I talk
about swans
in the obscuring haze of dawn.
My fear overhangs like a willow
thin-leafed,
stock-still
and trembling.
White swan,
black swan,
I mock you from a distance,
light myself afire to scare you
but I
betray myself
in brilliance.
I bring
you bread,
my poems, my hair, my jewelry
despite myself, I reach for you
and feel
you flying
through me.
A trinet poem for Sunday Muse #186 "illusion"
A dangerous desire here, I love it. I sing to the mocking birds, they are safer. But secretly afraid they might love me back.
ReplyDeleteLoved the prompt too, thank you.
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Bravo! The way you managed to piece all the images is just brilliant!
ReplyDeleteThere's not a word or a line here that doesn't pull its weight. Who has not had their own little bonfire of the vanities for someone who didn't even get close enough to smell the smoke? The final stanza is musical as a Broadway heartache, and also simple, elegant and sincere. The form works really well, too, to keep things very immediate and direct. A vivid take on what lies under the surface of these three illusions, and our own.
ReplyDeleteI especially love the last two.
ReplyDeleteThis is sheer perfection Shay! You have framed together three pictures brilliantly with poetic images that linger on the tongue and heart! Simply amazing!!!
ReplyDeletereally liked that last stanza, it really burned bright, great way to end the poem.
ReplyDeleteHard to even say how amazing this is: the poem flying through us, plucking our hearts and taking wing. Interestingly, I'm left with what feels like the response of the swan - yes, I remember you that dawn. You were on the shore with the sun lighting you as if you were on fire. You brought me bread along with pieces of paper I didn't understand, but if it matters to you, I lined my nest with them. When I take off flying to the west, as I rise over the reeds and willows I think of you stranding there, alone and trembling.
ReplyDeleteBravo. Nice trinet
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday
Much💛love
Swans make me think of fairy tales & to cast them as the hearer of all the facades and reveals of life makes for a compelling contrast.
ReplyDeleteI hear your voice, crystal clear. This is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI love the swans.....and, especially "I reach for you and feel you flying through me." Some blazes are like that and are long-remembered.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I always enjoy your labels!!!!
ReplyDeleteThese are brilliant, Shay! Each one is a gem.
ReplyDelete