dancing in an incinerator,
arms out, bending each way,
light as ash but not consumed.
Now I'm heavy as an old oak clock,
creaky as a forgotten stair,
yet somehow, I know the language of birds.
I'm hard to see in bright light
~always was~
but I shine continuously, weightless.
_______
for Friday Flash 55 at VerseEscape.
Photography by Christine Kapuschinsky Johnson.
Shay, I see you have brought your best game to the 55. This is absolutely magical, smooth and sweet as honey, full of the uncompromising beauty of youth, the serenity and self-knowledge of age, those two opposites which yet circle the same planet of the self,close and far. You knocked me back in my chair with that first stanza, and I'm thinking how can any poem live up to *that*? Then you proceeded to show me. 55 words, each one a jewel in a necklace of stars. Thank you so much for playing, and for providing everyone some fodder for a kickass weekend.
ReplyDeleteI love "Now I'm heavy as an old oak clock" - me, too - and my heart took FLIGHT at "but somehow I know the language of birds." Also, me, too. I ADORE this, Shay! Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThat's a hell of a lot of gorgeous in 55 words!
ReplyDeleteTo say I love this is simply not enough. I am in love with this may be more like it! I feel this.... see this... and relate to this, and I wish I had written it! I love your comparison of childhood and now....yet knowing the language of birds and having the steady continuous light. This is why I love your poetry so very very much Shay!! You speak volumes in a sentence and make it look easy! As a poet you are like an Olympic gymnast that flips and flies through the air with ease, but it is something the rest of us can only watch in awe.
ReplyDeleteA remarkable parallelism in this one, but with contrasting imagery. Sharp and effective. "Light as ash, but not consumed" is particularly striking for me. I know the feeling of the bright light. Very well done.
ReplyDeleteAn amazing title, and the poem is eerily familiar.. feeling my age, and childhood is like a ghost I left behind.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, beautiful. I might have to tapes these verses to my mirror as a reminder. And this makes me think about what we don't know when we are young, and what it would be like if somehow we did have some kind of precognition
ReplyDelete