A turnkey sparks the dragons
Where crystal twilight trickles.
Stop.
Smeared shadows mourn looking glass—
No more.
Mother primes the engine,
Tear-laden, rain-streaked, the world—
Can you see it?
The rain,
Where it falls
It dances on the starlight of our—
Passing dreams.
The child seeks winged flames
Wreathed and wrought of golden beams,
Of fancies crafted, never birthed
But it’s not there, it never were
It’s Neverwhere for a reason, not—
Do they pay for lies?
What is a truth but
Some vision we go weaving
Through the strands of our reality,
This Life,
You can call strands what you will:
Good artists never see
Whole pictures till they’re through,
No more than wars and wyverns
Have the whole taste
Till the meal’s all burnt up.
It’s not a feast.
It’s nothing but.
Life is what you see.
Life is what you see—
But the picture’s spinning like a top
Balanced on the mind’s own eye.
* Got to get my writer’s self back into this blogging groove. It’s been a while since I’ve greeted you all with some poetry, so I hope you like this latest little bit of internal drama from this humble writer’s pen. Furthermore, I’m linking her up to the good folks at dVerse Poetry Pub, and tonight I do believe I’m going to go hunting back through all those other poets from whom I have been so long parted.
Additionally, I’m currently on the market for some good reading…if any of you have any writers or books to suggest, lay them on me, will you? I’m lost if I’m not feeding the literature beast within my soul!
Beyond beautiful words, well-written ! I loved it. Thank you for sharing this Chris.
.
I do suggest you read “The Witch of Portobello” and “The Devil and Miss Prym” by Paulo Coelho.
Take a look at my blog whenever you’re free
Thank you for both the kind words and the suggestions! I’ll be sure to check them out…not familiar with Coelho.
good artists never see whole pictures…love this…and i guess it’s true…we’re looking for the details, the emotions, the splinters…and wrap them around us…maybe i missed the point…but this just spoke so loudly to me chris…looking forward to next monday…smiles
i love this – it really is wonderful
I’d say you’re back with a vengeance in this one, Chris. Lord. Such a feeling of childhood destroyed, or at least profoundly altered and disturbed by the careless and unknowing forces of the world. The wars and wyverns line is killer.
If you haven’t read Ian M Bank’s The Algebraist and his other sci-fi novels about the Culture, they’re well worth a read.
Sci-fi! Could always use some quality new sci-fi…it can be hard to wade through the multitudes without recommendations, you know?
And I’m sincerely glad you enjoyed the piece my friend. Glad the feeling came across – wasn’t sure how the internal debate would go over with folks.
I liked this:
“What is a truth but
Some vision we go weaving
Through the strands of our reality”
and
“Good artists never see
Whole pictures till they’re through”
this sounds like truth to me.
I could recommend books till I ran out of breath. For poetry: Fernando Pessoa. For fiction: Paul Auster (start at the beginning w/The New York Trilogy). For nonfiction anything by Michel Foucault.
Now that’s what I like to hear – because I’m always looking for recommendations! And some people worry their recommendations just won’t apply…but fortunately, I’m easy, because I read just about every genre (sans Romance novels of course…got to draw the line somewhere, you know?) Thanks for the several ideas – I’ll be sure to check them all out!
Beautiful! I’m so glad to see you back, Chris. I look forward to reading more of your work!
I would say that you are back Chris. Nice write…” good artists never see whole pictures till they’re through…” I hope you feel better
life is what you see and it is definitely spinning like a top in my mind! So, good to see you back Chris
Definitely no rust on you. So true with the “good artists” line as well. For many times we truly don’t see what we’ve done until it’s done. Hopefully the literature beast gets fed, as there are plenty out there to read, some even rhyme, all the time..haha
For shame, Pat…speaking of rhyming and not even leaving me a rhyming comment.
For shame!
smiles. great to see you in the pub chris…hoping you pick a seat and stick around a while..love the two voices in this poem and the back and forth…really a strong write…even when done i oft want to go back to a picture…
I kept reading this one again and again. I even tried reading it as two poems, a poem within a poem, if you will. I thought about Alice in Wonderland in parts, but I think that might just be me off in another world myself as I’ve read other interpretations above. But, even without all the probable wandering I just did, there were great lines here like,
“No more than wars and wyverns
Have the whole taste
Till the meal’s all burnt up.”
Good to read your poetry again, Chris. Glad you’re safely to your new home and that you survived Nebraska
Nothing stirs this poet’s heart like hearing his works got minds to think and to roll. Alice in Wonderland you say? A curious connection…hm. But then, it was a curious work – I think my mind spawned it to combat those Nebraskan flatlands while I was passing through!
It’s Neverwhere for a reason, not—
Intriguing write tonight. I have no idea what your taste is so it is silly to make book recommendations but I’m going to do it anyway (because it’s too fun). Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood; Possession by A.S. Byatt; Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon; Shame by Salman Rushdie; The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai; The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (ok, ok I’ll stop).
Well thankfully I’m a silly person! So any recommendations would do…and you brought more than a lovely few. Already read the Rushdie and the Chabon, but I shall surely investigate the others. Thank you Anna!
You have an enviable way with words my friend…a fine write. // Peter
Hi, Rob Kistner here. This is a piece well written, engaging – good work… mine is here: http://www.image-verse.com/clown
Good artists never see
Whole pictures till they’re through,
This speak loudly to me … as well as
What is a truth but
Some vision we go weaving
Through the strands of our reality,
This Life,
Good write!!