In the April of Covid 19
Day 4
“Time held me green and dying though I sang in my chains like the sea”
Dylan Thomas
Fern
once I wore
my green dress in a springtime
you dreamed me in the greenery of the
long-forgotten garden where you kissed me
on the ankle after a long absence of days that fell
like pennies down the dark green well that syphons
the time we lost when not spent entwining together
indulging the grassy pathways of rambling pleasure
I wore the green of eyes on my skin and cared for
nothing but that day but today the greenness
spirals in on itself rewinding all the loves
we dreamed alive now tight coiled
fronds of fern
centripetal
the dreamtime curls back to
beginnings back to the greener grove
and the interspace dissolving kiss point of origin
dwindling fall like grains of sand but never to oblivion
counting days does not remove the mystery of their passing
when souls break through the construct of empirical choice
to shatter the hourglass of expectations upon naked breasts
skin soft as paper thinly bleeding the pain of partition
my lips will move tenderly upon your open mouth
to drink these poems from your mind
I write among the stars
untiming
Time
the dreamtime curls back to
beginnings back to the greener grove
and the interspace dissolving kiss point of origin
dwindling fall like grains of sand but never to oblivion
counting days does not remove the mystery of their passing
when souls break through the construct of empirical choice
to shatter the hourglass of expectations upon naked breasts
skin soft as paper thinly bleeding the pain of partition
my lips will move tenderly upon your open mouth
to drink these poems from your mind
I write among the stars
untiming
In the April of Covid 19
Day 5
“For the country of death is the heart’s size and the star of the lost the shape of the eyes.”
Dylan Thomas
***
Day 4
Skylover Wordlist: Fern
Play It Again Toads: Caution: Tender Buttons
***
Day 5
Skylover Wordlist: Paper
Play It Again Toads: Space/Time
***
Day 5
Skylover Wordlist: Paper
Play It Again Toads: Space/Time
Amazing! I'm not sure how Gertrude Stein it is, not being very well acquainted with her – but what fascinates me is that it is, I think, very Dylan Thomas.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your observations, Rosemary. I think it is quite Kerryish myself.
DeleteOf course, that above all. But somehow it reminded me of Thomas's lovely word-spinning too; not so much of Fern Hill as Under Milkwood.
DeleteGORGEOUS! And Dylan begins and the shape evolves...dare I say, a circle of love? And no gender specific pronouns so this can be absorbed, inhaled, by anyone and everyone if they can see themselves in the greening of life and love. GORGEOUS!
ReplyDeleteThank you Lillian. A circle of the fern frond rolled up is what I was going for, but love is certainly a circle. i am glad that it resonates for the reader in a more universal way.
DeleteThis is breathtaking Kerry! Adding my response for your word today too: https://charmedchaos.com/2020/04/04/kitchen-stripping/
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Linda.
DeleteThis is exquisitely drawn, Kerry!💘 The shape of the poem adds emphasis to the feeling of dreamscape especially with the image "greenness," spiraling in on itself "rewinding all the loves," sigh .. an absolute gem!👏😍
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Sanaa. I always like to know which images resonate with you.
Deletemy questionable (just because I'm not satisfied as such) efforts for the day ...
ReplyDeletehttps://indigomidnightwildchild.blogspot.com/2020/04/dark-horse.html
(thank you Kerry)
I admit I'm not overly familiar with Dylan Thomas - nothing specific jumps to mind, so I can't speak for his style, but I do find the quote you've used very interesting for its contrasts. And what is poetry, but contrasts?
I keep re-reading your poem, breaking the lines differently, as they are shaped on the screen/page, letting the various attempts carry their weight, allow the words to just sort of dance in the most delicate of whorls - so fern like - which is why I think I like this piece - the images morphing and blending on into the other, yet each holds its own tooth ... and I love the idea of long-forgotten gardens and being kissed on the ankle ....
there is an amorphous quality to this piece Kerry, even with the injection of specifics which ground us .... it's working its own particular brand of magic on me .... and what if anything, is not the slow unfurling of a fern from its basal nugget cluster, in a garden, brimming with many shades of green, far too many to name, anything but magical?
oh, yes, wearing the green of eyes on skin .... blissful this ...
Pat, your commentary is poetry itself. I love how your describe the fern unfolding.. the shape and colour, so much better than I found words for. thank you so much. This attempt at writing in a flow of phrases without stops is intended to get that morphing effect of the imagery, as i attempt to fuse metaphor to experience.. all quite experimental but I have grown tired of regular stanzas. just doing my own thing this April.
Deleteahhh ... that is precisely it, yes? "do your own thing" - play, experiment, enjoy the process, step/colour outside of the lines .... it all doesn't have to be "perfect" - what's important is to just allow oneself to show up and work/play .... a collection of sketches, as it were .... no one sits down and instantly creates a masterpiece, in any medium ... so take off your shoes, wiggle your toes, and settle in to dance a lovely, wild ride.
Deleteand thank you for your lovely reply ... I've always found it exceedingly difficult to write about gardens, plants, even as I spent over 20 years working in this field ... perhaps that is precisely why I have such difficulty with it ... it's like chasing dragonflies!
The shape, the story, the Kerryish vibe ~ I love it.
ReplyDeleteI love that you love it, Helen!
DeleteI love all the different shapes, Kerry, and the way you are channelling Dylan Thomas. If you remove the centering, your poem looks like a pregnancy bump, which is apt for the spring theme! The greenness of your poem is perfect and I love the very Thomas-esque lines:
ReplyDelete‘…where you kissed me
on the ankle after a long absence of days that fell
like pennies down the dark green well that syphons
the time we lost when not spent entwining together’.
I read it with a Welsh accent.
How blissful to hear it in a Welsh accent! Thank you so much, Kim.
DeleteBut this poem needed a second stanza to be whole, and hourglass-like in shape.
:)
"centripetal the dreamtime curls back to beginnings back to the greener grove and the interspace dissolving kiss point of origin," .. Your opening lines are a thing of marvel, beauty and genius, Kerry!💘 Love, love, love it!!🥰 🥰
ReplyDeleteSometimes I do not know where all of these words come from or where they are going, but I am thankful to have my loyal readers, who follow where they go.
DeleteAh, and the Time section is pure Kerry! A tour de force; an amazing progression of ideas and images flowing, building, morphing into each other, making a complete whole. The circular shape is very apt.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rosemary. I do appreciate your thoughts on construction and expression.
DeleteOH! OH! OH! Wow! that second stanza - wow, now that so totally works ... as a stand-alone, but truly, it SHINES like the north star, in complement/conversation with the first!
ReplyDeleteIt really works on so many levels - the precision of it, the word constructions .... oh yeah, the two together are yin/yang but also one in the same, the twin side of each the other. oh yeah, you totally rocked it Kerry! (I can't pull any of line string, because they all work and play off each other, no matter how one reads it - as they are presented, or choosing different pauses etc.) ... this just totally works. High Five!
Ah, Pat.. You spoil me with your lovely response to these lines. So glad to know it all works apart and together.
DeleteI love the pair of these, both very reminiscent of Thomas, especially the second. Each mimics the wholeness of experience through its curling, encircling parts; emotion, senses, reality and surreality, the gifts of life, and their loss. Your use of the word green here is like a song refrain, melodic and echoing memory. Such a pleasure to read you, Kerry.
ReplyDeleteI think reading Dylan Thomas has given me the go-ahead to pay less attention to grammatical lines and more to the way images fuse together to create a whole picture. thank you for reading, Joy.
DeleteWell, first of all I love how you created an hourglass with the poems..and so many lines to love in today's poem, but I'll only select one.."drink these poems from your mind" Love it!
ReplyDeleteThe hourglass idea just came to me when I started the next poem. i had wanted the circular effect for the idea of the fern frond but when I took up the the theme of time, the hourglass seemed more appropriate.
DeleteOh, wow! So much to admire, the poem itself, the shape of it, the message, the memories and, especially, those beautiful closing lines.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed the poems, Sherry.
Deleteokay, I went so far out of the box with my "paper" ...
ReplyDeletehere it is ...
https://indigomidnightwildchild.blogspot.com/2020/04/listen-to-how.html