hawks and doves
it was no coincidence that you crossed my path
grey winged and sharp shinned
causing me to trip on my own shadow
you rose high in the sky, the color of winter
and i felt your power fall back to earth
in a tiny tumbleweed of promises.
my hope never meant as much as your survival
and no one has ever measured up to your glare
but she called you icarus in a threaded whisper
that still echoes through each moonlit night
in the season of cold and the year of empty
like the drip and song of icicles melting.
the fact that you soar is my forgiveness.
.
.
January 10th, 2012 at 8:12 am
my god, this image! i wish i could soar like this. YOU do. every line here is perfection. every line.
January 10th, 2012 at 8:28 am
Absolutely beautiful. Thank you.
January 10th, 2012 at 8:52 am
So many levels; every line, like gliding on an air current, effortless, until we soar, or swoop, to another level.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:02 am
Wow, don’t know which I love more . . . the words or the image.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:09 am
poetry tuesday is always a flight of fancy.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:41 am
what a capture and poem to match! excellent! you are bursting with talent!
January 10th, 2012 at 10:02 am
I am not sure why you dont have a book out with these amazing words and images .. you should ..
January 10th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
grace in your image and your words, thank you.
🙂
January 10th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
wow…really nicely penned…esp love that last line…and my hope never meant as much as your survival
that is love as is the letting go…
January 10th, 2012 at 2:32 pm
hawks and doves…alone the title paints a picture…even more your verse…the shadow..the tripping..and then the gorgeous closure..much enjoyed..
January 10th, 2012 at 2:54 pm
Stunning words and photo!
January 10th, 2012 at 3:05 pm
Killer closing! Superb!
January 10th, 2012 at 3:06 pm
lots of layers to this piece! what a great image – and I love that last line “the fact that you soar is my forgiveness.” – great seeing it up at dVerse! OT
January 10th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
words dancing off the page
January 10th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
So many words running through my mind upon reading this. Who was the “she” who called the threaded whisper. How great a threaded whisper must sound in the forest.
The drip and song of icicles melting — beautiful.
And the melting of the heart in forgiveness that is more a gift to the giver.
Amazing poem.
xoxo
January 10th, 2012 at 3:14 pm
WOW and oh my!
These words pinch my soul like leaves falling from a vivid tree..
Lovely
I wish I had found the pic for my poem first!
🙂
January 10th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
This verse surely does soar all the way through and wonderful photo too!
January 10th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Love the opening stanza in particular. A lot of wonderful imagery throughout.
January 10th, 2012 at 3:26 pm
“but she called you icarus in a threaded whisper”
This is breathtaking.
January 10th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
And the fact that you’ll soar is also in the act of having forgiven. Lovely, lovely prose.
January 10th, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Just wow, fabulous, amazing.
How do you do that?
Reading again… and again… and again…
January 10th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
that closer is such a POW… grand write
January 10th, 2012 at 4:29 pm
the fact that you soar is my forgiveness….a great ending, great write.
January 10th, 2012 at 5:22 pm
this has a smooth but ominous feel to it, as if just after a storm, and calm has not quite settled in yet. a feeling or respect with trepidation. very well written, enjoyed very much
January 10th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
This is absolutely wonderful! You have an awesome way with words.
http://charleslmashburn.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/the-sun-came-up-again-4/
January 10th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Loved the ending… the comparison of soaring to forgiveness is wonderful.
January 10th, 2012 at 6:09 pm
wow…..wow….did i mention wow ?
xo
January 10th, 2012 at 8:08 pm
causing me to trip on my own shadow/in a tiny tumbleweed of promises. – I wish I had wrote those lines. And pretty much the whole poem.
Excellent write.
January 10th, 2012 at 8:45 pm
reading your words takes my breath away sometimes!!!
January 10th, 2012 at 8:56 pm
like i said: an altar. i don’t know where it comes from, sugar, and if you could bottle up this kind of perspective and talent and sell it off in teensy little ole’ bottles, i’d be your first customer . . . and my words would still sound differently, not quite measuring up, when they spilled.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:37 pm
Deep. Both haunting and liberating at once. So beautiful. Thank you
January 10th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
stunning and dramatic !
January 10th, 2012 at 11:10 pm
Wow! This is a beautiful piece of writing. My favorite line:
“but she called you icarus in a threaded whisper” This poem sings to me and threads itself inside my being. Thank you for this!
January 10th, 2012 at 11:51 pm
wow. “the drip and song of icicles melting…” … and that last line. just… wow.
January 11th, 2012 at 6:56 am
oh my god.
January 11th, 2012 at 10:00 am
I am trying to pin down the feeling that is within me… I have thought of a few things that came to my mind as I read this… it mostly just touched me. This was a beautiful piece, and I truly enjoyed it!
~L
loving dVerse and all the amazing poets I find there:)
January 11th, 2012 at 1:33 pm
The book… where is the BOOK
January 11th, 2012 at 8:22 pm
“the fact that you soar is my forgiveness”. beautiful. the words are amazing. but i find myself drawn to the tree. the naked oddly shaped tree. and i believe it is “no coincidence that you crossed my path”. i come every day.
in fond regard, Tilda
January 11th, 2012 at 11:47 pm
Lovely work. Haunting in its intimate way. Liked this a lot:
my hope never meant as much as your survival
and no one has ever measured up to your glare
but she called you icarus in a threaded whisper
January 24th, 2012 at 3:11 am
You have a beautiful mind.
You really do.
July 19th, 2012 at 3:46 pm
I still love those last lines: ‘The fact that you soar is my forgiveness.’
July 19th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
I missed so much in January including this stunner from you. I love it, each line etching meaningfully and with grace into an inner space. I agree with rhayne, you have a beautiful mind.
July 19th, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Hints at a back story waiting to be told
July 19th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
breathtaking!
July 19th, 2012 at 4:59 pm
Searing, gripping, fascinating images. Rare, fresh diction unfolding what couldn’t be said any other way…in short, pure perfect poetry.
July 19th, 2012 at 5:08 pm
“she called you icarus in a threaded whisper
that still echoes through each moonlit night
in the season of cold and the year of empty
like the drip and song of icicles melting.”
so beautiful…
July 19th, 2012 at 5:19 pm
took me a sec to find myself in the stream there…smiles….a wonderful one to revisit…love the hawk & dove pairing…it says enough but those last couple lines still carry it….thank you for being a part of dverse…its been wonderful reading you…you def have the skillz….smiles.
July 19th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
My God, was this not perfection in each and every word.
July 19th, 2012 at 7:30 pm
This is so worthy of multiple re-reads. Great.
July 19th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
I am reading the best of the best. This poem is awesome! tripping vs. rising in air, power falling down vs. measuring up, icarus = icicles melting . . . “But she called you Icarus” meaning the overreaching and drowning was destined? Like father like son? Does it matter? “the fact that you soar is my forgiveness.” catches my breath in my throat. I go back to read about lack of accident, again, and again. I feel quite passionate about this poem, wishing we have free will and kindness, but not at all sure.
July 19th, 2012 at 9:15 pm
“A threaded whisper”, the “song of icicles melting”… what beautiful images. The ending is especially strong. I remember that prompt and that wonderful picture… A good job you did!
July 19th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
That last line is a poem in itself, superb!
July 19th, 2012 at 9:45 pm
I really love the ending….
“the fact that you soar is my forgiveness” …beautifully meaningful to me.
July 19th, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Good to revisit this great write !
July 19th, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Thanks for reposting this one. I just love it… especially the last line. Wow!
July 19th, 2012 at 10:53 pm
Oh my goodness–powerful, perfectly pitched description and the last line makes the whole thing just awesome!
July 20th, 2012 at 12:38 am
Wow that is a fantastic poem. Crisp and cold winter feeling and fresh and open, yet somewhat sad to me
July 20th, 2012 at 12:45 am
there are no coincidences..right..? enjoyed the re-read
July 20th, 2012 at 9:54 am
Love the power and dripping songs of empty ~
The last line for me was a powerful close ~
July 20th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
“no one has ever measured up to your glare”, yikes. “the fact that you soar is my forgiveness” nice!
July 20th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
So powerful- like all of your work. Without wanting to be embarrassing and ‘gushy’- I’ve got to say- you are defo one of my five writers over at the @dverse pub- your words are so hard hitting, sometimes stark, sometimes delicate and beautiful- but ALWAYS memorable and more importantly- meaningful….I look forward to reading more and more….
July 20th, 2012 at 6:21 pm
This is so amazingly suggestive, secretive, that it drew me in with its mystery. The lines are fascinating yet foreboding, calling up that fascinans and tremendum that lies at the heart of all truly great secrets. Is this your soul that flies so high, a spurning lover who mistreated you? Even making these questions raises intriguing juxtapositions and possibilities that make this poem sing with dark passions.
July 20th, 2012 at 7:25 pm
I love this! Hawks come in and out of our lives all the time and we are left with tumbleweeds of promises asking forgiveness.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:01 am
Ummm…good stuff. shadows and flight and forgiveness in the sight of an eagle that soars…good stuff.
July 23rd, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Ah sigh…this is just that good.