Harrow the road as you walk it
The caliche will blossom as sea
Walk the dirt beneath the waters--
We live in the land of apples;
Paradise, prophecies.
Accept the flood as it shines
Silver on the face of the fields
Grass once ground as our food--
We live in the land of tide
False sky, underneath.
Peal the church as you go
Sing as the great whales breathe
Float on praise rippling out--
We live in the land of grief,
Of bones and mysteries.
Still caught in the echo of other poems--this week has been filled with poems from decades past (Gluck's Averno was a masterpiece) and with the hum of a project that wants its finish before another several are begun or another false start upon NaNo creeps close. I feel like I'm becoming the Queen of Project Abandonment.
Also, really, really frustrated with this new format that Blogger has seen fit to institute *wails about formatting into the abyssal void*
Sharing with The Sunday Muse and Poets and Storytellers United and hoping everyone is having a good writing week, if nothing else.
Ah, beautiful. I love the way all the images are present but liminal, everything at the boundary of meaning. "We live in the land of grief,
ReplyDeleteOf bones and mysteries." - perfect.
Chrissa, for me this was a fine ramble through your field. I did stumble once on the mention of native prairie grass. I landed on my hands and our old hone, a Nebraska farm. We had a triangular plot of a few acres across the creek to the corner border. I wonder if the grass still grows, a corporate farmer bought it for his youngest son. First major change was to burn the old 1900 +/- house and buldozed its surounding grove of trees.
ReplyDelete..
You have seen so much in this field. Thank you for taking me on your walk. Beautiful poetry.
ReplyDeleteI am picturing enormous whale bones mounted on the church walls, and the hymns being sung in whalesong.
ReplyDeleteps--I hate the new format too. I can't find anything, especially my tags!
ReplyDeleteYes the tags are limited to their list! The new blogger is a thumbs down for me. 😭
DeleteEvery stanza is a beautiful bridge to the next. Wisdom sung softly throughout. I love love love this Chrissa!!
ReplyDelete"We live in a land of tide"
ReplyDelete"We live in a land of grief"
This sings of the land of mystery and I wonder will we find our way
This is such an effective use of form--it echoes itself without ever repeating, resonant and rhythmic. I especially like the paradoxes and parallels--the sky and the flood water, the bells and the bones. Especially love the last three lines of the first stanza.
ReplyDeletePS I also couldn't stand the new blogger format. If you search its flat, ambiguous unhelpful face, you should find a message that says "revert to original blogger" or some such. If you click it, the new abortion goes away, or did for me.
I was struck by your opening ine ... "Harrow the road as you walk it" which spoke volumes for me. My roots in a farm on the prairie led me to rich black loam with no caliche in sight! What we see is reflective of who we are.
ReplyDelete(BTW, I have discovered the small print that allows us to revert to the old blogger for a time ... hopefully long enough for them to understand they have started a firestorm of discontent)
With every line I felt an emboldening I could not resist ... I needed your poem. I refuse to GO WHERE NEW Blogger takes me until I absolutely must.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful i luv the music of your words flowing one into the other, with ease.
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday
(✿◠‿◠)
much love...
I really like the closing, and believe it too. I can practically hear the bones klack-klack-klacking of what's to come.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't get me started about Blogger's nonsensical changes.
Beautiful. I find this expansive and sowing some hopefulness and personal responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI especially love your closing lines....I'm with you about Blogger. NO idea why they have to change things......it is a curse. No way to find my many drafts now.
ReplyDeleteNot thrilled about the new Blogger either. But am very thrilled by your poem. The rhythmic cadences are magnificent.
ReplyDeletei like the format and rhyming scheme of the poem.
ReplyDeleteand of course the stunning imagery.
Love this especially; "Accept the flood as it shines/Silver on the face of the fields."
ReplyDeleteThere's a really cool progression from things knowable and able to be mastered to the hauntingly surreal. Both feel like powerful forces.
ReplyDeleteI love the different scenes-how you depict the different lands.
ReplyDeleteFor those that know something about farming this will be quite relevant. You never know how Mother Nature will treat you. And endorsing others new Blogger is a real pain!
ReplyDeleteThat last verse is especially beautiful... as for abandoned projects.. sigh!!! I have a bunch of those!
ReplyDeleteLand of grief. World of grief. Universe of grief. And yet with a harrow, the grief may be turned to gladness.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.
ReplyDeleteYou mean Blogspot's forcing a nasty hard-to-read sans-serif font upon you?
ReplyDelete