Between May and December
many things change.
I’ll do the falling
if you’ll clean
up the mess,
she says with closed eyes,
glowing. All the stars
in the universe
won’t save you from
breaking. Tamed,
she walks the snows
like lonely Saturday nights,
suffers too many li(n)es
woven into two-
hour unhung
afternoon
windows. Un-
heroed: she offers
the exquisite absolution
of her scars,
pale scalpel-sighs
on wrist & thigh & page,
stale redemptions in
unlit firelight.
I won’t burn
without you.
the tenth muse 
And unusual and beautiful poem. Love how you wrote “li(n)es”.
Thanks!
Thanks, Emilino, for your comment and for dropping by!
pale scalpel sighs – I would think they are screams
silent screams, maybe? such scars tend to be things you hide…
in love with the breaks, lady 🙂
thank ya, darlin’ 🙂 headin’ up Winc. way this weekend, tho i reckon you’ll be busy with fam & stuff. we gotta connect face-to-face one of these days…
unfortunately, i don’t get any extra time off for the holidays. my boss is quite the scrooge and has deemed that if a holiday falls on a weekend, its our loss/his gain (as in he doesn’t have to pay any holiday time). you’d think that after putting in eight years of loyalty, one might see a little payoff..how long are you in town for? email me if you’ll be free anytime next week if you’re still around!
well bah humbug. we’re heading back to richmond on monday sometime, so prolly not this trip. 😦 do wanna hear about this coming book & your other new projects, tho… the teasers on your blog have me intrigued…
Love these lines:
I’ll do the falling
if you’ll clean
up the mess,
I won’t burn
without you.
Those last lines are my favorite, too. I wish you could have been there Monday night for workshop; I went through about five versions of this poem! Glad you’re feeling better, tho.
dang…great word play with li(n)es…the intesity at the end…the cutting…ack…all too real to me…and at what relief…hard read…
brian, reckon you’ve seen your share of experience with some of this; sorry if it was a story seen too oft for comfort. but, yeah, i’ve gotten in this thing recently of parenthesizing a letter to give the double meaning… not sure why. makes it difficult to choose how to read it aloud, tho.
a bright holiday season to you & yours, by the way. looking forward to seeing you again in the new year. 🙂
Intense finale and the form you’ve employed makes brings impact to the reader. Thanks for posting!
Joel, thanks for reading! You’re welcome back anytime. 🙂
This sang like a lone violin in a dark, grey evening concert…enjoyed it every word.
your comment is poetry itself, Joy. thank you, and for hosting.
li (n) es perfect! 🙂 nice! clever!
http://magicinthebackyard.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/polaroids-of-delilah/
Thanks, Kellie! Looking forward to checking out yours as well, first thing in the morning if I can’t keep my eyes open long enough tonight. 😉
Like how you set up your verse, the form truly plays to the words you bring forth, nicely done!
Pat, always a pleasure. 🙂
Come on…. such a great poet should know there are never too many lines until the one that kills you 🙂 anyhow stopping on by with a new name & the same old face to see your latest. Still reads wonderfully. Saw your comment on the use of walling off single letters, and thought about it for a while. I sense the double meaning could be amplified with a little exposition on both sides of the coin you create, but that of course is up to you. I happen to like it; anything that increases entropy works for me (and the universe, but that is really in the greater sense of things.)
So, hope your voice remains as strong as your writing. The world can always use more poets; I sense we have enough of everything else. Largely an opinion, to be sure, but isn’t everything these days? Seems I can’t wait to get back to it myself with more freedom to speak than I used to have. Hope all is well. I’ll enjoy reading your next poem. I already know that. Take care,
tacit acceptance
you know, i thought that was you, even before reading the comment. what’s with the new name? change in philosophies?
i like the subtlety in the (slightly) walled off single letters. just enough to give pause for a second, i think. i’m all for increased entropy, myself. heartily agree with what you said about the world needing more poets, by the way. that’s why we do what we do, ain’t it?
intrigued to hear what this new name/new space is gonna foster in terms of “freedom to speak.” let me know when you’re up and running, yeah?
also it’s been too long since we’ve brushed geographies in the physical world. we should remedy that, if occasion ever arises.
peace
–jsl
What’s the opposite of heartbreak? Freedom? hahahaha a story worth telling someday. Name the time & loc. My responsibilities are halved and it’s time for adventure. My page is up, but I won’t be transferring the old poems from TFBP. Easier to lose myself in the crowd via new name. Site is http://infantile-arguments.com. Not much up yet, but progress is being made slowly. Just like tacit acceptance of infantile arguments. But then, what can ya do but laugh & smirk when not allowed to laugh?
TA.
gettin curioser and curioser…
dig the new layout. let’s set somethin up after we get through this thing called Christmas, yea?
peace,
–jsl
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That’s a fun form. Very tight stanza control, very pleasing to the eye. 🙂