Reanimated Lavender Granola Switchblade Nun rides again.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Indian Days



What burns grows back.

The sky is always in motion.

Don't kiss the one with the wind in her blood.

Don't become devoted to her skin.



Watch the way she handles an egg.

Does she warm it first in her hand, as if it might surrender a sigh

Or a peacock?

When she kisses it beyond all saving

Against the rim of a pretty kiln-fired bowl,

Does she coax or crush?

Does it matter to the broken shell?



Still, if you kiss the one with pilfered turquoise on every finger,

If you become devoted to her scent, her deep Indian eyes, her hair--

Remember that bones can birth a second, more careful heart,

What burns grows back,

And the sky is always in motion.

_________

photograph by Metin Demiralay

23 comments:

  1. Does it all matter during that first kiss?

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  2. I don't use this word often as it's tiresomely thrown around like a sack of counterfeit bills, but this was brilliant, each stanza better than the last...kissing it beyond all saving, indeed.

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  3. beautiful piece Shay, "remember that bones can birth a second"...love that image..and wind in her bones...lovely..bkm

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  4. i'm really captivated by "watch the way she handles an egg..." gorgeous, and the "pilfered turquoise"-- yes. xxxj

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  5. yet it is 'the wind in her blood' that is the attraction in the first place...

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  6. I love "Don't kiss the one with the wind in her blood."

    Wonderful. :-)

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  7. Indeed. the skin IS always in motion :)
    Beautiful Shay.

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  8. The sky is always in motion. This was just beautiful.

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  9. My favorite, telling line... the egg. Yes! Such attention to detail tells us a lot.

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  10. i want that blood....

    exotic and free...... sigh....

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  11. This is just. so. beautiful. It makes me weepy because I've kissed that girl with "deep Indian eyes" and "wind in her blood" so many times and now that she's crushed the broken shell of me, I don't believe you when you say "what burns grows back." Honestly, you must get outta my head.

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  12. the sky is always in motion ...

    makes me want to go out and take pix of the clouds ...

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  13. Whoa.

    I'm a smash-the-egg-on-the-edge-of-the-counter top kind of gal. Should try a pretty kiln-fired bowl. See if I grow the wings I envision me in.

    pilfered turquoise, love that!

    xoxo

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  14. I have to tell you, just today my in-laws told me that they had left their back door open and when they came into the living room they found a peacock in their kitchen. I imagine that the peacock came in to raid the refrigerator and maybe make an omelette. I am not sure why am telling you this?
    I love the hopefulness of this poem. What grows back is always stronger than what was there before. If that isn't true then it should be.
    Thank you, lovely Tiger-friend!
    xxoo
    Weasel-friend

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  15. This is completely wonderful. I especially love the first and the last two lines. And "the wind in her blood" and the way she handles an egg. Now who would have thought of that and yet, it is really indicative of a person's nature. "remember that bones can birth a second, more careful, heart" is absolutely WONDERFUL.

    Wow. I am replete.

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  16. I agree with the wise and sage Mama Zen, Shay. Exquisite.

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  17. Romantic, hopeful, playful...Chica, you've outdone yourself!

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  18. always in motion
    very beautiful fireblosom.

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Spirit, what do you wish to tell us?