Wednesday, 11 July 2012

Heaven


I pick up heaven
It is pale blue like a sheet
White around the edges
Heaven is marked by a boot print
I wet my finger
Try to take it off
It feels bad
You cannot step on heaven
I hold the paper
In the park
You cannot stay for long
Only a moment
This place is not heaven
Even though it says so
On the paper
In my hands  
I hope that heaven is better
There is no break in the light
I wait for it
I imagine it as a clean sheet
A soft bed
A place inside
A warm place
With cushions and blankets and noise
Good noise
Not bad noise
Bad noise keeps your eyes open
That is how it differs
when i walk i am safe eyelids flutter shutter little paper squares of rest but never rest never stop never come to a halt an end an end would be nice an end would be like heaven
The paper square is not an end
It is dirt left over from when
I was little
I think
Now I am as wrong as a boot print on heaven.


32 comments:

  1. Strong piece, Jae. Those childhood scars are tricky, but not impossible to remove. I especially like:


    ...dirt left over from when I was little

    and

    ... Heaven is marked by a boot print

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  2. Thanks Laurie..it was a trudge..unfathomable as a big box of numbers..

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  3. Somehow I think Heaven will be exactly as our minds would wish for it to be Jae. I also agree with Laurie, the dirt from our childhood isn't impossible to remove, it might take a few washes to get the stain out.
    Another powerful write. You're like me, I need peace to sleep, any noise at night (as far as I'm concerned) is bad noise to me too.

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  4. Thank you Daydreamer..you're right..a big quiet bedroom would be just fine as a heaven..

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  5. From the first line it was captivating. Any piece of sky is never always perfectly blue. The clouds and storms and lightning and pollution and smoke are just part of the sky, and they never make it less beautiful, just more real. People make mistakes - the important thing is that you're trying to scrub them off. Beautiful beautiful inspirational writing, as it always is.

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  6. may you always have your ideal heaven. I'm sorry that you had to go through that Jaerose.

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  7. How do you do it, Jaerose..such a flow always in abstract..challenging the reader...indeed you are amazing.. RS:)

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  8. never really believed in heaven, but now I want to....sounds so soothing ...... I found your poem beautifully wrought...

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  9. You know..sometimes I get a little glimmer of heaven...it is short lived and usually followed by rip your heart out pain...but God,it's so wonderful nothing can beat it..I'm smiling just thinking about it..now a lot settle for that even peace and safe serenity
    number but I'm saving that one for when I'm pushing up daisies..meanwhile I just keep on foxtrotting with giggles across my life and you should too jaerose:)

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  10. Thank you very much Scribbler...more real is a good way of thinking of it..

    Thank you very much Sheilagh..if you can think of it..it exists..

    Thank you very much Ramesh..as are you..

    Thanks Joanne..glad you could sample so kind of heaven..

    I like to think of you giggling and foxtrotting Rallentanda..i think I'm more of an awkward line dancer but still..always moving..thank you..

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  11. I don't believe in Heaven. Or Hell, either.

    God, if s/he exists, was clever enough to design us so that we could make our own Heaven. Or Hell. For some strange reason, though, most of us prefer to make a Hell for ourselves and jump right in.

    We are each gifted with the ability to create Heaven, no matter how deeply we've fallen into a Hell of our own imagining.

    You've written a lovely poem. Heaven as a piece of paper sort of illustrates my point. It's whatever you want it to be.

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  12. Thank you Ann..me neither really..hence why scraps of paper become important..although hells are frighteningly easy to cultivate..and nurture..now my noodle hurts..maybe tonight an aspirin is heaven :}

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  13. When I clicked over here, the song "Heaven" by Live had just started on my internet radio. Serendipity.

    The boot print on Heaven is so vivid. Excellent writing.

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  14. Jaerose you have an incredible talent for drawing us in, filling us with emotion and telling us a story without revealing the details. Well done.

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  15. When I get to heaven (some hopes!) I certainly don't expect to drag my past there too. I probably won't know I am there I will be a different person, spotless. I don't want to leave that dirty footprint either. How is it when you write your words cut right into our psyche?

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  16. I love this piece, Jae. You created powerful images of heaven, of perfection, and told the tale of we mere mortals trying to sort out where that is, what that is, and how we fit in. You touch hearts and tender spots with your references to childhood.

    I look differently at the boot marks. They aren't stains or damage, but are indicators of a road traveled, a season endured, and perhaps growth accomplished. Not lovely. Not ugly. They just are. And because of (or in spite of) the boot marks, we become our own true selves.

    I daresay not one un-smudged soul exists, here or in heaven.

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  17. Well, I think we all will find out what heaven is like.. I do know I would not want totally quiet. I think I will request of God, if He is taking requests, some Black Eyed Peas and Lady GaGa music in the background!

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  18. Yes. Yes! Everything that Kim said. Hard to imagine heaven without scuff marks or a prewashed sky without a rinse of human stain.

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  19. Thank you Alice..I love those serendipitous moments..

    Thanks Mary-Ann.. ;)

    Good point OldEgg..it would be nice to have a fresh start..i am sure you will have no problems with Saint Peter..thank you..

    Thanks very much Kim..the smudgings are unavoidable..

    Thanks Mary..i like the thought of you boogying away up there..

    Thanks Gabrielle..

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  20. Dandelion Girl12 July 2012 at 03:38

    Love this image >"eyelids flutter shutter little paper squares of rest " you are always so original and evocative. No heaven isn't a piece of paper, but the longing is there and this is the first time in your poetry that I feel you are nearly there. Can touch it. Hold it in your hand.

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  21. Thanks Dandelion girl..it would be good to think it is almost within reach. ;)

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  22. oh I think it will definitely be good noise, and soft seats and music and no writers block and ice cream and cheesecake that is not fattening, no pain, all questions answered, fresh start - absolutely fresh start. The bible tells us that our sin will be cast into the sea and in the new world there will be no sea...all my mistakes will be gone and all the questions I have will be answered. And I'll be eating cheesecake. did I mention cheesecake? I'll save you a piece :)

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  23. There are so many wonderful moments in this piece, Jae... the good noise, the pillows... the run-on phrase with your eyelids. And finally, the boot print on heaven. Eloquently optimistic, that's my take. The old dirt will wash away one day, I know it. Keep going, girl. Love, Amy (my #500!!)
    http://sharplittlepencil.com/2012/07/13/twofer-serenity-leaders-and-bleeders/

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  24. Dee cheesecake is heaven..let's share a slice on a comfy sofa..mine's vanilla..and yours?..thank you..I like this picture ;)

    Thank you Amy..I am nothing but a slugger..even despite not wanting to slug many things out..thankyouthankyou.. x

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  25. I've never really believed in a heaven or a complete end. I think that the cycle is somewhat eternal. I put my faith into dust and particles and light. I think that light is unobtainable without a thumb and a boot print. It's hard to accept a chain of reality without the acknowledgement of order through some sort of chaos. The heaven in your piece reminds me of the womb: warm, hopeful, regenerating, and real. I think the other heaven is made out of plastic.

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  26. Thank you Archna..for seeing a real heaven in there..

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  27. Ah, a pale blue heaven. I could get used to that.

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  28. It would be good..thanks Ben..

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  29. yes this feels familiar
    feeling very mortal
    in an exquisite ecology

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  30. what a poetic comment..thank you Lucy..

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  31. But what is heaven for, if not for collecting boot prints?
    I love that you set the stage with the "pale blue sheet", yes I think that is heaven or a love note just for you. I love this write! Brilliant!

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  32. Thank you Annell..Blue like your sweater..which I can see as you work in your studio ;)

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