Your fierce face
on the pillow—
brows spearing down towards
wide bisected koala nose
succulent lips
acute resilient chin.
Tonight you are troubled
by concerns beyond your scope:
baffling sorrows
pervading childhood’s lair…
Felt inside the strident pitch
of your father on the telephone;
the tremulous tone
of your mother’s lullabies.
Felt in the streak of the cat,
the slink of the dog;
felt in the dangerous pulse
of our home.
Comments 0
Wonderfully written!
Author
Thank you so much!
Sad, insightful and great word usage Michele. I loved “Felt in the streak of the cat/the slink of the dog”-that absolutely put me there.
Thank you, Pete! Much appreciated.
Sad, insightful and great word usage Michele. I loved “Felt in the streak of the cat/the slink of the dog”-that absolutely put me there.
Author
Thank you, Pete! Much appreciated.
Ah, Michele, you use such lovely words to so gradually build something that hits me in the heart.
Good Lord, I seem to make a habit of disturbing you with my poems, Robyn! I must try and write something cheery. (But then when I’m cheery I never feel like writing — too busy being cheery :-)) Thank you for your generous comment, Robyn. It means so much!
Ah, Michele, you use such lovely words to so gradually build something that hits me in the heart.
Author
Good Lord, I seem to make a habit of disturbing you with my poems, Robyn! I must try and write something cheery. (But then when I’m cheery I never feel like writing — too busy being cheery :-)) Thank you for your generous comment, Robyn. It means so much!
There are a lot of animals in that short poem, Michele…quite a menagerie, from the koala to the dog and the cat; childhood is almost an animal itself, not easily described.
Fascinating.
There are a lot of animals in that short poem, Michele…quite a menagerie, from the koala to the dog and the cat; childhood is almost an animal itself, not easily described.
Fascinating.
Author
Good Lord, I hadn’t even the noticed the prevalence of animals in this poem! Where does one’s mind go when writing? To strange places indeed… Thanks, Penelope.
Michele, What a rich–and, yes, heartbreaking– poem. Agree with Penelope–the vivid depiction of so many animals in this lair of childhood, along with the full-flavored “mouthfeel” of so many words, paint a portrait of danger that is more sensuous and visceral…appropriate for the threats to safety, survival you write about. Brava! xx
Thank you, Chloe ~ what incredible and insightful observations! Much appreciated.
Michele, What a rich–and, yes, heartbreaking– poem. Agree with Penelope–the vivid depiction of so many animals in this lair of childhood, along with the full-flavored “mouthfeel” of so many words, paint a portrait of danger that is more sensuous and visceral…appropriate for the threats to safety, survival you write about. Brava! xx
Author
Thank you, Chloe ~ what incredible and insightful observations! Much appreciated.
I am most taken by the stanza :
Felt inside the strident pitch
of your father on the telephone;
the tremulous tone
of your mother’s lullabies.
I wonder what the father is saying on the phone, and to whom. I wonder what lullaby the mother chooses to sing. Good writing, especially poetry, does not gives us the answers, it compels us to think, to wonder. Thank you for doing that with your words, Michele.
Hi Michael, I love that observation, that poetry compels us to wonder! Yes, that’s what I love about it too. Many thanks.
I am most taken by the stanza :
Felt inside the strident pitch
of your father on the telephone;
the tremulous tone
of your mother’s lullabies.
I wonder what the father is saying on the phone, and to whom. I wonder what lullaby the mother chooses to sing. Good writing, especially poetry, does not gives us the answers, it compels us to think, to wonder. Thank you for doing that with your words, Michele.
Author
Hi Michael, I love that observation, that poetry compels us to wonder! Yes, that’s what I love about it too. Many thanks.