but that's not the way that you are
It's too much of a gentle misnomer
for a shooting star
--Al Stewart
It's not the way it looks
the moon in the sky
your face in the mirror
the thing that was done or not done.
It's not the way it looks
the moon, lonesome rock out in space
ask the fascinated tide
about the gravity of lit soul
It's not the way it looks
your face in the mirror so lined
ask the devils, those angels that free you
from a birdcage of bones
The mirror limits vison
the moon limits sense
and everything you are or are not
will, in time, incandesce.
____________
This song has been on my mind for days now. The woman he's singing about reminds me of me.
Al Stewart Song On the Radio
I love the birdcage of bones, and asking the fascinated tide. So good!
ReplyDeleteI love it when you dare to post unprompted. Sometimes we are not at all who some people think we are. The mirror definitely limits vision and cannot tell the whole story behind the lines. Your poem is right, that final line hits right!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if it's a tragedy or blessing that nothing is ever exactly what it seems, but this poem explores that no man's land between appearance and reality strikingly, with its nod to the inconstant rock in the night sky that seems such a lovely luminous globe and is only a hunk of metal and primary elements yet still capable of controlling the huge movements of the living ocean. Are our faces, our souls the same? Can we fly from these birdcages of bones and sing our throats out in a burst of fire? This poem convinces me it is at least a possibility. The final stanza is especially musical and exquisite, Shay.
ReplyDeleteIncandescent words, expressing the inexpressible mystery of creation and being. Lovely, Shay.
ReplyDeleteCertainly our perception of things is not always as it truly is. I love the way you stir us to think deeper and make it seem effortless Shay! Absolutely gorgeous!
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