Through the Locks
Oars
are for rowing,
oars, ears are for donkeys,
pinning,
pining.
Flowing,
flowering,
baskets for weaving,
living,
loving.
Words
are for winding,
twisting in rope-
vines,
lines
are
for weeping, scraping,
sweeping,
air
is for
breathing, blowing
up
bigger.
Pain
is for cutting,
singing,
sewing,
running,
water for water,
what is for
dust,
rust is
red, raw,
wind,
straw
is for horses,
rocking.
I like this poem. It evokes a somber, but peaceful mood with familiar imagery in unexpected couplings. Nice.
ReplyDeleteIt came to me in a dream.
ReplyDeleteThere's no telling where such things originate.
Much of it seems irrational, though the irrational part is probably the "truest" in some weird sense. Ultimately, it's a lullaby, though not for little children.
I accidentally heard an interview with Ahmad Jamal this morning on Jazz Radio, and was reminded again of Dennis, who loved Jamal's music, and was troubled that the pianist had once tried to commit suicide. This fact seemed less important to me, at the time, than it does now, as being a kind of gauge of Dennis's distressing preoccupations in those years. Plus ca change.
Poems come to you in dreams? How wonderful is that? Have you tried to put this lullaby to music? I would be interested in what you might compose for this.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the supposed irrational bits are the best.
ReplyDeleteAs I'm not familiar with Jamal I can't guage any possible connections. What is almost certain (to me) is the combined grief & reluctant letting go the image of moored vessels evokes very powerfully here.
I also agree that couplings like these are only for adults.