Some of us understood
when we turned it over
and became more
intimate with what
the day had in store;
we learned
it is less interesting
to know than wonder.
So we closed the drape
with its bindweed pattern
and let the sun run
through its lines
until the pattern
became rehearsed, dry,
old fashioned as meter and rhyme.
We found so many of our
questions could be handled
this way, not answered or
laid to rest, but packed away
unsoiled by what we could not say.
Still, there was something we
wanted to ask each other and
it required us to hold hands
look over the edge, with eyes
wide, put our faith on the ledge
and walk, like A Man on Wire,
into the air where the only
question that matters is
how far do we fall before
letting go?
The sun, with all its spots,
keeps setting the tempo.
A beat that brings dancers
to their knees as they wait,
vibrating like holograms in
waves of heat. But you and
I have been through that
long slow dance of fate,
come out the other side
of time’s capriciousness
where the measure of
days, nights, hours,…
is as regular as the tide,
to find our dance can only
be finished in a dream.
Turning It Over
29 Friday Mar 2013
Posted poems
in
It is less interesting to know than wonder….
I always wondered why that is so.
I like this poem. I understand a bit of it. 🙂
LikeLike
holy crap – i was just in the middle of copying and pasting that very stanza…then realized there were several more lines in this poem i liked as well…nevertheless, funny how we were both caught by the same line. i agree.
LikeLike
ann, i am so pleased to know that some part of my poem is worthy of a copy and paste…thanks again for spending time with the poetry.
LikeLike
Thanks m’mm. I try to make my poems understandable but of course do not often succeed, at least not enough…so I am happy that at least some bit of this is comprehensible.
LikeLike
Make yourself happy! I don’t come here and just click a like. I really do read. 🙂
And sometimes I even reread. lol
When I did reread I came upon the word bindweed pattern. And I spent an enjoyable five minutes reading about bindweed. I had never heard the term before. So I learned something from your poem although probably not what you had in mind. 🙂
You know what kind of nonsense poetry I rattle off. Not much thought behind it. But perhaps somebody learns something.
LikeLike
Hahaha, I learned about bindweed when I encountered the word ‘convolulus in another poem…who can ever tell what we silly poets intend, eh?
LikeLike
yes, i agree – any artist that puts their stuff out their into the big, bad world accepts the fact that there will ultimately be countless interpretations of their work, and each one of those is just as important and valid as their intention. and anyway, intentions may change, even on the part of the creator, no? when one looks back at something one created some time back, maybe we even question where we were headed with it at the time…anyway, thought provoking stuff, indeed, ron.
LikeLike
ann, i agree with you – publishing a poem is an invitation to interpretation, and interpretation is in the mind of the reader. one of the experiences i am looking for when putting my poetry out there is finding out what the reader “thinks”…compliments are very nice, but the comments i love are the ones that begin “i thought” or “i felt”. it is unfortunate, in my opinion, that we don’t engage in more conversation about what we read, not in a workshopy, argumentative way, but just exchanging ideas, thoughts and feelings about what the poetry says to us…for as you say one interpretation is as good as another and THAT is one of the beauties of poetry for me. so here’s to provoking some thoughts.
LikeLike