Reanimated Lavender Granola Switchblade Nun rides again.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Ballet At Lakeside

My friend Hedgewitch says, write, even if you think it's crap. My horoscope in today's Detroit Free Press said the same thing. I might resist one of them, but never both. So I wrote.

BALLET AT LAKESIDE

I throw my bones out on the dark smooth surface of the water;

I say, "you are as hard and as pale as the one I love the best--"

My flesh no longer holds you;

My bleeding does not move you;

So I reject you,

And in so doing, can no longer stand.



I lie on the shore like a castaway or a starfish,

And my bones get up and dance--

White ghosts on the polished black floor in front of me.

I say, "you haven't any guts...they are not synonymous with hubris--"

But as long as the depths adore you,

As long as I care enough to lift my head and spit,

You, my bones, will glow in the emptiness

Like a shell thrown into the night sky by a dying gypsy

Already cooling in the light of a thousand stars--

Beautiful,

Extinct,

And too proud to go dark without a dirty word and a wink.

__________

30 comments:

  1. Gosh Shay you feeling like a jellyfish?

    I'm thinking more like a prized sand dollar - still...

    don't bleed all over the blog

    they didn't shoot you at One shot???

    hugs from the Moonie (with the stone heart <-- cant bleed)

    ReplyDelete
  2. keep those bones dancing...and dirty words and winks are cool...smiles.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, you were supposed to write crap, not this. How is my stuff ever going to look good with you casually producing freakin masterpieces every day, even when you're bleeding out on the blog page? Aren't you feeling weak...sleepy, too tired to hit...the..keyboard...mmmm?

    Beautiful, full of terror poem,redolent of that pig-headed will to survive all wild things carry, and also that peculiarly human blend of pride and pathos we do when our back's to the wall and we're pretending we have a damn choice in the matter:
    ...As long as I care enough to lift my head and spit,/You, my bones, will glow in the emptiness/Like a shell thrown into the night sky by a dying gypsy...
    If I were going to have a tombstone, I'd want that on it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. super loved all the bones and starfish images
    and yes..write

    ReplyDelete
  5. be glad you listened. I got into this one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow! The bones spoke to me. Amazing stuff Shay.

    ReplyDelete
  7. "And too proud to go dark without a dirty word and a wink." And I should think so - no self-respecting Shay would do any less...

    ReplyDelete
  8. hi shay-- this is powerful. A distinctive voice, a natural. xxxj

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like that dirty word with the wink. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. holy moly, wish i could write some crap!!

    i really like this. it felt nice reading it. you're ok shay xx

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love the way you ended it "extinct" and "dirty word with a wink" and everything you wrote before that is brilliant! It's true what they say, when we feel a bit out of sorts, we become creative geniuses. (Ha...notice how I wrote "we" when I should've written "you!") ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sometimes we may think it's crap but we're wrong; this was just such a case.

    P.S. - Make up your own horoscope - it'll be far more accurate than someone else's guessing.

    ReplyDelete
  13. bones or no bones you are still very powerful.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I ADMIT IT Shay,i am addicted to your witty,so very cool way of painting with words..you never seize to amaze me..I AM SO HAPPY i get to read you!
    clapping my hands so hard for this FANTASTIC write..damn you are so good!
    ;)
    wink wink ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. You can't go wrong with dirty words!

    ReplyDelete
  16. You can never go dark...every star is reborn over and over again...and that includes you..Shay...thank you...bkm

    ReplyDelete
  17. Very nice. I specially like the last line.
    Keep writing Shay.
    xo jj

    ReplyDelete
  18. Well, this certainly isn't crap. I'm glad you wrote.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Well, after a day of no internet I am very relieved to come in and find another masterpiece, which shows you are more than okay! Where to even start with lines I loved? they are all so incredibly powerful and amazing and original, I'd have to list them all. Absolutely STUNNING writing. Breathtaking - and like Hedgewitch said, tombstone-worthy - not that we're ready for that yet! The dancing bones and the bleeding are enough for now:)
    Do keep writing. Because you must. No one else can write like you - on the planet. So consider it your gift and your duty, hee hee.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Stark in its mood, effective imagery, tone blah blah blah: exemplary.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I know I shouldn't ask, but I ask everyone all the time and it doesn't do any good...because it just doesn't..but what surprises me about all good work is the beginning. The beginning of this is genius..it carries the entire piece. I want to start at the beginning but all I ever come up with are the ends. I know where I'm going but find it so difficult to start. But with this opening your piece flowed so naturally to the elegy Joy noted. Excellent!

    ReplyDelete
  22. It's a damn good thing you listened to them ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  23. And you said this was crap? Wish I could write such crap. I love the imagery you create with the bones dancing and the dirty work and a wink. So amazing!

    Teresa

    ReplyDelete
  24. I watch the skeleton dance, cast aside by the gypsy's hand... reads both tragic and uplifting.

    ReplyDelete
  25. YES!!! Thank you Hedgewitch and Detroit Free Press. Without them this powerful pome would have never been born.
    That "So I reject you" has a lot of power in it.
    You have guts, flesh, bones and the heart of a tiger.
    xoxo
    Weasel-friend
    p.s. I don't believe you are capable of writing crap.

    ReplyDelete
  26. came back and read it again


    I guess if you cant hold the one you love what's the point of bones
    make the rejection complete

    feeling this one Shay - profoundly

    ReplyDelete
  27. Shit, Woman -- PLEASE write more crap!! This is the best poetry crap on the net.

    Funny, when we feel at the bottom of our creativity barrel, that's when it fills up fastest with swirls of meaty wordage.

    Lenny says he publishes less than 10% of his writing.

    Dying gypsy, so sad.

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete

Spirit, what do you wish to tell us?