If black flowers gave the earth its bones
and with their roots made purpose for a heart
could they--in profusion--each bloom alone
when innumerable leaves keep petals apart?
I bring you black blooms
which in dreams were red
strewn on a grave
which must do for a bed.
If black flowers' heads nod with heat
as a lover's will when told it's over
will frost only make them more discreet
and scornful of the simple clover?
I bring you black blooms
which October will kill
with inevitable, merciful
pitiless skill.
If black flowers die in a devil's vase
will November lament it's empty sill?
And will I curse your indifferent face
like black blooms preserved in a frozen rill?
I love the idea of the roots making room for a heart. I'm especially struck by the second stanza. My garden is definitely struggling in summer heat at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThe ominous feel of this is haunting, and reminds me of old houses, empty rooms, lost fantasies and broken hearts. What can we do when summer brings black blooms that eat at the very bones of the earth and drag the color from the world? Will October ever come to lay these avatars of death to rest? Or so I read. I also particularly like the second stanza, and the rhyme and cadence remind me of black horses with stately plumes beautiful in themselves,but pulling a hearse. Evocative work, Shay.
ReplyDeleteFrom the first vibrant red heartbeat to the frosty last, with so much in-between, how will we feel when it's over? The juxtaposition of "inevitable, merciful, pitiless skill" is perfect and cuts right to the cold, dark heart of the matter. That closing stanza, with its questioning curse, feels like the icy blade to match the indifference. Powerful poetry, Shay.
ReplyDeleteThere are no shades of gray here (shades of Plath though), only compounding blackness, and with each stanza, gets downright bitter. As Jen says, powerful poetry. And the imagery illustrative of a devastated heart struggling to endure the seasons.
ReplyDeleteHaunting yet lovely, this stirs the thoughts and emotions with the questions and visions it makes us see. I love when you post unprompted Shay, although I love when you post anyway!!
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