The planet itself sways--
every sailor and starfish knows this.
It was my mother who was stillborn,
and I have ever since
searched for a heart beat to lay my ear to.
Language seduced me in a railroad car,
a constant leaving, one destination after another,
all the way to the horizon.
All my devotion has bought me is these bowling ball souvenirs,
these anvils in interesting rows.
But music! Even urchins carry flutes,
cows in fields wear bells, and Tartini's Devil left him a trill.
Music has been mercy,
from Janis's blue sandpaper
to Vivaldi's honey-hive violin,
I lay my ear on my own heart and hear the mermaids sing.
_______
For Sunday Muse #222.
This captures the weight and the buzz and half-remembered music in the heat of other summers.
ReplyDeleteOh Shay how could you even question the goodness of this poem? I love the comparisons of life and music and how it moves us all. The part about your mother and the ending really struck me to the core!! This poem is one of your finest my friend!! I love it!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI love "All my devotion has bought me is these bowling ball souvenirs," as what language has left you. But OK, you did bowl a couple of 300's! BTW, I did not read this before I wrote mine, so any crossing of mermaids were like ships in the night. Or something.
ReplyDeleteGah - searching for a heartbeat to lay your ear to. Me, too, kiddo. I LOVE that closing line. Sometimes the heart we have to learn to love is our own. Hard when childhood has been fraught. But, as Maya Angelou says, Still I Rise.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful frame by frame narrative. Like watching a dystopian film, dark but always beautiful <3 Always love your words, Shay.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I can finally post! Thanks for changing the settings :-)
This resonates!!! That last stanza ... I want to sing it.
ReplyDelete"It was my mother who was stillborn,
ReplyDeleteand I have ever since
searched for a heart beat to lay my ear to."
This was the part that laid hold of me and wouldn't let go. After reading your poem, I went back to this. Profoundly stirring.
Shay--Sorry. I tried to leave a comment a while back, and couldn't figure out how. Me--the technonincompoop--finally figured it out.
ReplyDeleteThe last four lines--especially--are gorgeous. Janis making an appearance. "Honey hive"... beautiful.
One could get lost in your verse, Shay. We may look for love, but we can always find music.
ReplyDelete"and I have ever since / searched for a heart beat to lay my ear to." - such great lines! I love this
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I can finally comment here
"music has been my mercy" That hits me right in the tears and smiles. Your writing always takes me where I feel, engages a reaction. Always blessed to read your work my friend.
ReplyDelete