lie across the taurobolium
at the motherless spring
without feeling, without breath;
pale mulberries infiltrate the wind
in ice dark of obscured dreams
by the sea-green void, vanishing by the surf,
as the fresh dew slumbers in the whiteness of morning
exorcised with twigs of the dying trees.
flicker with the nightly, strange sea,
the augur bleeds madly onto the sand
behind the betrayed fog mire
these helpless longings, starved in the droplets of mist
in the solitude of each shadow that breaks each rock and stone
broken in its place like a fallen leaf lifeless in the stretch of dreaming,
expanded in the tarry blue in ancient loss, what it truly means to grieve,
shivering god-like, shivering emerging from a cocoon;
the robin’s nest is naked, violently absent, as it shutters across the viaducts,
blending with the past—the secrecy having gone, tormenting a breath
in the dark snow, a wound in the interstices, each winter returning
disappearing in another’s cruelty, remembrance; rejecting the kiss upon flesh
the wind retreats upon you, waving a leaf, the dance of a prelude in a whispering fear,
the world dreaming.
© 2020 lucysworks.com All Rights Reserved.
Reposted for the dVerse Open Link Night. It was so fun to listen to everyone read live and I am especially honored to have met you all during the live poetry reading. Happy Thanksgiving. 🙂
aerie to the nest she flew
as the chicks grew
they still wanted food
and were free to fly
bush
rush
kush
blood lust
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Beautifully penned. I really love the details in this one.
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thanks some from your lines and some from when i was a kid.
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WOW Lucy. What amazing poetry. It is beautiful
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Thank you! That means a lot to me. ❤
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You are SO welcome. You are an amazing poet. ❤️
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😊 ❤
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Beautiful collection of phrases here
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Thank you so much! 😀
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Beautiful and devastating all at once! I love it!
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Thank you!
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Very evocative. A favourite piece I’ve read today
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Thank you so, so much! ❤
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Loved it
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Thank you!
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My pleasure, Lucy!
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🙂
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Fantastic imagery!
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Thank you! ❤
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You vocabulary is amazing and the flow to this poem was a treat to the mind
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Thank you so much for the wonderful comment. 😀
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My absolute pleasure
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Vivid imagery, emotionally evocative, and for me very much a heartfelt poem…..
“in the solitude of each shadow that breaks each rock and stone”
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Aww, thank you so much Ivor. So glad you enjoyed this poem, and as always, I appreciate your feedback. Thank you. 🙂
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And as always, entirely my pleasure….😀
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Congratulations!
I have nominated your blog for the Awesome Blogger Award.
More about this nomination is at
https://baroquetobrioche.wordpress.com/2020/05/29/awesome-blogger-award-thank-you-dear-kitty-some-blog/
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Lovely imagery!
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Thank you!
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This is so vivid and beautiful
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Thank you. ❤️❤️❤️
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My absolute pleasure
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I absolutely love this piece 💕
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I’m so glad. Thank you!
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Wow 🤩
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❤ ❤
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Didn’t understand anything but I support your work! Make a pleb like
Me understand what you were trying to say
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Thank you. ❤️ This piece is easier to look at as a stream of consciousness than anything purely concrete. What I had in mind for this poem was the inner torment of grief, and how on the other end of emotions, there’s denial which can be delineated darkly as dreaming. I also included the imagery of the world “dreaming” when there’s so much grief manifested in life.
I hope that helps you understand the poem a bit better. I honestly write on emotion than meaning in mind, so trust me, I get confused in some areas of my poetry, thinking “What did I intend here? What did I mean with that line?”
Thank you so very much for the feedback. It’s greatly appreciated.
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Late November freezes the soil and soul this way, a nadir of absence we all must winter through. … the latin inflections (“taurobolium,” ‘viaduct”) somehow remind me of David Jones, who felt there was much a-dream in the long fields of language, which you tend so well. Humanity has been failing at this longing game a long time … It makes the mood almost paralyzingly fraught. Magical, too. Well done.
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Thank you so very much, Brendan. Your feedback really impacted me as I share similar sentiments on: “Humanity has been failing at this longing game a long time.” It’s a game that can be like chess, we either understand the reality and the gravity it imposes or we do not; we then can be in denial of not only our senses, but the state of the world and the grief it can bring. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts, I enjoyed reading them greatly. Have a Happy Thanksgiving. 🙂
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We are this little spot of the
World
A spot within the
Cosmos
Aware of world and cosmos
Spinning
within us
Failing long time
To plan to be able
to keep breathing,
We are the world
Dreaming,
Where do we go
When it
wakes up?
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❤️❤️
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Stunning, stunning stream of consciousness flowing here, Lucy! 💝 I love; “flicker with the nightly, strange sea, the augur bleeds madly onto the sand.” 🙂
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Thank you so very much, Sanaa. ❤ ❤
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The many words and images that comprise the feelings and accompany grief are so personal. Thank you for sharing yours.
Wishing wellness,
Ali
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Thank you, Ali. ❤ ❤ Wishing wellness and health to you as well.
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I enjoy reading your poems about grief and death, as if you are always finding new ways to show your emotions.
This imagery to me is tragic: motherless spring and the robin’s nest is naked, violently absent, as it shutters across the viaducts. The spring season is beautiful, but death is always present when life takes a step forward from the dark snow.
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Thank you so very much, Grace. You are correct when you say that I try to find “new ways to show my emotions.” That is exactly what I aim in my poetry and I hope I have achieved it as you say. Thank you for the wonderful feedback!
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Don’t be shy, your poetry is dark and stunning, and no one else could read it aloud with your inflections and emotions. Still, it was wonderful to meet you. This piece seems to be your present style while still forming. SOC is a good key to enjoying your work. I ,can write that way, unfettered, unhinged, tennis with the net down, but have difficulty “reading” with such abandon. Your poetic gift is rare, and your poetics are always fascinating.
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Oh Glenn, little do you know I am chronically, devastatingly shy. Hahaha. Next time I will read, but it was wonderful to meet you as well! Yes, this piece was during a transitionary period in my poetry that I was still trying to work on. I thank you again for your lovely comments, they truly make my day and I appreciate them greatly. Thank you for your support. 🙂
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Spooky stuff! Sorry I missed the live event today, I would have liked to hear you read this.
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Hahaha, thanks! I actually did not read this during the live event, only opting to meet everyone and hear their beautiful poetry instead. 🙂 I am very shy, so I hope next time I find the courage to read aloud my work. Thank you, though.
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You’re very welcome, Lucy.
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Love reading this as a stream of consciousness piece – wonderful how take an image – and empty robin’s nest – powerful in itself – and then extend it – ‘violently absent’ – and then further – so it’s like a note in this dirge. Also I’ve just started re-reading Ovid’s Metamorphoses – and the themes of transformation (often times painful or ridiculously disproportionate) – echo here.
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Thank you very, very much Peter!
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pale mulberries infiltrate the wind
in ice dark of obscured dreams
by the sea-green void
Wow! the ice dark of obscured dreams is where so many are wrapped up in their cocoons these days! Well done Lucy!
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Dwight, thank you so much! ❤ ❤
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So, so beautiful, Lucy! It was great to e-meet you too. I’m thinking of holding a poetry challenge on free verse: would you mind if I recommend your site for an example of how to do it! Your work is breathtaking 🙏
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Thank you so very much, Ingrid, and I would be more than honored if you recommended my site. That makes me very happy and I thank you again for the kind words. ❤ ❤
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Beautiful Lucy, where have you come from girl. Love it ❤️
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Thank you! 🙂
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Not sure why it sent twice sorry lol…
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‘..shivering,,,god-like…emerging from cocoon…
Just a small, magnificent snippet from an overall outstanding work. Lucy.
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Ron, thank you dearly.
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You have made excellent use of hints of colour in this poem, Lucy, especially in ‘pale mulberries infiltrate the wind’, ‘sea-green void’ and ‘expanded in the tarry blue’, dotted among the ‘whiteness of morning’ and ‘exorcised with twigs of the dying trees’. I love how it links to the taurobolium in the ‘augur bleeds madly onto the sand’, baptism with the blood of a sacrificed bull – a horrific cult ceremony. I also love the phrase ‘tormenting a breath in the dark snow’, which made me shiver and pull my blanket tighter around me. I’m so glad you joined us for OLN Live!
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Thank you so very much, Kim. I am glad I joined too, it was lovely to meet you all. 😀
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I’m sorry I missed “meeting” you. I really love this poem full of such gorgeous phrases and imagery. I know this is not what the poem is “about,” but in my mind, I saw a scene of dream worlds opening–or past and present meeting in dark and cold–sacrifices, altars, and priestesses. . . Anyway, quite a vivid scene. 😀
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There’s always next time perhaps. 😉
Thank you so, so much Merril. I love what came to you when reading my poem. ❤
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You’re welcome, and yes, maybe next time!
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This is a beautiful stream Lucy.
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Thank you!
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I really enjoy your SOC Lucy, and in one month, I am hoping you read one of your pieces — please! It would be such a pleasure to hear you. It was very nice on Thursday, to put a face to your name… 🙂
FYI — About a decade ago, I published a site briefly under the pseudonym, WineDarkSea. The title of the site was “re-flect”. It featured 26 of my SOC pieces. Here is the address if you’re curious. https://winedarksea.wordpress.com/ It is now an archived, long- inactive site — so the comments are no longer active.
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Thank you so much, Rob, and I will definitely try to read one of my pieces next time. You’re very kind!
Will also check out your site. 🙂
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Lucy, your post yesterday for abide did not come up when I clicked on it. Said it could not be found!
dwight
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Huh, that’s odd. Here’s the link to the poem: https://lucysworks.com/2020/12/01/none/
So sorry about that.
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Thanks, I don’t know why it did not come up earlier!
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