like dorothy i have forgotten the name of the place where i belong"
Very clever and emotive.
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!
Loved both the poems very powerful & evocative.
Very thought-provoking visualizations/dreams/thoughts. I felt that it reflected my own visions of the end of the world. good to ponder on.
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
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.
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