and a knife in the other,
the morning you called down a coffee ground curse
in my kitchen, off the bedroom, in blackberry June.
Mousers know, as crows do,
that an unmade bed in the afternoon
is sweet green thick as an ivy vine,
a tangle of moon drawn out before the sun is even gone.
You knew, standing there with your summer robe open,
your eyes dreamy-closed,
and the grapefruit in your hand,
what you could do to me,
and how to kitty the solstice whichever way you chose.
Now, it is always night, always summer,
and blackbirds do your bidding at every blue hour;
I can kiss someone else until my lips are bruised,
but the pot is cold, the kitchen is empty,
and the robe hangs itself for trying, but
can't
bring you back
no matter that I promise it Chanel and shibboleth,
pretty as a calico cat.
______
Izy at Real Toads says, write about a curse, so I have.
Fun fact: calico cats are nearly always female.
loved these lines: I can kiss someone else until my lips are bruised,
ReplyDeletebut the pot is cold, the kitchen is empty
Tortoiseshells, too (along with calicoes).
ReplyDeleteWhat a piece, Shay.
This is so, so, so sad ... but a universally understood feeling.
ReplyDeleteLove these, especially:
"the morning you called down a coffee ground curse"
the yummy appearance of a grapefruit, a knife, and an open robe ... the interplay of inanimates in the kitchen
"blackberry June" is divine
"sweet green thick as an ivy vine,
a tangle of moon"
"how to kitty the solstice"
"blackbirds do your bidding at every blue hour;
I can kiss someone else until my lips are bruised"
"the robe hangs itself"
Just beautiful.
Oh my God. "blackberry June".....the richness of the memory.....the emptiness of her being gone.........spectacular writing. All of your work amazes me. But this one just knocks me right out. No one writes longing like you do.
ReplyDeleteI smell Summer fruit!
ReplyDeleteCalico girls RULE!
ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^=
Heartbreak leaves the soul so ragged. You write it so well I can feel it. Love Blackberry June..In fact I was so stumped on what to write that after reading your poem I did some blackberry googling and found exactly what I needed to write mine. :)
ReplyDeletetrying to fathom a decent comment here aside from drooling side ways and what not. I think we must bow nod in silence at the line and concept of "kitty the solstice" pure brilliance. I like that this piece has tucked inside itself...by which I mean:
ReplyDeleteThere are leaves yet to be unfurled, but just when to whose liking has yet to be decided. Or at least that is my meager surmising....thanks as always for posting to the out of standard!!!!
Girl, this is one of your best. EVER.
ReplyDeleteI don't know which knocks me off my feet harder, the gorgeous, unique, musical language, or the ominous, relentless dinning of the tone that seems to scream some doom is looming or even has come home at last to roost. You know I am not a quoter, and lord knows there has already been a surfeit of quoting here, but I just can't help myself--these lines are just too beautiful to leave unremarked:
ReplyDelete"Now, it is always night, always summer,
and blackbirds do your bidding at every blue hour.."
that slant rhyme/assonance of summer/hour is just hypnotic. Really excellent, Shay.
I didn't know calico cats are female - makes them all the more magical.
ReplyDeletethe robe that hangs itself for trying, love that line.
ReplyDeleteSo incredibly rich with deep feeling!
ReplyDeletechanel and sibboleth, huh ... tough crowd
ReplyDeletenot only a calico cats almost always female .. pure white cats are almost always deaf ..
good song for this lament curse, Shay ~
ReplyDelete"and blackbirds do your bidding at every blue hour;"
ReplyDeleteanother better-than-everyone-else-in -the-history-of-writing line, SP!
this is very cool!
♥