at the edge of sensing--
I have danced to it until I was out of breath,
and my own beating heart surprised me.
There are stars unburned
in a blank black sky--
I have seen them in the interstices of dreams
until my eyes, gone full, awakened me.
Now,
there is only dark Russian loaf
fresh butter
and blackberry jam,
all of them sweeter to me than they have ever been before.
Outside,
the branches are bare,
they can't hold the wind;
my dog, gone blind, can't find the stick,
but he looks back at me with love
as he has always done and always will.
Still,
I have begun to hear a tune that I can't shut out,
though I try.
There is a burning that wasn't there before,
and so if you find me here in tears and ask me why,
I can only say how I'll miss it all,
how I wasn't ready,
but nonetheless
I can feel it coming...
without affect
and relentlessly.
I think this is one of my favorites...I love how your blind dog looks back at you with love. I imagine the words of this poem spoken so softly, but at the same time overflowing with emotion. it felt a bit like my heart was bleeding as I was reading it (3 times) :)
ReplyDeletemmm...very nice write..the opening stanza is damn near perfect and it just gets better...great descriptors shay...i will miss it too.
ReplyDeleteSuch power here
ReplyDeleteI like the way you have woven details into these lines: the bread and berry jam, the bare trees unable to hold the wind, the blind dog. There is something deeply tragic in the commonality of the experience expressed here - betrayal, or terminal disease, or loss of a loved one.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, this one did me in. Bosco, blind but looking at you with love, the whole nostalgia for life we feel as the years ahead grow fewer........though you have way more than me left.........I, too, loved the bread and jam , and am right there with you in how they have never tasted sweeter..........beautiful, poignant, happy/sad, nostalgic and written with the pen of an angel.
ReplyDeleteThere are stars unburned
ReplyDeletein a blank black sky--
The musicality in this is delicious...
Your creation here captures the essence of what so many souls have wished and wish to say when their moment of transition is near.
ReplyDelete...dancing until out of breath
...stars unburned
...heightened keened senses
...age portrayed with baron trees
and unconditional love and loved
...never previously heard music plays on...
Wonderful painting. Can I buy a silk screen copy?
Love
Oh Shay...wonderful, just wonderful. x
ReplyDeleteNothing lasts, it's true, except the things we can't be. Glorious poetry here though, that ought to last forever. Last line of the second stanza, in particular.
ReplyDeleteThat is lovely, Shay.
ReplyDeletethere is a music. . .
ReplyDeleterelentlessly . . .
Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
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"without affect"
ReplyDeleteThat is sooo good! Perfect, out-of-the-ordinary word choice. You consistently amaze me.
There is something so sad and yet excepting here. Walking in to death or accepting the death of something. This one sneaks up on you.
ReplyDeleteyou took my breath away with this one, Shay! one of my all-time favorites though it makes me want to cry ~ i'm not ready at all.
ReplyDelete♥
How i love this one, for all the same reasons i listed in my comment back then. Plus now dear Bosco has passed on. Oy vey.
ReplyDeleteThere is a burning that wasn't there before,
ReplyDeleteand so if you find me here in tears and ask me why,
I can only say how I'll miss it all,
how I wasn't ready,
but nonetheless
I can feel it coming...
I have found and lost a whole lot more since I first read this poem, so these lines mean more than ever.
Ahhhh. Shay, thank you for sharing this with me. It's heartbreaking and beautiful.I am so happy you had a positive outcome.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful. Bosco, looking at you with love, as he still does from the spirit world where all good bois go........so glad you came through whatever this was and are still gifting us with your poems.
ReplyDelete