Sunday, August 15, 2010

A gift of green mussels gone

Flash of blown snow in August
an aural blizzard driven wavy
as memory mirrors one lined
lost lane to hard cracked two:

drifts mounded to sandy dunes
of seaside grass that trembles
near curtain slats partly open

five hooked fingers pull shell
to split full lips from beardless
sands tracked on nacre floors,
cooled by paneled ocean breezes
doors swollen down to aqua sea

and a sticky lizard laughs beige
at the gravity of stucco walls
gladly not to sweat the beady
orange tricks of salty summer,

the pink necklaces of blush
that fritter in the mangrove
provide cover for the titter
of bashful larks as the scrub's
unexpected scent of raspberry
envelopes an unplucked flower.

The scene not too unseasonal
to offer wry spreading frost
webbed silver in spun summer
causing flashed peaks to stiffen
with the surprise of early chill:

to trace back crash to Wednesday
in the boney script come please,
penned in aqua ink the day before,
imagined blue flats a foundation
for the invite shy of bas-relief

the wet release at lost belief,
a delight to the slippery slip
a worn cloth belt champion grey
on the frayed white damask sofa
and sliding on pearly puffy drips.

One last peak at tawny tight skin
a museum quality veneer covering
fictions and histories and exits,
one lasts as the mirror glazes

ice forward glacier white
a straight-jacket yardstick
from an under blaze heard
the swoop of three egrets four
is white down in eastern sky
and just back from the stars:

a gift of green mussels gone.

31 comments:

  1. I could stand a bit of blown snow about now. I get a kick out of finding your ubiquitous "beige".

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  2. Oh Master of Imagery, how you write. I feel as if each stanza could be it's own piece. How beautiful.

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  3. Beautiful and bright images indeed. Well done.

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  4. The green gifts are never gone, gerry. We just need the seasons, the shifts, to tell us that they are important, that they need to be noticed. From loss we learn. Beautiful writing.

    xo
    erin

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  5. @willow: me too. interesting observation on 'beige'. made me stop and think. of course i love color but also vowel sounds. longs seem like major chords and shorts like minors i guess. 'beige' has that great long A sound hidden in 'ei'. very groovy to me.

    @autumn: thanks for the read. check back next sunday. i'm on a steady one-a-week pace. it's about all i can do. day job and other the minutiae of life that is the thief of time. cheers.

    @mr. rat: thanks. love to see if you could put this to music. that would be a trip. steal the lyrics if you want to have a go. i don't believe in the private ownership of words. much obliged for the read.

    @akeith: cheers.

    @wiaw: true that. beautiful comment. thanks for stopping in. been enjoying your prose even if i only lurk sometimes. xo

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  6. Amazing poem full of incredible images.

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  7. @Judy: Thanks so much for stopping by. Glad you found something to enjoy.

    @lesfin: cheers. xoxo too!

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  9. Gerry,
    So relaxed was I after reading your words, that I was blind to some spelling errors!

    Your words evoke a feel of late summer, beach life, with all the props!
    I too think it would work well, with a good choice of music....
    Loved it!
    Best wishes, Eileen

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  10. @Eileen: Cheers. Sounds like you a nice holiday. I've only flown over the alps.

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  11. Hey Gerry, You taught me a new word. Nacre. God I love new words. Thanks for that. Also loving the titter of bashful larks. This piece flows.
    ~Brenda

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  12. @brenda w: Words, gotta love 'em. Thanks for the read. Cheers.

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  13. quite the cornucopia!! a feast for the eyes as well as the ears and tongue ( as in words slide off my....)
    i especially liked " stiffen with the surprise of early chill" .... this seemed to me a line that could easily describe an emotional as well as seasonal state
    nicely done

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  14. @Harlequin: Well, you know, I'm all about value for the consumer. Let the lines slide like a plate of freshly steamed mussels. I also like lines that are open to various readings. Ultimately, the poem is only a mirror for the reader. Thanks for the read.

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  15. Swoopy. As others have noticed - you get a lot of good lines in. "The wet release at lost belief" stuck out rather for me. Every poet is so different! Much enjoyed, and thanks for it. I like your investigable and invested way with words; like you say, good value that way.

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  16. very interesting eyewitness views.
    glad to see you at poetry rally.

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  17. ice forward glacier white
    a straight-jacket yardstick
    from an under blaze heard
    the swoop of three egrets four
    is white down in eastern sky
    and just back from the stars:

    love this, fantastic visual traveling.

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  18. I assume i won't be able to write such long and deep piece.
    glad to see the strength and insights from your words.

    thanks for sharing.

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  19. nice words.,

    http://www.travelwithchamz.com/

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