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| vintage Russian post card |
and the lightning bones that dance across the night--
no matter the bear
who wakes hungry from a winter of dreaming you--
No matter the snowdrop and crocus
who lie and tell you to leave your clothes by the frozen pond--
no matter the evergreen
claiming to be constant from behind its newly fledged fingers--
I will sing,
as the blackbirds do,
for you, no matter how hopelessly, how strangely--
I will sing for you.
No matter the goat with its bell
who eats the shoots of grass before the sun can set on them--
no matter the shepherd's dog
who has run away and left the flock to whatever may pass--
No matter angels or devils
who quarrel and pose never-endingly under their different banners--
no matter creatures who hide
and wait, only to have remained too long as you passed by--
I will sing,
as the blackbirds do,
for you, no matter how hopelessly, how strangely--
I will sing,
Sing for you.
______
Oh. Imagine being sung to like that! A most beautiful love poem, as only you can write them, Shay.
ReplyDeleteShay--You write such exquisite love poems, perhaps you could augment your finances once you retire by...
ReplyDeleteauditioning new/additional girlfriends? There would be a hefty application fee, and each one of us would be guaranteed one poem--before you cast us all aside.
After all, aren't you in the market for an old, frumpy fat girlfriend? If so, I'm the one for you. ;)
A beautiful and sensual love song, it lifted my spirits,,,
ReplyDeleteA perfect love song..the bear claws are a bit of a worry though :)
ReplyDeleteThat is an inspiring image.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, this - this is just exquisite. I adore every word of this love poem.
ReplyDeleteI love blackbirds' song, so this struck a chord. I also like the repeating "No matter the ..." Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Shay--I love both halves, but especially the first, I think. Works just wonderfully. k.
ReplyDeleteWith all I am I will sing for you...Sometimes the best sung melody is not tone, but heart. Love your song
ReplyDeleteLike others, I read this as a lovely love song ... but I also wonder if the singer is Spring.
ReplyDeleteOhhh - that's beautiful!
ReplyDeleteSuch a series of bright embroidered flowers on the black velvet of hopeless love--every image is perfect and every image both cuts and heals, because, it's always, all about the song. Beautiful, and as always, a love poem as only you can turn them out. i especially love all the natural things in the second and fourth stanzas that have added their mite to the burden of loss the singer carries.
ReplyDeleteI really feel how spring can be cruel... but no matter what's done the songs will be there... and nature is about eat or being eaten too....Love the postcard.
ReplyDeleteWhile I appreciate the ekphrastic nature of your poem, I really admire how you take the image presented in the postcard to a whole new level of its own, turning it into an amazing proclamation of commitment and love.
ReplyDeleteShay, I am so deeply touched by this.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the word "Singer" (a sewing machine) in the title sets this up with a maternal feel. Romantic love, certainly. But more than that. It's like one of those very close friendships where the lines get kind of blurred, allowing all sorts of intimacies to become entwined with the very deep and committed friendship feelings.
The sewing machine is especially fitting, since the one you're speaking to in the poem has taken off her clothes by the pond (my favorite part). I think you are quietly sewing her new clothes while she is off running around outside, playing in the too-cold weather, endangering herself hanging out with bears (perhaps they're dreaming of her as a meal, not a companion), dancing in a field while there's lightning dancing across the sky ... she's a child, or she's like a child. And you're very much like her mother, even if you're the same age. Also, she could literally be the speaker's daughter or sister. I love that you kept sexual intimacies out of this so that it could describe many different types of relationships. The ambiguity makes the poem more flexible. And oh how I love the repeated section, turning this into a song, in which you sing about singing.
Your poem reminds me of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XIANQM3xm0
Now I want to know *how* blackbirds sing, because something tells me there's something special you're referring to. Off to research now ...
Thank you, thank you for this beautiful poem. Always keep singing ... and writing. Please.
This is one of the most romantic things I've ever read.
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ReplyDeleteI like how something so intimately personal can touch us all on the out-in-the-open white public page.
ReplyDeleteBabe, what else can you do but sing? la la mosk
ReplyDeleteAs Mama Zen has said, the most romantic poem i have ever read. No one writes love poems like you do.
ReplyDeleteI'm a "no matter what" person so it feels like the poem was written from my own heart. Your words are especially beautiful in this poem - also a clear favourite for me.
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