I need to
pull a thread, let the day unravel on this axis,
cut the cotton as if I was holding fate in silver blades
...or would they be iron? This time of year
either would be cold and both linger in the twilight.
You'll need a wick for the setting and the rising;
I feel the stars behind me, beneath me, above me--
there's no liturgy and the only prayers
here in the hallow of the year, in the hollow,
are old songs chanted on a driveway.
Sleep for a moment under that unraveled day
and old dreams will pick up the notes
and knit your heart back into sun.
The back door is open and our oldest dog is sleeping behind me and the house is chilly and dark and this year...this freaking year. I feel like it's staining my toes with the cold through my socks. I've been thinking that we need one of those one-off holidays, a national day of wrapping ourselves in blankets and sitting with the enormity of 2020.
It's the time of year, in between decorations and cheer, that reminds me that I don't know as much as I'd like at this time in my life and that if I did, I'd just be frustrated with trying to explain it to those around me. It's a good time for reading, so I'm sharing this with The Sunday Muse and Poets and Storytellers United and heading out on a round of visiting the neighboring poets.
-- Chrissa
and old dreams will pick up the notes
ReplyDeleteand knit your heart back into sun
A great close Chrissa. It is good to have lots of hope to survive these trying times!
Hank
You had me at "pull a thread and let the day unravel on this axis" and led me softly to "knit your heart back into sun" just gorgeous gorgeous poetry here my friend! This is what it's all about! This is what poets strive for and readers crave! I love this poem so much!! 😍
ReplyDeleteA lovely poem. My favorite part of your post though is, "I feel like it's staining my toes with the cold through my socks."
ReplyDeleteOh WOW! That pulled thread anchored me, it said to me read on
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday Chrissa
Much❤love
Magical. I love the idea of a wick for setting and rising and chants in the driveway!
ReplyDeleteAnother breathtaking work of art. I'm with Lisa ~ this caught my attention .. 'staining my toes with the cold through my socks' and would not let go.
ReplyDeleteMay it be so. I love this.
ReplyDeletepet-pets to Arthur.
"old songs chanted on a driveway" - brilliant. Takes us inside the hallowed, hollowed and sacred, yet places us in the here and now, our quotidian selves and place.
ReplyDeleteI second the need for such a holiday. In fact, I suggest we make it a couple day long festival.
ReplyDeleteYou piece brings to mind a lot of the usual feelings I have around this time of year. But just the way I've seen the same skits performed with different inflections that change the whole meaning, some of my usual activity takes on a strange 2020 hued tinge.
"knit your heart back into sun"-- love that!
ReplyDeleteGood that you can have a round of visits with neighboring poets .... at least virtually.
ReplyDeleteThe last three lines are a perfectly captured moment, a visual point... I can see it and feel it so clearly.
ReplyDeleteAnd I completely agree with the need for a Let's Think About the Freaking Year holiday.
Peace and quiet, sleep and rest needed, to knit the heart back into the sun. Lovely poem.
ReplyDeleteI lived this write, Chrissa. I.e. my mind wandered and I had fetch it back. Examples,
ReplyDelete"songs chanted on a driveway." When our daughter ran the NYC Marathon we, Mrs met her to cheer her on at six subway stops. The next to last was at Harlem where a lady church choir was on the front steps of a house and overflowing onto the driveway and front yard. (From there we took a shott cut to the finish line in Central Park.) And,
"like it's staining my toes with the cold through my socks," brings my starting to wear socks with my sandals when outside.
Lots of others, cold dark house, ...
..
Love how you describe the unravelling of the day and how the prayers are old songs chanted on a driveway. This is stunning "old dreams will pick up the notes and knit your heart back into sun."
ReplyDeleteAs always, the poem is so exquisitely written it gives me shivers of delight. As always, the notes are a delight in their own way.
ReplyDelete"This freaking year" reminds me of a car license plate i saw on facebook that read 2020 WTF. Cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteLovely words (as always) Chrissa and I'm with Lisa re my favourite part.
ReplyDeleteAnna :o]
old dreams will pick up the notes
ReplyDeleteand knit your heart back into sun.... aah I needed to hear that! Such a positive poem full of light!
Those last two lines quickened my lazy heartbeat. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning and the end are just pure magic! Lovely.
ReplyDelete