This blood thing
Is just between us
You hold the blade
I hold the sink
Pigeon washes in the river
I wash in spit and cold water
Never quiet
Never quiet
I don’t think Birdman speaks either
The smell comes through my coat
Never clean
Never clean
But the black blood
Collected
Under cloth
The smell of erosion
Is like flowers
On my lips
Like his breath
Caught in my hand
We don’t take our coats off
We don’t have to
We no longer belong to the world
Always moving
Always outside
No place
To rest
To stop
It is like there are secret words
I must find
And when I find them
I must say them
And when I say them
They will let me stop
Let me rest
So many words
Burst my head
Make me want to fall on the river
Bed
And wash
Myself
Clean
Like pigeon
Just between us
I do not want this blood thing
I want the secret words.
Just between us...
ReplyDeleteLove the way you start us here
lead us through a process
expose us, show us, teach us
then take us right back
to where you began
having changed us
having changed
Maybe that is the frustration Kim..for me it remains the same over and over..to new eyes it is perhaps clearer..well as clear as j can be!.. Thank you kindly x
ReplyDeleteI love the spiritual undertones that play in your poems ... superb !!!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Green Speck..glad they are there..
Delete'We don't take our coats off' None of us do Jae, none of us stay long and none of us really know each other. I only know a few secret words, one of them is Love and the other is Trust...but have they got me in a lot of trouble too! But I still use them.
ReplyDeleteThank you OldEgg.. I guess that is the nature of the world..for some..perhaps it's not the individual words but how you put them together..that determines what people make of them..perhaps..happy Saturday..
DeleteAnd when I find them
ReplyDeleteI must say them
And when I say them
They will let me stop
Let me rest....love these lines!
And thank you Robyn..
DeleteJae, I think the secret words change from time to time. At least that is MY take. Whenever I think I have them figured out, someone changes them.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point Mary..maybe that's why they're so tricky to find..and say..thank you..
DeleteI know your search, I search, too. Each day a new search begins. Yes, I think the words wait for us, and perhaps they search for us....we are the one's that must "see, know and say." Nature is always a good guide.
ReplyDeleteThankyou Annell..maybe it is that nagging itch attached to waking up each day..that though we busy ourselves with the fundamentals there are always much bigger questions lurking behind the canned goods section..maybe the itch comes when we know that there probably are no answers other than heat well..serve and enjoy..happy Sunday..Jae x
DeleteI too loved "we don't take our coats off"... such an apt descriptive for so many of our relationships in life. Ahh yes, and the words, always there, always scrambling, always screaming to be let out. My mind never rests from the words, and I doubt that yours does either.
ReplyDeleteThank you Josie..though words have their benefits I do wish at time there was an off switch..
DeleteThe secret words are the meaning of life, but we live in a world that is so superficial, it's hard to find that meaning, those words.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea, though, that if one only had the right words, one could finally rest.
Thank you Ann..yes words are like a currency of sorts..although as you say far more valuable and hard wearing..thank you..
ReplyDeleteI bring you the secret words, Ms J, courtesy of Mr G
ReplyDeleteCold metal walks on my forehead.
Spiders search for my heart.
It is a light that goes out in my mouth.
At night, I found myself on a pasture,
Covered with rubbish and the dust of stars.
In a hazel thicket
Angels of crystal rang out once more.
--Georg Trakl
Dear Ms Z thank you to you - and Mr G - for these secret shining words..I think I know those angels x
Delete