Friday, April 10, 2020

Entrances//Deaths ~ Melancholy

In the April of Covid 19
Day 10

“After the first death, there is no other.”
Dylan Thomas

Melancholy


I will say goodbye in my own way
wait through all the long tunnels
of midnight’s repeated tomorrow, 
set down my roots at threshold of 
your tomb, scream my mandrake
madness to the hollow ear of hell.
I will cut my hair and burn hanks
on a pyre of incense sticks, curse
the living corm that dares break
ground to bloom upon your grave.




Play It Again Toads: The Art of Odilon Redon
Referencing Melancholy (1876)


For those who wish to participate in the Skylover Wordlist Challenge, please leave your links in the comment section below

14 comments:

  1. You have given a whole new definition to Melancholy here, Kerry!💘 The imagery speaks to me of intense pain, screaming mandrake madness "to the hollow ear of hell," even in its composed state the emotions are clearly visible as the speaker says goodbye.

    I also love the incorporation of sticks in the poem. Elegantly done!💘

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    1. This is much the companion of the prior poem, focusing on the "Deaths", so many, so many. How does one say goodbye, when people are forced to die alone?

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  2. We are in a season of grieving, and this poem not only reflects that larger condition, but spoke to that part of me that is not done mourning my own private losses in a world full of public ones. "..all the long tunnels/of midnight’s repeated tomorrow.." describing perfectly that middle of the night hour where one knows that intolerable feelings are not through with one, that they will only be repeated yet again and have to be absorbed, berated, tolerated yet again, no matter how one thinks one has endured enough of them, on a day that should be but isn't new. All your images here are arrow-penetrating and on target; from first to last there is not one weak or less relevant line. Some of the finest poetry from your pen I have seen, and that is a high bar.

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    1. It is hard to learn how to absorb the grieving into the matrix of one's personality, because it has no end until memory is lost, or life itself. I feel that such a radical shift of personal experience alters how one understands everything.
      That you have read so deeply into this poem, touches me deeply and I thank you for sharing your feelings here. In choosing the theme of Entrances and deaths, I have had to draw on very deeply buried emotions myself, in order to do justice to the massive upheaval we are living through. So much sorrow - it is palpable.

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  3. So powerful, Kerry. It is amazing how much our hearts can take, any more. I am loving reading you this April, my friend.

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    1. Thank you for your readings, Sherry. My poems have not always been easy to write, but I do appreciate the moment, and that I have the ability to be a participant in my own small way.

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  4. Grieving..It is as pandemic as covid-19. Your poem expresses with an intense rawness that sinks in to the very places the reader struggles with his/her/their grief.

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    1. Thank you, Susie, for your response, and understanding of where the poem comes from. I so appreciate your won work throughout this awful month. You keep me inspired.

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  5. Starting out with the Dylan Thomas was a good thing, Kerry. We must all get hold of the concept of death being very final. For some there will be no hallowed space for the body, it will be buried in the mass graves ofthe unclaimed. NYC. It's a cheap way, save those continuing on to save their $$$.
    ..
    p.s. I might not be able to do your word list this time. NaPoWriMo is about I can handle.
    ..

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    1. It breaks my heart to read the news reports from New York, New Orleans, San Francisco and so many other iconic cities in the United States, Jim. My heart goes out to everyone and this poem is an expression of my grief.

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  6. This is a wild, mad, desperate, despairing poem, petition, prayer, incantation - and it very much reads as an incantation, a chant that one whispers, mutters in the dead of night, plea-bargaining with one's own personal grief and yet universal incomprehension at the depth of something so decimating .... for so many. It begs one, nay demands - that we listen to the questions we don't want to hear - how do we finally hear and understand the profound depth of our humanity - a shared collective commonality of lives ripped and shattered and it forces us to hear the wailing within the silences.

    A very strong poem with some absolutely incredible wording that truly reaches into the bowels of this earth-life shattering despair and disbelief and grief.

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    1. I can only say thank you for your reading and comprehension of my work.
      So grateful.

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