(for Kerry)
One arm is all you need
to smooth a dress
raise a glass
light a fuse
hide a face
turn a page
tease a clit
hold a hand.
In the land of the lion,
this is known:
The empty side allows the dark that holds the roar from miles away.
One sun lights every head,
drives every thirst,
greens every leaf on every stalk
from east to west
down all the years.
In the land of the lion,
this is known:
One arm is all you need.
________
for Marian's "One Love" prompt at Toads.
"In the land of the lion.........." How I love this, and Kerry will love it too.
ReplyDeleteI too love this...I'm the land of the lion. I actually have a friend who only has one arm. It was ripped off in a drunken car wreck. But she has adjusted in the 30 years since the wteck. I know she and her lover would smile at the clit line. In the land of the blind man the one who has one eye is king.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy this tribute very much. I, too, love “the land of the lion” where things are known, :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat an intriguing line:
ReplyDeleteThe empty side allows the dark that holds the roar from miles away.
Thank you, Shay, for thinking of me and for the reminder that we folk from the land of the lion make do with whatever nature leaves us, one arm, one leg, one eye.. and we blaze on like the sun. Hallelujah, sister.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing poem, Shay! Wonderful lines:
ReplyDelete'In the land of the lion,
this is known:
The empty side allows the dark that holds the roar from miles away'.
I like that, the empty makes room for the dark, under the same sun.
ReplyDeleteThe simplicity here suits the theme, but is deceptive also, as there is a lot under the hood--every line produces an image, and every image provokes a thought. The way you speak of the lion holds all the wildness, all the danger and loss that living in a land close to the edge, and the ways of a predator involve, and yet also all the rightness of the natural way of things, of playing whatever hand you are dealt (or in this case, have left.) Gorgeous, subtle, shining writing, dear Shay.
ReplyDeleteThe empty side allows the dark that holds the roar from miles away.
ReplyDeleteSmashed it all together and then batted it clear out of the park with this line! Great start to the challenge and wonderfully complex for the "seeming" simplicity of the words! What a super way to write for Kerry! (and many others)
I like this!
ReplyDeleteI am left with an image of the black panther salute, of Mandela's raised fist, of Martin Luther King. In among the terrors of the wild you call in there is a profound peace in this poem.
ReplyDelete