when all is said and done
i want to be left by the side of the road
ash to splash and leave my mark
on the side of each car passing by
or can-kicked down a street
filled with knees and laughing children
my voice fading in the breeze of lost giggles
dust me from your shoes and purse your lips
blow me off the shelf you keep your heart on
toss me out the door with yesterday’s crumbs
i want to be the song you cannot scrape
from the tip of your tongue and the dance
you bobble out when you think no one’s looking
spin spin spin into the white whirl of wind
as it carries scraps from home and everything
gets dropped in the laps of perfect strangers
remember nothing of the spoken and every measure
of the pattern our two heartbeats mixed and
melded and never forget the midnights
we hollowed out with hands digging and feet
kicking life further back down the hill
if you have a box i want you to burn it
sit by the pyre and warm your crackled shins
listen to the howls in the cold dark behind you
and kiss the moon for me, just once
when she comes to light your way
.
.
Linking in over at dVersePoets for Poetics today,
Marina asks some questions that will really make you think.
Join us!
.
.
May 13th, 2014 at 8:28 am
ha i like the quick rhythm of spin spin/wind….i like the thought of being dust that collects on each car that passes…also the adamance of burning the box….cool piece and nice energy in it….
May 13th, 2014 at 8:30 am
when all is said and done…big thoughts to say from a long way from done.
loved it
May 13th, 2014 at 8:37 am
“remember nothing of the spoken . . . and kiss the moon for me.” that’s what i want also. that’s perfect and enough. exactly.
May 13th, 2014 at 9:21 am
A perfect dance of life and never ending after.
May 13th, 2014 at 10:45 am
Oooh, I like this very much…
There is a gentle melancholy about it, a sense of the transience of all things, but then bang! some really powerful imagery to make us stand up and take notice:
blow me off the shelf you keep your heart on
toss me out the door with yesterday’s crumbs
There is quite a bit of activity there, a lot of movement which belies the gentle lulling sounds of before, as in:
kicking life further back down the hill
May 13th, 2014 at 12:50 pm
So many vivid images… I especially like:
can-kicked down a street
filled with knees and laughing children
my voice fading in the breeze of lost giggles
May 13th, 2014 at 12:59 pm
i want to be the song you cannot scrape
from the tip of your tongue …. how awesome is that… i love all the images you paint in this and that close just made me sigh
May 13th, 2014 at 1:09 pm
Absolutely wonderful. Great images/wishes. We are everywhere and yet we are no one place. Exquisite.
May 13th, 2014 at 1:21 pm
Many beautiful lines in this poem. Really, this might be one of my favorites of yours. The last two lines are a stellar conclusion to a really wonderfully penned poem.
May 13th, 2014 at 2:45 pm
Oh yes.. to be kicked down the street and dancing in the wind.. but to me the lines at the end touch me most.. for those closest at heart… to be warm by the pyre… and of course kissing the moon…
May 13th, 2014 at 3:06 pm
Vivid and great images, Kelly. Love it.
May 13th, 2014 at 3:17 pm
Great tone and flow of words, Kelly!
“i want to be the song you cannot scrape / from the tip of your tongue and the dance / you bobble out when you think no one’s looking” – this stanza resonates with me.
May 13th, 2014 at 3:52 pm
Very well though out poem and poingant as well as reaffirming at the same time. >KB
May 13th, 2014 at 4:15 pm
Wow, just wow, a poem of poems, for this one captures rainbows that haven’t even sprouted yet, makes me glad to have decided for cremation, makes me joyous to be in the same dVerse lion pride as you; my favorite poem so far while out on the trail.
May 13th, 2014 at 4:25 pm
So great! Especially the last line, but then again I like the first stanza too … really, there is no dissecting it.
May 13th, 2014 at 4:46 pm
blow me off the shelf you keep your heart on
Fabulous. I love this so much it hurts.
May 13th, 2014 at 5:20 pm
i want to be the song you cannot scrape
from the tip of your tongue and the dance
you bobble out when you think no one’s looking
There is nothing more staying than a song
that’s stuck in your head… if you have that kind of affect on someone… you’re def all that’s left after everything is said and done… nice
May 13th, 2014 at 5:37 pm
Superb writing Kelly ~ The last two stanzas are particularly striking for me ~ Always a pleasure to read your work ~
May 13th, 2014 at 6:19 pm
have told my family to load my ashes up in an old folgers coffee can and then sprinkle me across the Ozarks ridges and hollow – loved this so much – K
May 13th, 2014 at 8:17 pm
So many vivid images… and that ending, perfection
May 13th, 2014 at 9:25 pm
just right – especially the last lines
May 13th, 2014 at 9:27 pm
Oh! Really love this! So full of life with the splashing, kick the can — all those wonderful images. The closing smolders happily.
May 13th, 2014 at 9:44 pm
i love all the beautiful images specially in the second stanza and the wonderful close…i can still hear the giggles you know…and the sadness in the voice of the speaker is so touching…
May 13th, 2014 at 9:58 pm
While i don’t think we always see it..
this seems to be how parts of us affect others in life..
in everyday life..
The person who comes along and says i remember you doing this that affected me this way..
when perhaps we don’t even remember what we did that could be so memorable as such…
At my lowest ebb..
when my life might be TOTALLY meaningless..i remembered if i watered a plant..i made life happen..
and yes i still could make the difference..
for someone else..
dust as we are dust as we go..
But dust in the eye..
is a way to go..
for fullest sight..
of affect on others2….
with or without eyes..
of life..passion of life shared
can be what’s left….
forevermorenow..shared with others..
connecting dots of life..never planned..
just flowing put together..like random stars
in pattern of galaxy as such..in swirls of golden spiral….:)
May 14th, 2014 at 1:15 am
… and yet you leave us a poem.
May 14th, 2014 at 1:36 am
This is the way I should like to go out. I feel very connected to this poem! Thank you.
May 14th, 2014 at 10:36 am
And kiss the moon for me, just once
when she comes to light your way
Very moving and beautiful lines
May 14th, 2014 at 11:58 am
It was a full moon last night and you must have been howling. Just a delightful poem, something to be sung on the way out.
May 14th, 2014 at 1:14 pm
Such passion in your lines today. I think we all felt it.
May 14th, 2014 at 3:19 pm
Hiya, one of my faves of the night – starts great – refreshing and original and keeps right on going… Loved the ending too… Thanks for sharing this – great! With Best Wishes Scot http://www.scotthastie.com
May 14th, 2014 at 7:09 pm
Very cool lines here that I’ve become accustomed to reading in your posts….love the last two lines the best..and the overall sense of ‘bring it on’ or at least ‘ I leave a mark, I was here, remember me…
May 14th, 2014 at 11:35 pm
Such vivacious sensory imagery!
May 15th, 2014 at 8:15 am
“kiss the moon for me ” wow , is all i can say
May 15th, 2014 at 9:17 pm
Lots of wonderful images–but for me–this piece just dances–wonderful rhythm!
May 19th, 2014 at 2:07 am
love this, and this especially: ash to splash and leave my mark ~