Reanimated Lavender Granola Switchblade Nun rides again.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Message In A Bottle

whether,
by now,
i am bleached blonde or bleached bones--

whether i'm in the arms of the captain's wife
or never found my way home--

there is this,
and you,
in the slant-glance of the setting sun,
reading what i wrote in my extremity.

the ocean waters tried,
battering the glass skin i wrapped this in,
caught within its vastness--
in but not of all that flotsam and jetsam,

riding in a blown bubble of air.
the simple truth is that i couldn't bear
for my children to drown
and so i rolled them down a neck that could not speak--

here is a love poem written by a woman alone.
it is one of many--
what else did i have to do on my own?
no woman
no man
only my own two hands, and a will to be heard.

_______

for Ella's Edge at Real Toads. "SOS to the world"

 

 
 

23 comments:

  1. "in the slant-glance of the setting sun,"

    "battering the glass skin i wrapped this in,
    caught within its vastness--"

    I love the creative way these words play together...music to my poetical ears!!

    So sad...but also sometimes I regret bringing children into such a crazy world to "drown," in!!

    Excellent poem, Shay!!

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  2. in but not of

    This is also a very strong poem... a voice, a mind, a soul that is true to itself... not easy in this topsy, turvy world!

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  3. Your will to be heard comes across loud and strong; and you ARE heard. You don't need to put those words in a bottle!

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  4. We hear you, Shay ... loud and clear.

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  5. Extraordinarily free and easy in your imagery yet tight and concise in your ideas. Wow. Impressive!

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  6. After reading this I clearly imagine every individual soul locked in its own bottle and bobbing about on a vast sea, desperate for a shore to rest on and a hand to set us free.

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  7. "Bleached blonde" or "Bleached bones"--those are incredibly powerful images to open this poem with.

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  8. T'is truly 'time in a bottle' (Bread). This inspired emotional thought. Gracias

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  9. The entire poem is a scroll of gentle and yearning melancholy not without hope, because after all, why the bottle if not in hope--but resigned to the idea that the journey goes on without any company, and it is what it is, perhaps richer in some ways, but daunting in its lack of graspable destination. The first stanzas are magical, the truth in the ending went through me like winter wind.

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  10. I love that opening! And you can't ever go wrong with Janis!

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  11. I can't analyze poetry as you well know, but I can say this one touched my heart.

    My favorite stanza was this one:

    "the ocean waters tried,
    battering the glass skin i wrapped this in,
    caught within its vastness--
    IN but not OF all that flotsam and jetsam,"

    I like the fact that the bottle isn't lost yet and hasn't given up itself to the ocean waters.

    This is also a perfect poem for "SOS to the world."

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  12. The human will does not go down without a fight, and nor will the human voice. I loved the willful defiance the your poem exemplifies! I will not be silenced - even in my solitude! Great job, great job, great job!Love el Mosk

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  13. p.s. You've been redecorating since I've been gone. I like what you've done. The flashing "Home of Danny's Coffee Shop" is so cool!

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  14. Nobody could belt it out like Janis.

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  15. bleached blonde or bleached bones...I love that. Where did you by your talent from...I want to pick some up after work....after a quick shower and a press...i am still pretty sure that even with two cases of the same talent, I couldn't touch you.

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  16. Okay--it's been asked again where you get your talent from...Perhaps you should write a poem noting all those who have gone before you--the ones who added bits here and there to you as a writer?

    Wonderful and different, as they always are...

    (And yes, Janis is always a good choice.)

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  17. "Here is a love poem written by a woman alone." Oh, I so hear you! We keep on writing them - because we must. Beautiful, Shay, and sad. How does a romantic become resigned to a life without romance? Not easily.

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  18. I admired the spirit and strength on this journey! It is one's soul that anchors, one's path~
    Powerful and rich in details! An anthem to all who carry one and set sail alone~ Sad, maybe....maybe not!

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  19. So beautiful...sad perhaps, but there are times I wish a moment to sail alone...

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  20. OH, my mind loves this poem. It sets me off to dreaming: message in a bottle as time machine. This message would help "the others" to understand us all, who we were before we became flotsam and jetsum.
    Very special, Shay.

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  21. I love the internal rhymes. This moves so beautifully.

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  22. if this were a real S.O.S. i'm afraid rescue would be slow in coming for the reader would get lost in your beautiful words!

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Spirit, what do you wish to tell us?