Carefully collected from the inside of rings
And the spaces between the spokes of your gypsy wagon.
Line up this nothing,
Make it make sense;
Alphabetize it,
Set it under different arches, at different times of day.
Nothing fills the Rue de Rien--
I become a shadow,
Reaching through myself, amazed.
Nothing in your hands when I waited by myself.
Nothing on your lips when I listened unto death.
Throw open all the doors,
Let the horseman pass--
Take back this gift of nothing, dear,
And shove it up your ass.
_____
for dverse
I was hoping you'd answer the dVerse call to write! And once again, I'm not disappointed. This too, I found to be an original take, and love your voice. Especially the lovely little tie up at the end. Strength and attitude just courses so easily through your pen. Write on, Poet! And yes...I am leaving, smirking once again.
ReplyDeleteI found this picture ominous and faintly sinister--the light in it is just...wrong...alien. And your poem feeds off that sense--no humanity here, no presence, nothing for the girl who so bravely rolls her hoop made of nothing towards a looming shadow. The gypsies have even left without their wagon, the need to vacate is so strong.
ReplyDeleteI also liked your message of defiance at the end. A lot.
"Line up this nothing,
ReplyDeleteMake it make sense;
Alphabetize it,
Set it under different arches, at different times of day."
Wow.
It begins philosophical, a metaphysical poem, and ends with no puns intended on the hard cold earth.
ReplyDeleteI'm quite enjoying my visits here.
hell yes...
ReplyDeletelistened to death...been there...
I felt a lot of anxiety and a sense of foreboding in the picture for some reason. I love that you turned the poem into a statement of strength against all of that. Nicely played.
ReplyDeleteI just knew you'd "do" horses. I see them all as horses, the arched stables, the shadow is a horse for me, that's been taken from its trailer.
ReplyDeleteThe twist was its all rien de rien - je ne regrette rien, and Piaf cries again I regret nothing, and whatever nothing lives on the rue de rien, you can take it and put it where the glaring sun don't shine - then the topper, (ah you clever woman) the epitaph on Yeats grave, Mc Murtry's first book, Hud in the shadows, Horsemen, Pass By!
Superb! You are a master!
At first I was "Awwwww". Then I was "Yikes!" and devilhorns! Way to play with my one emotion.
ReplyDeleteyeah!
ReplyDeleteAloha from Waikiki;
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
Ooh, chica, this one ended with a nice, swift kick in the privates...LOVE it!!
ReplyDeleteah, Shay! you NEVER disappoint! love this!!!
ReplyDeleted ♥
for sure the right response to all the nothing's...love the middle part, still trying to make sense of it, trying to understand...love your take on the pic shay
ReplyDeleteWow - wasn't expecting that ending!
ReplyDeleteCould I borrow this? There is someone I would love to read this to loud and proud :) It's the most brilliant "shove it up your ass" scenario I've ever encountered!
ReplyDelete