I took today's prompt and fudged it a bit. I chose W.S Graham's Selected Poems, and the words 'us', 'our' and 'listen'. And the poem today is more a note to myself than a work of anything poetic. I'm uncertain about it, but I'm half convinced that uncertainty should be part of this poem, anyway. I don't want it to settle flat, I want it to rock a little like a boat with a bit of a leak:
Do not follow the dogs whose teeth
promise to save us from bloodletting.
Do not lie down, broadsided, clutching each
of our many mistakes like a brilliant-cut ring.
Sit where you are and keep breathing
listen to the music of your spine and how
your lungs bellow air, unevenly, alas -
To take oxygen and give back a clear smile
works okay.
5 comments:
Good advice. Nods*
"Don not lie down, broadsided, clutching each of our many mistakes like a brilliant-cut ring." - beautiful and wise.
-dlmoore
well done. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Thanks very much, all.
Now I look at it, I don't like 'alas' - I'd never use that word in speech, so why in writing? - nor so much the last verse, it's a bit limp. Or maybe not limp enough.
Love it! Especially "listen to the music of your spine"
Post a Comment