(Yes, after all this time.)
Everyone was floating, dancing, flying,
and yet you were melancholy,
and the world kept turning behind
Us where we posed.
What does "I love you," mean?
Is it glorious in the morning, or as idiotic
as childhood pictures we cringe to see?
Still, who else has seen you
In multi-form, and been proud to say it?
Dreams are shadows, no matter how bright--
and I don't celebrate what's happened to us both.
Here is the curse of compound eyes
the dragonfly knows--everything is on every side,
never distinct, never absolute between blooms and motes.
I dreamed of you last night.
(Yes, after all this time.)
On rising you were gone and not gone;
I saw all that I cherished about your face, your skin, your fire,
but also the ashes, the waste, the blight.
The curse of the dragonfly is to see ahead and beside,
but never clearly, and--in singular blindness--not at all behind.
________
for Bits of Inspiration--dragonfly
So bitter-sweet, and both aspects true. Wonderful insights from considering the compound eye. As always, you write so that I feel I am right there with you.
ReplyDelete(I always enjoy your labels, too.)
ReplyDeleteThe land of dreams has its marshes, and unlike the dragonfly, the eyes of the mind can (seem to) see everything at once...looking back, looking forward, seeing close and far--who's to say which picture presented is truest? So many things about this metaphor turn the heart over, I suppose mostly through the beautiful fragility of the watcher, but perhaps also in the way it uncovers the painful difference between ideal and reality.
ReplyDeleteDreamworld can be a difficult place, a blessing and a curse. Of course it would be you to bring a story, to fascinate, engage emotions. Thank you so much for taking part and writing for the prompt!
ReplyDeleteI really FELT this poem........the sadness, the memories of love and dreams, the adjusting to the undreamed of loss........this really hits me in the heart. No one writes of love the way you do.
ReplyDeleteThe emotions in this poem are soo raw.. so incredibly powerful! Especially like; "Here is the curse of compound eyes the dragonfly knows--everything is on every side, never distinct, never absolute between blooms and motes."
ReplyDeletein other words, fly me to the moon. love to you
ReplyDeleteYou really took this to another level with more attributes of the dragonfly woven into this poignant tail. Loved it!
ReplyDeleteOne of your best ever... speaks its words directly into my heart.
ReplyDeleteYour poems always have the feeling of immediacy. This one is a perfect example. The dragonfly weaves in and out like a dream.
ReplyDelete