sweat pours, deluge
of oppressive heat, thick
black oil, clotting
my mind to numbing rage-
words, wrinkled ash
tumbled from my cracked lips-
lost in sea-sands-
@Grace
Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Drought or Deluge, hosted by Walter Wojtanik. Having arrived from California, I was struck with the drought images of the hills and fields.
Your photos say it all, and your words are added flair, Grace! Thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteStrong observances as you travel the backsides of paradise, sans oasis, sans shade.
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful! Good to read you once more Grace, Poppy...
ReplyDeleteYour words make desolation almost sound inviting. :)
ReplyDeleteLoved how you got deluge and drought into the same poem!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds pretty bad. I don't think Rodney Dangerfield could top that. Stay cool!
ReplyDeleteoh love your title Grace telling everything...the lines make us see the words uttered...
ReplyDeleteIt's reAlly tough
ReplyDeletebeing an empath
as not only does one
hear the crackle of the
grass beneath..
one feels
the grass
as well
not
weLL
aT aLL..
and oh Lord..
thE Bliss of retirement
but feelinG those rainy
days and Mondays of the
neighbors
who
sTiLL
live in heLL.
oh yeah.. most
all 7 billion of them
around the world.. after
midnight.. the FeeLinGs get
quieter on the weekdays heRe..
DrOught
of soUl..
IS A worst
DrY oF aLL..
and sAdly the parched notes
are even somber dead in church
but i out sing it and out dance
it and out word it on the Internet2
ha... and that's why i write/dance.. so.. so
much it takes that much to numb the pain
of the rest of the world in dArkness
to BRinG thE
sAMe amount
oF life to erase
the death as liFe
thaT lives and circles
the globe in dArk.. alas
tHere IS A hoPe.. as teAM liGht
iS GroWinG briGhter from dimmer liGht..:)
Your ways with descriptive words is amazing...
ReplyDelete'Deluge of oppressive heat' is a stunning metaphor, Grace, that conveys to me, as someone who has no concept of them, the discomfort of high temperatures. That 'thick black oil, clotting' makes me feel more than uncomfortable. I can understand how violence easily erupts in such weather. But its those final lines that do it for me - a drought of words is something writers fear:
ReplyDelete'words, wrinkled ash
tumbled from my cracked lips-
lost in sea-sands-'
Relief--will it ever come? Is this 3 weeks of atmospheric oppression our new normal? People think my beard is hot and too much, they wilt at the sigh of it but in truth it is just as much an insulator against the heat as it is the brutal cold which has become our new normal for the 9 months of winter in Detroit.
ReplyDeleteI do not suggest you grow one though Grace. ;-)
... yep ... just like menopause, friend Grace .... first me is 2 hot, then me is 2 cold ... and round and round we go ... smiles ... Love, cat.
ReplyDelete"wrinkled ash tumbled from my cracked lips" This is an amazing line, Grace.
ReplyDeleteI read this three times -- the connections are many. The earth is speaking -- the earth pictured in your photo here. Black tar melting in the sun -- earth to dust to sand.
And someone mentioned menopause -- oh yes....did you know that 3% of women suffer (and I use that word realistically) from hot flashes for the rest of their life? And we are the "mother earth" -- rage words that happen when hormones turn to ash...
Powerful words here -- in either way of the reading.
Love the photo too, well on point.
ReplyDeleteDrought sure can spin about and make everything dry out
ReplyDeleteI love your choices of words in this Grace. Drought and deluge. Unfortunuately, due to overbuilding, over planting, too many cars - this is how it is in too sunny California. And the wildfires! Nope, you couldn't pay me enough to live anywhere on the west coast.
ReplyDelete"thick
ReplyDeleteblack oil, clotting
my mind"
"wrinkled ash
tumbled from my cracked lip"
I love those sections.
You describe poets' drought so well, it makes my mouth dry, Grace!
ReplyDeleteLoved this Grace.
ReplyDeletewords, wrinkled ash
ReplyDeletetumbled from my cracked lips
How one detests it when words are hard to come by. Frustrating! Rightly so Grace!
Hank
oh you def allow us to feel the heat
ReplyDeletedripping off your parched lips. it has been so hot.
we were at the beach the last 4 days and only went to the ocean in the morning, or evening. the mid day was so scorching with a heat index of over 108.
def drink plenty of water, or it will do some crazy things to your head. smiles.
I like how you worked the word deluge in to describe the drought.
ReplyDeleteI like how you worked the word deluge in to describe the drought.
ReplyDeleteI can almost imagine it, as if the earth talks during a drought, summer sun beating down upon it!
ReplyDelete