Reanimated Lavender Granola Switchblade Nun rides again.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Wounded Deer

Quincy Washington "Emperor of Dawn"
I carry the dead with me and they are never silent.
When I whisper in your ear, listen for the echo of the dead,
those riders screaming.

Every moment spent forgetting
has been a revelation of peace.
But still, the dead, on the end of a chain, grin and wait.

You admire me, all the things I have done,
all the dragons in ditches by the roadside.
The dead take the teeth and stuff their yapping mouths,

Slurring that I'll never make it,
never be worth their spit,
never take another step,

But I do, and they are shamed with every movement,
my life a pulsing illustration
that the wounded deer runs fastest after all.
_________ 

for Real Toads Art Flash. I chose symbolic.


10 comments:

  1. I love "every moment of forgetting has been a revelation of peace" and the wounded deer running fastest of all. Wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shay--That last line--chillingly brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We think the dead are the friend of wounded things, but no one has such kinder purchase or ear. They are the friend of the wound.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Every moment spent forgetting has brought peace, but we end up running anyway. I love this, Shay.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You make an excellent case here for the idea that what lives inside our skulls is as alive as we are, whatever its state of mortality. I am sick of the dead, myself, of their looming grins and their stolen teeth--a chilling, dark and brilliant piece, every word a diamond.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is just superb, Shay. The modulation of tone carries such significance from stanza to stanza. Thank you for participating!

    ReplyDelete
  7. most especially the final verse ~

    ReplyDelete
  8. That last line was perfect for this poem, Shay.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Of course it does. Your metaphor is both tender and fierce. Just the right mix of Fireblossom. - Jen

    ReplyDelete
  10. “The wounbeb deer runs fastest after all” I really like the grit, courage, and defiance that i rich in this piece Shay!

    ReplyDelete

Spirit, what do you wish to tell us?