Reanimated Lavender Granola Switchblade Nun rides again.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

The Resurrection of The Fly

When the funnel came twisting down out of the anvil cloud,
I saw it first in the middle pane of the window,
then the one on the lower left, as well.

A dead fly hung suspended where the the twister hit the earth,
remaining motionless, as it had for weeks,
while roofs and SUVs circled, suddenly airborne.

I rang the bell, and if it was only the tiny ornamental servant's bell,
at least I tried. "Get to safety," I thought as loudly as I could,
then sat down to wait.

My children all live elsewhere, I already took in the mail,
and covering the garden flowers would do little good,
even if the afternoon weren't mostly gone.

It's gotten too dark to read; besides, the power is out.
I will just calmly watch the resurrection of the fly,
shaking in his cobweb, brother to the brick wall, sister to the semi, the silo, 
and the cement overpass where idiots huddle 
only to be swept out and away, having ignored my warnings.
_______

for Karin's mini-challenge at Real Toads: for whom the bell tolls.


20 comments:

  1. all too scary, and you made it eerier, still...

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  2. Eerie and intense.. beautifully written!

    Lots of love
    Sanaa

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  3. Shay--You must have so many nooks and crannies in that creative noggin of yours, the things you cover in your poems are limitless...

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  4. They just won't listen, will they? This has a very surreal feel, and the speaker seems so disassociated from her world that disaster is a metaphysical mural for the enlivening of her surroundings,which makes me think of god as a voice in the head of rather malevolent female idol (The video is...disturbingly hilarious.)

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  5. Whoa! Intense and eerie
    ZQ

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  6. The waiting and the focusing on the small things, like the fly, feels very human to me. In such situations, one feel aware of one's self as a fly on the wall in a way. I loved this brother to brick, sister to semi. Thanks, Shay, for participating in the prompt with this cool poem. k.

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  7. "I will just calmly watch the resurrection of the fly"

    wow, I see a slightly insane elderly southern spinster...beautifully eerie

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  8. Maybe it's better waiting than running.. After all there are better places than Kansas... ;-)

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  9. and what better way to pass the time while waiting for the tornado to carry you off to Oz? personally, i prefer watching a spider rather than a fly.

    i was going to make a snarky comment {surprise} about the video but the woman was so graceful it was like a dance of the arms...

    (what happens to my comment if i AM a robot?)

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  10. You made it scarier and more eery than the news....that's just how good you are.

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  11. You made it scarier and more eery than the news....that's just how good you are.

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  12. yes. your words oft effect me like handbells, or Franklin's glass armonica, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica which [as we know] drove it's player mad...




    ( '>
    /))
    //""

    ALOHA from Honolulu,
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=


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  13. Wow, how dramatic! I am glad I don't live in a country of tornadoes. (Cyclones are bad enough.)

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  14. The power of the storm is too much to handle. I like how the fly became the center while still showing the seriousness of the subject.

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  15. The last stanza is my favorite.

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  16. Some flies and people never learn.

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  17. I just watched a movie about tornado chasing, but this poem is more vivid. Wouldn't it be ironic if she and the dead fly are the only survivors? I love the view of the tornado through the window, the touchdown as close or far away as the reader wishes. I'm focused on the fly and waiting for resurrection. (While someone rings bells in my mind's eye. Ha!)

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  18. "having ignored my warnings"--that last bit is chilling for all its implications!

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  19. I bet I just watched the same movie as Susan, given it was about tornado chasing.

    Tornadoes scare the liv'in daylights out of me, even though we often get them where I live.

    Loved the line about the resurrection of the fly and the "thought"-ful warning! LOL

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Spirit, what do you wish to tell us?