It is not new
this interviewing of myself.
In a dark or dull hour
ghosts rent my tongue,
black flocks rend my mind's sky.
I called a nightmare by name
to break its back.
Making a paste from fury and innocence,
I conjured a papier mache landlord,
all purpose, no heart.
The renters scattered.
The birds flew into a vortex, blind and damned.
Moving into my own skin,
I learned new oxygen
with my keys held tight between my fingers
just in case.
______
for Sunday Muse.
OK, I wish I'd said this: "ghosts rent my tongue" and this: "I learned new oxygen". The keys in your fingers to open a door or fight.
ReplyDeleteI love reading your poems, with every pass I discover another way of interpreting a stanza, a line, a word. Beware the 'papier mache landlord' who proudly { like the narcissist he most likely is } wears a diamond encrusted papier mache mask.
ReplyDeleteI am not a little in love with the idea of a mental scarecrow/landlord to keep the chattering doubts away. A haunting fable.
ReplyDeleteYou guide us like a scout through the dangerous badlands of introspection. Your phrases are darkly delicious, and the metaphors, as always. superb. That last stanza outshines them all tho, with its birds of chaos and change. Wonderful work here, Shay.
ReplyDeletesuperb, the way you make us see we're all haunted.
ReplyDeleteOh the haunted tales we all could tell if we had the amazing talent you do Shay! As always you have used imagery that is spectacular and brilliant in what it makes us see and feel. I believe that all the dark that you have endured has gifted you with a golden tongue even if ghosts rent it sometimes. I absolutely love this my friend!!!
ReplyDeleteHold on to those keys, especially if you only have one ser. I love it all, Snay, my favorite will be "nightmare by name." I just love love naming the nightmares. Not regular pony names I hope.
ReplyDelete..
"Black flocks rend my mind's sky....." oh my goodness, that line is fantastic. The whole poem just....lifts off. Stupendous.
ReplyDeleteWow. The last two lines of the first stanza, and the last two lines of the last stanza are truly spectatular. However --as always--the whole poem is amazing.
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