working draft
My mother, who died yesterday, told only half a story
half a life through muffled sighs -
her English Tea Biscuits
scattered about her crossword puzzles
what was that word - or this
but these are not the words I use - or know
My mother, who would rarely let slip a laugh, or tear
read Whitman - stooped by the bookcase
uncommitted and sheepish
burgundy cardigan held tight
soft raspy tropes whispered this way and that
for no one - it seemed
her jesters abandoned halfway through a triumph
a heartache almost uttered -
never revealed - or hinted at
private conversations poetry
by dayle brownstein
Oct 9, 2013
Jun 24, 2013
storms
So you're a storm chaser now
of all things
you on the playground bench
content
chasing storms
and fierce skies now
you - facing downward
still
still
so you're racing now
chasing the blood orange that peeks around the lofty steeple
you on that tattered swing
shuffling your feet
too still
and you scoff at the lightening now
shaking it off
mocking it's distance
you're safe now
or indifferent
or sick of stillness
of all things
you on the playground bench
content
chasing storms
and fierce skies now
you - facing downward
still
still
so you're racing now
chasing the blood orange that peeks around the lofty steeple
you on that tattered swing
shuffling your feet
too still
and you scoff at the lightening now
shaking it off
mocking it's distance
you're safe now
or indifferent
or sick of stillness
Feb 23, 2013
dim
There's something about those days called drab -
drab to some -
"dim" - I prefer
and relish them
vague, and unassuming
and opaque
shielding the noise and sharpness
of the universe
so they don't comment on every flower
and butterfly
and they don't tell stories in the clouds
and the dingy whiteness can tire
but still, I can breathe
and take cover from those days
too splendid and eager -
and go about things.
drab to some -
"dim" - I prefer
and relish them
vague, and unassuming
and opaque
shielding the noise and sharpness
of the universe
so they don't comment on every flower
and butterfly
and they don't tell stories in the clouds
and the dingy whiteness can tire
but still, I can breathe
and take cover from those days
too splendid and eager -
and go about things.
Feb 19, 2013
Almost the Moon
It turned out not to be the moon
against the backdrop of the little humble dinner
and of course I knew this
What moon had I seen of such stature
looming crisp and perfect and poised
against a hungry sky
but being in no hurry to know
I lightened each time I swerved
down that road - towards my maybe moon
full of promise and awe
clean and luminous and brilliant
like the cathedral window it was
it's not always the right time for truth
and never during the gift of a perfect moon
celestial or otherwise
and lest it be thought I was deprived of that moon -
perhaps -
but it was almost the moon
and I gasped just the same.
against the backdrop of the little humble dinner
and of course I knew this
What moon had I seen of such stature
looming crisp and perfect and poised
against a hungry sky
but being in no hurry to know
I lightened each time I swerved
down that road - towards my maybe moon
full of promise and awe
clean and luminous and brilliant
like the cathedral window it was
it's not always the right time for truth
and never during the gift of a perfect moon
celestial or otherwise
and lest it be thought I was deprived of that moon -
perhaps -
but it was almost the moon
and I gasped just the same.
Aug 10, 2012
gray
I like the hard gray days
soft inside and no one calling
and stillness
The steely drenched days
wrapping around the hours
speechless.
soft inside and no one calling
and stillness
The steely drenched days
wrapping around the hours
speechless.
Aug 4, 2012
About a Pink Moon
It was embarrassing asking if it was the moon out there
and more so, that it had given me a fright
sitting as it did
low on the sea - pink and full and only just visible
but I wasn't sure -nor sure that I cared to know
as if it might come at me
being level - as we were
each at the edge of the sea, or so it seemed
me on my side, she on hers
and she - so much more equipped, round as she was
to tumble over the sea
careening in pink voluptous bounces
dwarfing sails, and children, fast and effortlessly
and putting out the day.
and more so, that it had given me a fright
sitting as it did
low on the sea - pink and full and only just visible
but I wasn't sure -nor sure that I cared to know
as if it might come at me
being level - as we were
each at the edge of the sea, or so it seemed
me on my side, she on hers
and she - so much more equipped, round as she was
to tumble over the sea
careening in pink voluptous bounces
dwarfing sails, and children, fast and effortlessly
and putting out the day.
Jul 9, 2012
Before the Morning
You could forget this part of the world
before the morning
This part when the coolness even in the dead of summer
reminds you that you are alone
For now anyway
You could forget, certainly,
that the lights and the height
and the traffic didn't come with the world
That this is it
For now
And you rarely remember that you are still afraid
or that you long for sameness
that you will-away the early hours you had craved
that in spite of your speed...
you would devour comfort.
before the morning
This part when the coolness even in the dead of summer
reminds you that you are alone
For now anyway
You could forget, certainly,
that the lights and the height
and the traffic didn't come with the world
That this is it
For now
And you rarely remember that you are still afraid
or that you long for sameness
that you will-away the early hours you had craved
that in spite of your speed...
you would devour comfort.
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