Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Then




I've found the deepest words come from the deepest place.  This week's image from The Mag brought me back to such a place, so here it is. i added a line and I'm pleased about that. 

Melancholy


How far is too far?
Sometimes, after midnight,
I stretch my fingers so they extend like perfect pencils
And I try to imagine that in the act of drawing lines and circles
I can span the distance and straighten fate
Like red  hot  steel
So that it curves around your driveway
Instead of around our destinies.
.
I;m not complaining, you know.
How lucky can a person be to 
Live with a heart that deepens and expands
Through this connection that 
Despite every outage and short circuit
Sparks its way into distant light
And  guides and replenishes 
The little chair by the door.

I will never complain.
I learn to wait:
It’s a winding train
On its way to fate.

There will be times when fate vacations
And so will we.
There will be times when we forget altogether
And pass the sugar only to chuckle 
That we’ve forgotten that even with extra wooden slats
there’s not a  kitchen table in the universe
that can extend that far.

And there will be a time, or two, when the phone rings 
Probably Before sunrise
And as the receiver lies flat 
 one of us is on a plane,
not to rejoice but to rejoin.
When my daughter was little
I thought about the end of the world
And I wondered if I could reach her 
In time.
 I wondered who I would race to
If there were only seconds before the island
Closed shut.
I didn’t know then that I would ask these questions
For all of my life.
I didn’t know then that 
I will one day close my eyes,
And so will you,
And hope that in that moment
We have one last riotious laugh.

I didn’t know that loving you,
Meant that life would then be lived
In a certain absentia.
Not less full, or wonderous,
Not less engaged or enigmatic
But a little like the melancholy
Of a dark sky missing one star.
It’s only one star,
One among thousands,
But in the great scheme of things.
It’s a black hole with neon flashes.
But we own this sky,
Me and you.
And then, blue angels standing guard:
It’s me.

This post was inspired by The Mag. There you'll find some fine writers and poets. Thanks for the privilege.


Love

kj

22 comments:

  1. I love love the fingers like pencils thing...wonderful write...and welcome to The Mag!

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  2. So beautifully written KJ! A life lived with the absence of a little melancholy sounds like a fine thing. You give hope of that accomplishment. I so loved all the word pictures in here...the extending table, the sky just one star short. I get to "Bravo" back at you friend. Just awesome!

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    1. Thank you Annie. The hope I felt when this was written did not sustain. But I look back and am I glad I felt this way

      Love
      kj

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  3. The last stanza leaves my stomach in a knot. I know about the sky and the stars. I feel this piece through my own lens and it will linger when I go. It could be me, but there is deep pain admitted and mingled in resolve here.

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    1. Oh Amy, you got this; love wrapped on a deep pain, a willingness anyhow. Thank you

      Love
      kj

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  4. OH!
    A fabulous write, kj!
    So many places to get lost in this one,,,wandering into my own story,,,,, but this part:

    "I wondered who I would race to
    If there were only seconds before the island
    Closed shut"

    gave me goose bumps.
    As did the chair by the door, the star,the table, the pencils, the driveway.
    Please do more of these. Please?

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    Replies
    1. Babs, ever notice it's harder to write deep when all is well? So it is for me! Your support and praise is gold to me, my friend

      Love
      kj

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  5. Reflective poetry,
    especially late at night
    brings its own melancholy.
    Dark days — the end of the world
    dark nights — missing a star.
    But also an expanding heart.

    Nicely written.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you rob.it's all true. I know you know

      xoxo
      kj

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  6. nice...love the fingers of pencils and you ave a really nice flow....oy as you draw to a close though you cinch us up tight...really nice....

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    1. Hi Brian! Thank you very much. I cinch you up tight? Awwww!

      :-)
      Love
      kj

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  7. Ah...let the world end. It is already one solidly fucked up place as a whole and when the individual despairs in it, then the circle is completely closed and that missing star, that dark hole grows drawing the very fabric of space inescapably into it.

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    1. Mark, I hope you feel better today!!! You know I cannot fully agree :-)

      Love
      kj

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  8. Some awfully good writing here; thanks.

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    1. Berowne, I meet you through Shakespeare
      :-)

      Thank you very much for your comment about my writing

      xo

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  9. Beautifully written; I still have not learned yet how to wait. I'm hoping my entire life doesn't go by before I learn that skill.

    Your writing is such a treat. :)

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    1. Tracy, I'm still learning myself. Plus I'm learning about my own company.

      I am behind reading two of your posts. But I will: I eiuldn't miss them

      Love to you Tracy
      kj

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  10. This is fantastic. I have never written such a long poem in my life- wow! I am in awe. And as for the new header- double awe. xx

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    1. Joss, maybe blabbermouths like me write longer poems :-)

      Love you,
      kj

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  11. Very lovely KJ. Very lovely indeed. I've read it twice. I think I need to read it about ten times more. Resolve. I need to get back to mine. **blows kisses** Deb

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    1. Thank you deb. I guess I felt resolve when I wrote this but love can turn and go wrong. Still, it's true I feel this way and i glad

      Stay strong !

      Love, always
      kj

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