Tuesday, April 9, 2013

The Carbon Dioxide (of Poetry)


when all the shapes of dreams
flew by outside your window

and you couldn’t catch one
to call your own,

when every
gnarly, blighted

branch of life’s undoing
rotted right up through your soles,

those pieces of poems called out,
laying dormant in blades of nevermind grass,

for you to crawl
across the grit of unholy floors,

to find grace through
time-smudged glass

and see them
beneath the soil, coiled

and waiting for you
to breathe them into birth

 

Copyright © 2013 Jennifer Wagner
 

A sort of tribute to poetry itself, as it is National Poetry Month, and how poets are given poetry and with it the ability to turn pain into art.

 

30 comments:

Brian Miller said...

smiles....see them beneath the soil to breathe them to birth...nice....anything can be a poem you know...we just have to find it...pain and all the powerful emotions def are conducive to the verse...smiles.

ayala said...

Yes, it is a tribute to poetry..and poetry is a gift as you describe here. :)

Janet Martin said...

Gorgeous; love the vivid imagery. Yes, even our suffering can be turn into a worthy cause...dare I say beauty?

colleen said...

Nice way to dive down and coming up with something to keep. http://looseleafnotes.com

Claudia said...

breathing them into birth...love the warmth in this...great images..

anthonynorth said...

That last line is perfect.

Unknown said...

I agree... that last line is perfection! :)

Bad Penny

Anonymous said...

those pieces of poems called out,/laying dormant in blades of nevermind grass, ... absolutely magical line in wonderful poem

Janine Bollée said...

poetry to the rescue when things go pearshaped. Love it.

Anonymous said...

beautiful

emmett wheatfall said...

Deep! Whew! The metaphors are brilliantly arrayed. I'll look for more of your work on Tuesday's.

Stormcat Poetry said...

"when every gnarly, blighted branch of life’s undoing
rotted right up through your soles"
"nevermind grass . . . time-smudged glass"
Whew! is right!!!

Wolfsrosebud said...

so liked breathing them into life... fun read

Mary said...

Nicely written. I think by the end of the month many of us will be breathless breathing poetry into birth. Smiles!

RMP said...

stunning! such intense description. really nicely done.

Scarlet said...

Yes, we do birthing them, again and again ~ Love the snappy write Jennifer ~ Happy writing to all of us ~

Unknown said...

How therapeutic poetry can be : )

Mark Butkus said...

"laying dormant in blades of nevermind grass,"

I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy.

A wonderful marriage of seven words stands out in an exceptional poem.

Cheers,

Mark Butkus

Justin Lamb said...

Finding a creative release in poetry. Awesome. I really like this one.

Anonymous said...

This is wonderful. It's amazing how cathartic poetry can be no matter how long ago the events.

Lisa A. Williams said...

A beautiful write, one of those outstanding poems I wish I could remember each and every word when I leave the page.

Anil Sawan said...

first time here and loved your place :)

joanna said...

beautiful lines, and sentiment. as a kind of science-y nerd, i loved this comparison!

Optimistic Existentialist said...

I just have to say...you are the queen of amazing metaphors. You truly have a gift my friend.

Margaret said...

yes, you have turned pain into art. Quite wondrously, in fact. I won't bother to hight light the WHOLE poem ;) It's when I read exquisite poetry like this I just want to drop my pen and give up.... sigh.

Tank said...

" and waiting for you
to breathe them into birth"

I love how you can birth such wonderful work from memories, words or pieces of life that you come across. Keep it up, you're amazingly talented!

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Looking forward to your next wonderful poem :)

Sarav said...

Wow Jennifer, what an amazing set of words--grit of unholy floors; find grace in time-smudged glass--a wonderful poem. Read it through a few times just to savor it :-)

Sadia Khan said...

Couldn't have been a better tribute..absolutely magical...making the words breathe is all what is poetry about..

aka_andrea said...

I love how descriptive this is especially,
branch of life’s undoing
rotted right up through your soles,

great lines