Poet Laundry: August 2017

Thursday, August 31, 2017

At the Lake

Lake Chelan

Love comes in soft waves—or bold,

and leans in toward our shores—

keeping and staying, freeing and swaying,

ebbing—

Chasing us, when we need to be chased,

holding us, starlit, and

echoing

long

after

night falls.

An acrostic for dVerse.

Lake Chelan is a lake in central Washington and is one of my favorite places to be. My family has done a lot of living, laughing and loving while visiting there.

Monday, August 28, 2017

Qin

Armored Charioteer

Holding the reins

of dynasty,

the red spread,

conquering

until conquered,

in mercurial endings—

buried

and forgotten

with the bones

of their makers, their lips

like tombs.

Notes:

I recently toured the fascinating Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China display in Seattle. Thousands of the life-size clay soldiers, each with unique characteristics, were buried with the Emperor. They were discovered in 1974 and are an epic archaeological find.

Emperor Qin consumed mercury in hopes of preventing his death which is believed to have hastened it. He also had rivers of flowing mercury installed in his tomb. Laborers who helped build Qin’s tomb complex were buried in it for secrecy regarding its location and treasures within.