The rain breaks the air
Like the shape of me
Clashing on the shoreline
Knocking on the door
Angry waves
Corpses hewn in sand
Barely strong enough
To bite the bullet
Make a stand
The inhalation shakes
Remind me that yes
I can be cruel
We all can
She says
Gently
Edging her way
Into the crook of my hand
Glue is meant to stick things together
Not pull us apart
If I am a flat line
You are my heart
One week
Two poems
Nothing absorbs the energy
Or the fear
Quite like the casket of the past
I am scared of coming down
With a bump
And a thump
Hyper tired
Super chaos
Recent highs and lows
Charge ahead
Push
Stretch
Pull
Travel far
Stay still
Hard to trust
How can well and blue
Slip away so easily
Turn to algae and slime
A dour brook
Berating us
Tanning our hide
You and me misspelled
Listen
She says
Everything you need
You already know inside
Let’s sail the high seas
Cast away the map of burns
I run my tongue over my chipped teeth
She turns the umbrella upside down
Where to
She asks
France Italy home
Home I say
Always home.
Whistles!! Oh my freaking lord :D Jae this is one of your strongest and most powerful poems that I have ever read! Especially touched by "Listen she says, everything you need you already know inside. Let’s sail the high seas, cast away the map of burns." Sigh I love the optimism that sings here. Beautifully rendered. Thank you so much for participating at Prompt Nights and for your constant love and support :D :D
ReplyDeleteLots of love,
Sanaa
Thank you Sanaa - I was worried I was heading out to deeper, darker waters again..i am glad there is a little optimism..thank you too :-)
DeleteWhat I get from this piece is the struggle people sometimes have in trusting their own intuition. It makes the last verse, with its desire for home, feel like a wish to return to a quiet space where intuition will speak more clearly.
ReplyDeleteAnd your intuition is spot on thank you Rommy - I think you have concisely expressed the dilemma we couldn't describe - thank you for that..
Delete" always home" returning to self, to center, returning to trust. That for me is your most powerful line of this poem Jae
ReplyDeleteMuch love...
Thank you Gillena - and trust and safety are what make a home where we are able to be ourselves - thank you for the insight
DeleteWe need no fortune telling, no cards, when all we need to know is already inside us. Brilliant. And so very telling.
ReplyDeleteThank you Magaly - and for 'telling' 💙
DeleteAlways home... yes.
ReplyDeleteThank you Freya
DeleteWhat a powerful write this is Jae. What a meaningful composition with all the given words filled with both love and uncertainty; humour and sadness. The symbolism of the upturned umbrella is also so significant, implying a strength of purpose. (Something like the "Singing in the Rain" movie sequence!)
ReplyDeleteThank you Old Egg - and what a thoughtful and insightful comment.. I vaguely remember clips of Singing in the Rain..shall have a look later - thank you :)
DeleteLet’s sail the high seas
ReplyDeleteCast away the map of burns
Nothing like venturing out through uncharted territories. There is so much to discover and so much to do!
Hank
Thank you Hank - you always convey a sense of adventure
DeleteThis has a lot of air pressure building to the breaking point. I love the casket of the past line.
ReplyDeleteThank you Colleen - a perfect analogy
DeleteJae i'm happy you dropped by my Sunday Lime today
ReplyDeletehave a good Sunday
much love...
Likewise thank you for your visit also Gillena
DeleteWhere do I start with this, Jae? Each stanza has its own theme...some of them very profound. Yes, glue should indeed keep things together! And, yes, that casket of the past! So much depth here!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary - much appreciated..
DeleteYes, it is always "home," but how to know when we arrive? Perhaps it is pudding? Or biscuits? Or you?
ReplyDeleteThat is indeed the proof of the pudding ;) Thank you most sweetly.. Alice says it's you too xo
DeleteYou are an exceptional poet. I look forward to reading you each week.
ReplyDeleteThese are my favorites:
"Corpses hewn in sand
Barely strong enough
To bite" ... This makes me think of weak zombies, just coming back to "life" ... or just awakening, I should say. But they're moving extra slowly and are kind of out of sorts, directionless, etc.
"Gently
Edging // her way
Into the c/rook // of my hand" ... VERY clever.
"If I am a flat line
You are my heart"
"the casket of the past"
"How can well and blue
Slip away so easily
Turn to algae and slime
A dour brook
Berating us
Tanning our hide
You and me misspelled" ... I LOVE this section.
Thank you Patchouli - a sweet comment :)
DeleteEven though it's dark I feel an optimistic thread in this poem that I have not read from your poetry... the last stanza of coming home is like balm to me.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bjorn - and for finding that thread..there is no place like it when we find it
DeleteAny poem that ends at home is worth every step to get there!
ReplyDeleteThank you Magical - we do so hope so..eventually...thank you
DeleteLet’s sail the high seas
ReplyDeleteCast away the map of burns
Sometimes those maps hold memories we would rather not re-visit and perhaps, it is best to burn them and start fresh in UN-charted waters. People can be cruel when they have their own hidden agendas and forget those that helped pave the way for them.
Thank you for your wise words Truedessa - UN charted waters sound good...and yes, when we are set on the wrong course we can sadly forget those who are helping us sail in calmer waters - thank you
DeleteWOW! One of the best of your best, my friend. I note so many absolutely phenomenal lines: "barely strong enough....to make a stand", yet I hear your strength, "If I am a flat line, you are my heart", "the casket of the past", the wisdom of "everything you need you already know inside", and how I LOVE "let's sail the high seas, cast away the map of burns". And then "Home....always Home." I like the image of the tipsy umbrella as the craft - makes for some bobbing up and down, but with enough faith and trust, it will hold...........The strength and hope in your recent poems makes me happy.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sherry - so much - and we love your support thank you..and Alice chuckled at the tipsy umbrella ;)
DeleteYes, it's time to act! 'Listen
ReplyDeleteShe says
Everything you need
You already know inside'.
Glad to read you, Jae :)x
And very glad to see you again humbird - thank you :)x
DeleteWhat I love in this one is the controlled madness of it. Like there's something almost ready to burst out, break the surface. But... it's controlled, subdued. Awesome, that's hard to do.
ReplyDeleteThank you Matthew - that would be the gift of Valium - sigh.. One day she's gonna blow! In all seriousness thank you..exactly how it feels..
DeleteA very fine piece Jae, we should always do our best to trust our own belief. The final lines for me long for the quiet space only found at home.
ReplyDeleteThank you Julian - yes the space we all hope for.. And quiet is key..
DeleteNothing absorbs the energy
ReplyDeleteOr the fear
Quite like the casket of the past
Isn't that the truth!! And we manage to find our way into it and out of it--or maybe the reverse--
I think it varies depending on how we are - what a wonderful thing to point out - thank you Audrey..lets hope out of it for some time yet
DeleteI didn't post a poem today, but glad I stopped by to read some. Yours is magnificent. I agree so much, now that I'm older, that everything I need to know is already inside. Life is the journery of discovering that inside.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week. Nice to read you again. I too have been gone a while.
Thank you Myrna - very glad to see you and read your comment..i am glad you stopped by too and hope that you are well
DeleteBeautifully penned powerful piece.
ReplyDelete"I am a flat line
ReplyDeleteYou are my heart" Love these lines :-) and "Home I say
Always home." It is so good if we can feel that way about going home.
Yes .. i don't think we're quite there yet..but hopefully one day..thank you ellecee
Delete"If I am a flat line
ReplyDeleteYou are my heart" I love these lines,,and," Where to
She asks
France Italy home
Home I say
Always home." It is wonderful if we can feel that way about coming home.
And thank you for coming back twice ;)
DeleteI agree with Sherry. I do sense more strength and hope in your recent pieces - and continue to find some of your lines, utterly fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThank you Wendy - very much appreciated
DeleteHi,Jae. This is beautiful and there are so many wonderful lines in this. But this stanza really struck me:
ReplyDelete"Nothing absorbs the energy
Or the fear
Quite like the casket of the past"
It's wonderful to be reading you again. I am going to try to start writing and posting again. I have missed your company.
Pamela ox
Hi Pamela - very good to see you too and look forward to reading more of your work...sometimes a little break is good to recharge the batteries..i have missed your company and writing too - thank you..and also for trying to comment several times- i use comment moderation so was probably asleep when you visited 😴
DeleteLove the idea of riding the high seas in upturned umbrellas...perhaps safer in a quiet mill pond at my age.:)
ReplyDeleteYou're braver than us - we just chose imagination sailing ;) thank you Rallentanda
Deletehome is the only one refuge for the dead tired, exhausted, weary souls ....oh i could so feel this poem Jae...each line a beauty...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Sumana - yes dead tired is the perfect phrase..and if only there was home ahead.. one day..we hope
DeleteI love your work; it is always filled with so much imagery and deep-seated emotions.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much hervoice :)
DeleteI do enjoy your style of short, telling bursts covering such a spectrum of images and concealing any thought that some words were imposed.
ReplyDeleteAnd I enjoy and appreciate your insights - thank you very much colonialist
DeleteThank you Irene :)
ReplyDelete