If I could lay hands on a visa
issued by lost grandfathers--
some kind of ticket scented
with summer dirt roads--
then I would wear a hat made of dandelions and leave.
The present moment
is just a rented room.
Poor child,
yesterday has vanished,
today was born already packing its case,
and tomorrow is asleep in a distant curtained chamber.
It was just a moment ago,
just a breath, when I was
new in the world and believed the world new as well.
Whose hand was on the door
that was closing even as it opened,
wearing the vanishing morning like fleeting fashion?
If I had a passport
made of more than shifting memory,
I would take a hired car
to shores where the waters say,
"Where have you been
delayed so long,
and why dear heart do you ask, through tears,
to be told your own name?
_______________
Music: Cesaria Evora Sodade
From first line to last, I held my breath as I read. "The present moment is just a rented room" is arresting because it is so true - and the closing lines go right to my heart.
ReplyDeleteI love this. Especially the first stanza and that "The present moment is just a rented room"
ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful, Shay. It's right up there with your best. You captivated me from the first stanza onward, and how bittersweet it becomes. Love your words <3
ReplyDeletep.s. I really want to add to your word list but I get the feeling you're soon to add another one so I might wait for that one if it's today?
I'm actually leaving last week's up for an extra week cos only Sherry and I wrote for it last week, so climb on board!
DeleteOkay, great!
DeleteToday was born already packing its case, that is so true. This is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteyou really are a glitch in the matrix (and there is no spoon so we have to eat pudding with our hands) love the timefullessness of this, had to read it a few times to get half-a-grasp, it's a twister, i like that. i felt the ghost, the loss and the sadness in the ending. i enjoyed this shay
ReplyDeleteheh, can't log in with google for some reason
ReplyDeleteThe present moment
ReplyDeleteis just a rented room. --- So evocative
Well, Shay, add me to the list of those who lost a heart beat with " The present moment is just a rented room"!
ReplyDeleteAnd as if that wasn't enough, here comes the epilogue question"...through tears, to be told your own name"!!
Brave, Shay!
*Brava...that was!.. but keep brave as well🙂
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely take on this poem, I enjoyed reading it,
ReplyDeleteNice line: "today was born already packing its case"
ReplyDeleteThat was my "anonymous" comment above about today already packing it's bags. Hopefully this comment identifies me.
ReplyDelete"The door/that was closing even as it opened" --- killer line about life grounded in swiftly passing time, and the passage to knowing one's self, the desire to be known, or at least "to be told your own name." Fantastic.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written!
ReplyDeleteNo more todays nor tomorrows and the passport and shifting memory line is amazing. The whole poem is moody and wistfully sad - Lots of thought put into this poem.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Six? Without question.
ReplyDeleteThis hit me like some artwork does - on a totally physical level.
Love your writing Shay.
Hope you'll excuse me....gonna read your Six again...
Very nice! Love to read such fine poetry in a Six!
ReplyDelete