Some Eyes Seek Beautiful Shadows
I know that some eyes seek beautiful shadows to follow
What suffering highlighted by moonlight can do
How the stain of the world fills spaces in our hearts
Until we no longer notice we cannot feel the fire
Of what is right and true
I know how whispers of our past can take our earthly peace
Until we become tossed like disheveled leaves
How it feels to speak and think no one is listening
The terrifying feat of trying to be strong
When I want to grieve
I know those dark nights of looking down empty hallways
When I am afraid to breathe or close my eyes
As if a spell has been cast on my life in subtle shades
With a power that I cannot wish away
No matter how I sigh
However, I also know how we wait to make a single move
Day to day how we sit still and just abide
Pushing away all hands of comfort while asking
Why all the stars have been removed
From our skies
Copyright *Neva Flores @2011
Very moving lines. Just love your poetry.
ReplyDeleteAn Absolutely..Beautiful Artistic Mind! Many Thanx For Sharing!
ReplyDeleteMoved me to tears, thanks (((Neva)))
ReplyDeletebeautifully deep. Enjoyed reading
ReplyDeleteSimply Beautiful Neva! Love it!
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful as always Neva."Moving"
ReplyDeleteNo matter how I sigh ,Beautiful Image for this dreamer. Thank You Neva
ReplyDeleteComes a reflection of me, when sometimes open and close roads or appear to be closed. moving poem.
ReplyDeleteGreat food for thought! Deep and meaningful...
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ReplyDeleteA perception of what might have been. Holding tight!
ReplyDelete.... Neva!! it's really beautiful poem.
ReplyDeleteA new favorite for me of yours Neva....truly breathtaking....love your whole blog! :-)
ReplyDeleteWe have all experienced this poem in one way or another. But you have put in poetic form and just nail it. Speaking poetically this poem is moving and to some degree spiritual. A beautifull write Neva.
ReplyDeleteHauntingly sad and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteNeva,
ReplyDeleteThanks for making my Monday feel better !
Always lovely and thought provoking....Beautiful ...Thank You..!
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate as you know. Beautifully expressed.
ReplyDeleteI have subscriptions to four different literary journals:
ReplyDeleteTin House
Glimmer Train
The Missouri Review
Zoetrope
The Sun (elaspsed).
Five! (Also read Paris Review)
Anyway, each one has a certain character. My favorite, though you did not ask, is Tin House. There are different ways I would categorize the stories. In all cases, I am ostensibly seeking literary expression and subtle philosophy. If asked, I would say the “story” is not too relevant to me. Whereas some readers seek the whole and hope it will be greater than the sum of its parts, it is the parts themselves I seek, and I hope the whole will not get in the way.
However, what I find is often the opposite. I noticed a phenomenon that I had not considered before. Some of the longer stories I read bore me a little if they are not heavy on the ingredients I want. However, often near the end, I realize how truly magnificent they are. They build up to something, and all the seemingly mundane parts, suddenly mean something, all at once. It is like a flood of revelation that rushes in before you realized there was a storm. In these cases as I read the last few pages, I get chills. That is how I know the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Tin House and The Sun have repeatedly tricked me with this unexpected and un-coveted surprise.
I usually do not like poetry, though I sometimes read it. To mention a few classics that resonate heavily: “The Tide Rises, Longfellow,” “Breathe on the Living, Patchen,” “What is Truth, Mc Niece,” “Hap, Hardy,” “Les Silhouette, Wilde,” “Ozymandias, Shelly.”
In every life there is good and there is bad. If the presence of bad is how we define a bad life, then all lives are bad. If the presence of good defines a good live, then all lives are good. We cannot obliterate either force, but as you acknowledged, we can push it away. My wife has been focuses on the bad lately, embracing it, seeing it as the world. This specific piece spoke to me.
“Some Eyes Seek Beautiful Shadows,” is nothing like any of the things I listed above, and also nothing like I have seen in Tin House or The Sun. Yet, it shares that same quality. It gave me chills.
Wow John. You know how to turn a phrase. I loved this piece and agree with John regarding the climax. It brought it all together like an eagle landing on its nest. Magnificent.
ReplyDeleteI hate that I can't post using my name: Michael Scott, so I just throw it in.
Maybe one of these days I should figure out Open ID. I prefer the name/url thing that blogger offers in its latest version.
I feel as though you looked into my very soul and pulled this out.
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