Thursday 12 July 2012

Like a river



when you arrived,
i didn't know what name to call you 

my eyes were blind,  
yellowed cheeks, a fading blue star        

your touch was 
a cold crystal grape in winter,

but i knew you like the roots
suddenly growing on my feet

arching to taste your skin,  
unripe mango, salted with earth 

i see your face, bright as the sun 
stirring my blood, river deep   

as i write my verse, 
untie my bow and cut my fears 

let me drift towards your voice,
warm red wine, storm-washed shore   

you have searched for me 
for the longest time  

tell me now:  

i am yours 


~0~0   The second part is my offering for Flash Fiction Friday  (55 words) for G-Man    ~0~0



puffy red-rimmed eyes,
clothes, all black, her favorite color
telling me her daughter’s father passed away
yesterday


   lingering cancer  
           wife and 2 young children    
                  funeral  is this Saturday 


her adult daughter had quietly received news. 
he had left them years ago, when she was 


  doe-eyed lass
          blissfully naïve,
                 and pregnant. 
  
forgiveness came like a river.



Posted for :  D'verse Poets Pub:   Ars Poetica :  Poems about Poetry
and Flash Fiction Friday :  Tell a story in 55 words.  Welcome back G-Man ~ Based on a conversation with my co-worker this morning.


picture credit:   here

50 comments:

  1. This gave me chills:

    "but i knew you like the roots
    suddenly growing on my feet"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Grace....
    You are such a class act!
    The first offering was very touching.
    The second, beautifully morose.
    Inspiration comes at strange times yes?
    Loved your 55...
    Thanks for playing, and have a Kick Ass Week-End

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great to see you again G-man ~

      Have a kick ass week end too ~

      Delete
  3. 'untie my bow and cut my fears
    let me drift towards your voice,'

    A beautiful invocation to the muse.

    ReplyDelete
  4. dang your 55 is tight...and full of emotion...i hate cancer...ugh....love the forgiveness in the end though...

    really like your first piece too....def the dance with the muse...not knowing what to call her, yeah i like that...and then her cutting those fears as you get to know her a bit...i like..

    ReplyDelete
  5. Grace, these offer such a contrast. They both gave me the chills.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Grace, two good poems one so different than the other.
    Love the first one.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful and poignant. I especially love "forgiveness came like a river." I'm so glad it did.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your first poem is simply glorious - rich with images appealing to all the senses....I especially love your closing lines.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Emotional extremes, indeed. Lovely, both.

    ReplyDelete
  10. such longing in the first, such sadness in the second. both well captured.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love how you describe your muse coming into your life and the recognition and transformation that transpired. Your 55 word is heart wrenching and tender in the forgiveness that "came like a river."

    ReplyDelete
  12. 'you have searched for me for the longest time
    tell me now I'm yours.' Beautiful
    Cancer is such a dreadful disease. Sad for the family and friends. At least there was forgiveness.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Very nice; loved how both had the river theme them. That second one was so tragic.

    .......dhole

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love the sweet seduction of the first one... and the second- forgiveness came like a river- WOW!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love how you describe "but i knew you like the roots
    suddenly growing on my feet"
    It's got such a beautiful feel to it!
    Both of the poems are wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Some great writing here. Love them both.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You capture so beautifully, with stunning images the possibility of all things that poetry allows us to see and experience. That magical crucible has come to life in your poem, where the fantasial humors swirl to life and ennoble your reader's awareness of true creative power.

    The photo is simply stunning. Is it yours?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the lovely words Charles. No, the photo is not mine.

      Delete
  18. These are both wonderful poems. I especially like the second with its forgiveness.

    ReplyDelete
  19. There's lots of good stuff here!
    I think my favorite bit is "a cold crystal grape in winter."

    Thanks for doing Friday 55!
    Mine's here. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Well, I thought the first poem was unsurpassed until I read the second. This was incredibly moving to me. k.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Once you respond to the erotic kinship of the muse, how can you not melt us all with eulogy?

    ReplyDelete
  22. isn't it awesome when poetry finally finds us and we knew that was what we were looking for all our lives..? esp. love the image with the roots growing... earthy..

    ReplyDelete
  23. Fred always said that of all the women he danced with Rita was his most favourite partner. She was so skilled.:)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Beautiful photo. Bittersweet poem. I especially loved the section of 55. "He had left them years ago." So sadly true for so many. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Forgiveness came like a river- thick and heavy? strong and fast--Light and quick...I need to chew on that one; thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Lovely poem and it is pretty deep. You are awesome Heaven.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Very seductive, the first. The second, wow!

    ReplyDelete
  28. I like how poetry found you, but the second one for 55 moved me! Like a river, I know that rush of forgiveness when perspective has been dealt.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I love them both. Poetry found me and I'm still falling in love.

    Your second poem, paints such a vivid picture of a piece of life. Very sensitive, beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Grace a pleasure again to come to your page wonderful to read thank you

    ReplyDelete
  31. Both pieces are beautiful, Heaven--the first is very evocative for me of the past and moments of faith and tenderness, and the second, for me, shows the transcendence of love. Lovely stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  32. The first poem had an ethereal quality to it, like how poetry just comes up seemingly out of nowhere. The second was powerful and touching, well expressed in a short space.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Wow two great entries and I'm surely with the rest, hate that damn disease too. Nice capture with tons of emotion too.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Very personal pieces both, and both nicely done.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hard to pin down exactly why, but that 55 gave me certain... pleasant stirrings. Then the poem followed. What a rollercoaster ride!

    ReplyDelete
  36. "stirring my blood, river deep"

    That's beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  37. nicely done, a true creative-writing poem, the muse was definitely searching through the volumes of sensuousness and wonderings!

    "tell me now" -

    can't imagine, after such a journey, the answer wasn't anything but good!

    and much thoughts and prayers on the second piece, quite touching, best wishes heaven ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  38. 'Untie my bow and cut my fears' wow....amazing ; )

    Your writing is so strong and tight, Heaven....beautiful.
    -Eva

    ReplyDelete
  39. You slice through so many emotions in 55, I felt tears prick...the first so immediate in the passion. Such beautiful writing.

    ReplyDelete
  40. beautiful feeling in the first poem

    black and achy in the second

    ReplyDelete
  41. a cold crystal grape, love that one. I love winter images in poems, and love to use them myself.

    ReplyDelete
  42. I love the thought of blood stirring in this and you inviting it in. Your writing is always so sensuous, even on writing.

    Your 55 is such a sad tale, unfortunately it is real. Thank you for sharing, I feel more humble in this moment.

    ps~Sorry for the late visit. :)

    ReplyDelete
  43. Two poems, two different shades of emotion, both written beautifully...

    ReplyDelete
  44. these are profoundly beautiful.

    i love how creatively descriptive your words are. forever impressed!!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Both were such a pleasure to journey through. Loved the river metaphor in both. And the last line made me smile quietly
    Rick

    ReplyDelete
  46. When you fall into the loving river of poetry, you never want to swim out but go on and on and on ....Lovely. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your visit and comments ~ I appreciate them ~