I
One day it will happen –
Someone you love will die.
II
We came to bury only three things:
Your braid of hair, your father’s watch,
And the birds.
III
As a child I stood in the meadow
Watching the burning carcass of a horse.
Its belly ready to burst with flesh and fire.
Each hair singing from the inside.
III
Imbloc braid bakes in the hearth.
We pull apart the braids with our fingers,
It’s soft center, a miracle.
IV
I expand with cells and membrane.
Fingernails and eyelashes.
It burns orange and heavy.
V
My father tells me to drag the calf’s placenta
Far into field. He watches from the back porch.
I carry it in a plastic bucket.
Bury it he says, far down in to the Earth.
VI
The dog digs it back up and shares it with
The ravens.
VII
Do you remember when we stood erect our backbones aligned in pairs?
We made fire as the birds built nests in our hair?
VII
We came to bury our self.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
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6 comments:
It's a work in progress.
Hey Chris and Brent-
I know you two have a good collaboration going on here... if I'm intruding on it, please let me know.
I love the blog, but I cannot participate everyday, I'd like to still be part of it, that is if you two are comfortable with it.
Brandi
Brandi,
The first stanza is particularly powerful. I mean I like the images, they're so clear. But the first is so simple and powerful.
On a side note. I love that you participate when you can. A poem a day is a huge commitment, one that I probably would bow out of had I not thought of the idea. Participtate when you can. I'm totally cool with it. I always feel bad because I'm a big fan of your poetry and I feel like I never give constructive feedback, but I love that you contribute.
Thanks Chris!
There's a magical duality at play in this poem, fitting for the title. There is as much life in the expanding cells and membrane as their is death. The dance that life and death play are here in your words. I like how the first and final lines feel intertwined, as if looping around to form an infinite cycle. Is there a reason why 'III' and 'VII' repeat, or is that a typo?
Brandi, sorry it's taken so long to respond, busy last week, but in no way are you intruding here. I look forward to reading your work and like Chris I have a difficult time writing anything constructive because your poetry is so powerful.
In this poem, I really like the contrast of the first and last line. They say to me that we lose a part of our self whenever someone close passes on. I also like VII because of the little rhyme and the allusion to the title with the backgrounds. As always, I'm astounded.
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