the first thing you do in life
is fall.
For your mother, there is no hospital bed,
no breathing exercises, no Lamaze,
no idiot husband with a video cam.
Stoic, she stands and gives you to the ground.
This stunned moment of grass and hoof-shadow
is the last rest you will get,
Little Runner.
The only other place to lay your head
for the rest of your life,
will be that final hour of stifled surrender
in the lion's mouth.
_______
For dolls, part 2, at Real Toads. This doll was created by Becca Nenow. I don't think she probably intended it to be a Cape Buffalo, but this is how it spoke to me.
And, from Detroit's own...
Powerful.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love how the dolls are all speaking......
ouch! born to a brutal life.
ReplyDeletedamn good final stanza, Sis! "stifled surrender" wow!
ReplyDeletegotta love Seger!
and i love those dolls! what a cool project!
♥
All too true.. but a Cape Buffalo should not be taken lightly - fully grown they have been known to kill lions. There are clips on Youtube - but not for the faint of heart.
ReplyDeleteExisting at the bottom of the foodchain is always an uneasy linkage--and there is always something that preys on the weakest and most vulnerable. But as Kerry notes, those that survive have a way of making the predators back off. The third stanza here made me catch my breath.
ReplyDeleteLittle Runner. Oh, this brings out the mothering instinct that's for sure. This image is so strong I don't think I can erase it to write a piece of my own. Well done!
ReplyDeleteLife sucks and then you die. Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteSo tender..."Little Runner"......life is harsh in the veld. I didnt know buffalo birthed standing up. I so loved this, Shay.
ReplyDeleteTremendous in its simplicity and brevity, Shay, almost as if the mother buffalo is speaking to her young.
ReplyDeleteYou are an artist.
K
You are able to hear and see what we don't ... Cape Buffalo, now why didn't I recognize her.
ReplyDeleteyikes! the end there was really a no-holds-barred. poor little Cape buffalo!
ReplyDelete"Stoic, she stands and gives you to the ground."
ReplyDeleteI find this to be an incredibly moving and powerful line. It digs deep into all things natural, primal, animalistic. What better subject for poetry is there than the animal world?
Your closing stanza is chilling, but right on.
This is breathtaking. No other way to say it.
ReplyDeleteThe wisest
ReplyDeletecarry
the greatest
pain,
O wise
poetess-
Aloha from Honolulu, my Friend
Comfort Spiral
~ > < } } ( ° >
> < } } ( ° >
Okay, this my favorite poem of yours...about a Cape Buffalo.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've never heard that Bob Seger song.
Are those cupcakes on its chest? I fear I'm going to have nightmares after seeing that thing.
ReplyDeleteBy the by, I love the book Mommie Dearest. Creepiest thing ever. Well, other than Flowers in the Attic perhaps.
ReplyDeleteImagine that! A regimented life of falling in and falling out, living only if taking a stand. New info for me, allegory of these mean streets of youth in poverty.
ReplyDeletePS: the music is a perfect match. Who do we love indeed?
ReplyDeletehey if you can't stand up .. sit down ...
ReplyDeleteWonderful poem. Agh.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know a Cape Buffalo even existed.
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing.
xo jj
Wow! You never cease to amaze me. This is telling life as real as it gets.
ReplyDeleteLittle Runner.....dear god, this just stopped me cold in my human tracks and all I can say is it is one of your very best. A poem I will keep in my top drawer and treasure.
ReplyDelete