We work the soap
Into our broken skin
Chipped nails
A catalogue of hours
Time spent drumming
Our fingers
Fumbling along the threadbare
Edges of clothes
It would be good to drive
To the place of our mourning
But we are still
Stuck
Burnt out
Mourning the loss
Of our face
If only we could mend it
Polish it up
Draw a line over the chipped edges
Marks come in the mail
Letters and sentences
We tidy them away
Housekeeping
She calls it
Pushing away old dust
Shining up the new
Our hands are always busy
Our heads too
We long for emptiness
Space
As it is we stand alone
In the confines of our home
Tidying and scrubbing
Keeping house
Collecting words.
"It would be good to drive to the place of our mourning." That line really gets to me, Jae. We all carry so much grief. "Keeping house. Collecting words." I love that. I am loving your poems these days very much. Mind you, I always have.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this!
DeleteAs we get older our appearance is less important than when the world started looking at us. Then everyone wanted to wanted to know the outer you. As we grow older it changes as the person inside is where the genuine you stays holding fast to the character, wisdom and kindness that is the real you.
ReplyDeleteYou've woven the prompt words from The Whirligig into this piece deftly, Jae. I am astonished. I think the image that stands out most to me is the mourning of the loss of one's face. It happens to all of us. Some of us do try to mend, polish, or draw lines over its chipped edges. And some of us learn to accept what we see in the mirror each morning as that image changes from youth to old age. It is a grace, I think, to do the latter. Be well, you and Alice. Thanks again for this wonder-filled poem.
ReplyDeleteLove how you weave your words into such wise observations. We all have losses, reasons to mourn our life and our youth. But life proceed gracefully - wrinkles and all.
ReplyDeleteNice to read you again. You continue to be immensely creative.
wow this is quite deep For me it expresses how we always organise and plan. "Pushing away old dust Shining up the new" So true We just move on Store away our hurt instead of dealing with it and polishing everything up. Because we are overburdened and tired we have no energy left to dig up the stuff (go to that place of mourning) and deal with it.
ReplyDeleteGreat poem