Mariana in the morning
by Morning's light possessed
all afternoon she walks the cliff's edge
trying to forget.
Mariana by the window
in a yellow aster smock
She knows November brings the end
of all your foolish talk.
And the mermaids come to die
on her lonely rocky shore
they ask her for her anodyne
then ask for nothing more.
Mariana, bride of Sorrow
in Sorrow's cottage kept
She counts the coins the stars deliver
and medicates the debt.
Mariana, in her silence
braids the horses' tails
She knows November brings the ostler
with his shoes and nails.
And the mermaids come to die
on her lonely rocky shore
asking for her anodyne
then asking nothing more.
_______
It's the little details in this that facet the diamond and reflect the light of meaning back at us. I love the cadence, deceptively, elusively simple in contrast to the complex strands of content. I especially like the second and fourth stanzas, but the whole thing, with its mournful sense of far voices singing over the water, is just exquisite.
ReplyDeleteEverything about this poem is gorgeous, even in the sadness that it carries! I too love the cadence, and everything that Joy said holds true for me as well. Just amazing my friend!!
ReplyDeleteMy new favourite. I love the tale it tells, the character, the rhyming, the repeated lines. Loved every line as I read and marveled at how you DO this!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are seriously some kind of genius:
ReplyDelete“She counts the coins the stars deliver
and medicates the debt.”
This reads like both song and myth. The capitalization is effective at making Morning and Sorrow living (death) entities.
I am so glad you didn’t tell me the story and left me to wonder based only on the clues you gave. The growing collection of horses, for example. At the same time, the breaking of the wild. And the silencing of foolishness. The somber tone will haunt me, like any unsettling work of psychological suspense/horror.