as the crow flies
i stand at the kitchen window long enough to grow roots
twisting down through the egg-cracked floor
into the fallible foundation of basement
this is my mirror and my afterlife and i know
i will haunt this place with my broad moon face
for seven wing-tipped generations
yet you taunt me with your hollow hope umbrage
moving through me as you glide overhead
my fingers the branch you choose to land on
though i never catch a wing or move a feather
and your song is more metaphor than melody
still, we know each other through this dark dirty pane
recognition confirmed by the silver you drop
even as you know i will tarnish-change to black
just like you and your silhouette of hands cupped
life running down my white sketched arms
as this sink filled with mud overflows
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Linking in today over at dVersePoets for Open Link Night, join us!
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March 29th, 2014 at 11:42 am
That’s one for my Kelly notebook…
March 29th, 2014 at 2:39 pm
wow. what imagery…the mud over flowing sink…the dirty pane recognition…the whole crow imagery…counting the generations by it…being its branch where it perches…there is a heaviness in it…
March 29th, 2014 at 3:39 pm
i love how you ground the poem with the kitchen sink and the standing long enough to grow roots… and then there’s so much surreal magic in this…loved esp. the haunting the place with a broad moon face for seven wing-tipped generations… very cool
March 29th, 2014 at 4:19 pm
I like ‘your song is more metaphor than melody.’ Very vivid writing here…
March 29th, 2014 at 4:30 pm
This poem was felt by me very strongly, wow!
March 29th, 2014 at 4:32 pm
So , can I just say there is so much I love about this write that I’m speechless. I am. It evokes such depth of emotion through the imagery and I loved every single word… and one I had to look up. lol!
March 29th, 2014 at 4:34 pm
Lovely bird metaphor #dversepoets
March 29th, 2014 at 4:44 pm
The imagery in this is simply fantastic and I love the silhouette of the bird through the kitchen curtain.
March 29th, 2014 at 4:56 pm
Most excellent – a brilliant read. Thank you.
Anna :o]
March 29th, 2014 at 4:57 pm
Interesting poem with some deep layers..I will haunt this place for 7 wing tipped generations..I
feel a heavy heart in between the words..
March 29th, 2014 at 5:32 pm
stunning- loved it from the first line to the last – lovely! K
March 29th, 2014 at 5:59 pm
Very atmospheric poem, Kelly, with great and evocative imagery.
March 29th, 2014 at 7:18 pm
Striking writing here – great images realised.. My favourite of yours for a while and a real treat to read… With Best Wishes Scott http://www.scotthastie.com
March 29th, 2014 at 7:32 pm
Such a stunning view. I’ve read this four times, since this morning, and will keep this tab open for the rest of the night, though I may never reach its full depth.
March 29th, 2014 at 8:20 pm
So mystic, beautiful. I love the interaction b/t the bird and (you).
March 29th, 2014 at 8:47 pm
So strong. Loved this.
March 29th, 2014 at 10:31 pm
What one can see and the way it turns brought to life, as through the window you look. Great write at your nook
March 29th, 2014 at 11:59 pm
beautiful imagery here kelly.
March 30th, 2014 at 1:06 am
I like the magic in this, and how you wove it from words and images. Nice
March 30th, 2014 at 2:29 am
This is most exquisite.. Moving through the three viewpoints so subtly. The bird, the tree and the observer.. It could be an instant – it could be forever…
March 30th, 2014 at 3:37 am
You build the moment inexorably – I loved this poem even though I didn’t entirely understand it.
March 30th, 2014 at 6:54 am
i stand by my kitchen sink window so often and long that i might grow roots…always glad to spy a bird out there too…wow, WRITE ON!
March 30th, 2014 at 7:44 am
so many enjoyable lines and images..my fav being.
..’i will haunt this place with my broad moon face
for seven wing-tipped generations’…
March 30th, 2014 at 8:05 am
the sink filled with mud overflows..an intense end to great images and emotions.
March 30th, 2014 at 1:08 pm
I enjoy all your writing, but this touched me more because I’ve had similar thoughts, especially “my mirror and my afterlife” …and love the “egg-cracked floor”!
March 30th, 2014 at 2:12 pm
Bjorn was bang on; three POV’s, excellent flow, stylistic imagery, “could be an instant, could be forever”, like our very lives. A beautiful sadness & longing here, and the old Crow is always welcome, the omen, the trickster. A treat to read, food for future cogitation.
March 30th, 2014 at 10:37 pm
I like that you start with, standing at the window over the sink– a place I spend to much of my life. All the imagery jumps off the page with the vividness of a dream.
March 31st, 2014 at 4:10 pm
I absolutely love this poem and its magical tease of the senses. Brava!
April 2nd, 2014 at 2:24 pm
hmm. I happened to write of crows today, then read your piece. yours is more eloquent. ~