Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Ornament (Beauty for Ashes)



adorn me with your breath,
i will flower and grow

underneath the overgrowth
of black trees

that bear no fruit
and needle the ground

sleeping
in winter’s graveyard



Copyright 2012 Jennifer Wagner

51 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, such strong images of breath giving life to death. Quite beautiful :)

Brian Miller said...

whew....really nice the contrast between the breathe and where they find themselves...the tree of no fruit, also like the under over in that one line...winters graveyard seems so cold...smiles.

Wendy Bourke said...

Very evocative, Jennifer, and beautifully structured: "breath . . . winter's graveyard" - with powerful images of what I took to be enduring, even growing, in a dark place.

Claudia said...

oh i like...what a wonderful metaphor..sleeping in winter's graveyard..beautiful

Panchali said...

Feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells...and then then 'winter's graveyard'--delicious!

blueness said...

you can create landscapes and the depth of feelings with few words. it's so rare. this is quite amazing..
i imagine a rose, bright as a scarlet flame, on the snow in a somber winter forest..and someone silently waiting for the beloved..thank you for such poetic beauty, Jennifer~

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thank you lori :)

Jennifer Wagner said...

Brrr. I'm partial to the under over in that line too...thank you so much Brian.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Wendy, thank you so much. I love the way you took the imagery. Spot on.

Jennifer Wagner said...

I like it when you like--great poet that you are!

Jennifer Wagner said...

A wonderful compliment, thank you!

Jennifer Wagner said...

yelena, i could say the same about your poetry...i am absolutely smitten with your writing. I'm so honored by your appraisal of mine~

Anonymous said...

The first line is wonderful - it caught me.

Valleypoet said...

You capture so much, in very few words...wonderful imagery:-))

Matthew John Davies said...

Caught me, too.

anthonynorth said...

Great imagery in this. enjoyed it.

WabiSabi said...

Oh my! Your poem engaged me from the first line and I liked your description of winter. Thank you for sharing!

my heart's love songs said...

"adorn me with your breath"

beautiful, as is the entire poem! really love this!

Mary said...

I like the idea that it takes only one's BREATH to make someone / something flower and grow. I take your whole poem as a metaphor. Nice.

Mark said...

I can imagine your flowering and growing with the adornment of your lover's breath. Lovely this image!

Beggar and Buddha

Lisa Williams said...

Absolutely love this poem! You are one extremely talented poet, another beautiful write.

Fireblossom said...

See, this is why I love your poems. A lot of people would have written that first line as "I feel your breath on me" or "Your breath on me is comforting" or some boring snooze like that. But you say "Adorn me with your breath", and that's the difference between poetry and a nap. Your choice of the word "Adorn" makes the whole thing. It's close enough to suggest 'adore", and whether or not you had that in mind, one only adorns something capable of beauty, something that is valuable enough, already, to merit attention and care. You do that with one word.

"underneath the overgrowth" flows off the tongue so pleasingly. I want to sit here like a moron and repeat it a few times, just because it sounds so nice phonetically, and with the under/over.

You use "needle" as a verb. A lot of nouns see service as verbs these days, and i hate it about 98% of the time, but this time, it works beautifully.

rch said...

I like the thought of life flowering beneath the sleeping ground, nice write.

Abin Chakraborty said...

pithy and poignant.beautifully done.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful piece. Love the first line!

Unknown said...

This piece is so lovely and encouraging. It takes but a little love and attention to nurture goodness from a dark place.

Audrey Howitt aka Divalounger said...

This is so beautifully done! Wow--you had me a the first line--

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Spectacularly well done, all of it, and I especially love its closing lines.

PhotoDiction said...

Love the implied cycle of life, of birth coming from the deep of winter.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! I thoroughly enjoy your poetry.

ND Mitchell said...

Great hopefulness springs out of that first verse. My sister has "beauty for ashes" tatooed on her foot (random I know!) and so I'm familiar with its scriptural background. Lovely to read this :)

Anonymous said...

nice images

hades gate

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thank you p-d.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks MJD.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks much sir.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thank you very much. The piece you shared this week is on my Love list! Amazing write there :)

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thank you Dani, kind of you to say so :)

Jennifer Wagner said...

You've taken it as I intended Mary. Thanks for reading!

Jennifer Wagner said...

Mark, thank you very much!

Jennifer Wagner said...

Oh heck Lisa, you flatter me! I am so humbled, your poetry is one of my online favorites. Thank you so much lady.

Jennifer Wagner said...

I'm swooning with all the poetic praise Miss Fireblossom. Really Shay, you have made my day. Your appraisal of my work really means a lot as I consider you to have quite an amazing talent for writing. And you took my piece exactly as intended. Love it when someone gets it.

Jennifer Wagner said...

I like it too. Thanks rch.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks very much Abin. Always appreciate you reading my work.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks Kiana. :)

Jennifer Wagner said...

Or a lot of it...smiles...thank you Kim.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Lovely to have your praise Audrey!

Jennifer Wagner said...

Sherry-always appreciate your thoughts and encouragement on my work. Thank you.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks for reading today Mario :)

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks very much ma'am!

Jennifer Wagner said...

That sounds like a cool tattoo. Love that you picked up on the reference. Love your work ND, and I so appreciate you leaving your thoughts here.

GoddessChhavi said...

Sweet :)