collaboration

I found a sheet of paper with some random scrawlings. Almost threw it in the trash, but then on a whim I sent it to a friend. John sent the words back as this. Strange things come out of womens purses sometimes. . .

First there is this:

sentience
echoes of a pounding heart
un-asked for dread
looking to the sky for answers
one ear to the ground
a natural alliance
in intangible connections.

The amethyst
beneath distressed wood and chipping paint
stubborn in its design
Buddhist expressions
listening for enlightenment
the package of unity found
on this door step
inexplicably dissolves everything
into itself


Then the words:

your voice

sinks deep

like gravity as it applies to heat

and then a skipped space and:

walking that line

where the crack in the sidewalk nurtures your vibe

must have been something we were talking about whatever day it was. . .

Hidden designs lodged into our psyche

Others may have seen it before we did

but it's hard to say


and then:

I give you my voice
and we tiptoe around
what can't be said.

You watch me turn
this into a dance
& sigh reminiscent

And I talk lullabies
in hillbilly drawl.

Conversations long
to stretch themselves thin

Patience..

We pass each other
shift-work.

Stories and thoughts
become play time

I take over
and you catch some zzzz's.

How can this be?
and
How can it not?

final thoughts..
for tonight at least


 

Reviews

[Brett Moore]

I've been bouncing around this site for a few years on and off and have rarely found any single piece that I felt compelled to reread this many times for sheer joy.

SO many lines - and I know we attach to different things, so I won't relist your entire poem here, but..I could - that are just captivating.

"And I talk lullabies/ in hillbilly drawl."
That may very well be a description of Elmore Leonard's voice as a writer.

The entirety of the first two stanzas is just excellent. Needless to say, I'm a fan.

[Emily B]

John was a remarkable soul. He brought out the best in me.

[Phibby Venable]

I love this for the sense of discovery! I love the jangle of it moving back and forth.

[Leap]

This is great. It's different and I like the origin. "Stories and thoughts become play time" - Great line. Thanks for your review. I'll be reading more of your stuff...I like it.

[Collect-Eye]

hahahaha.."strange things come out of women's purses"..I love it, Emily..

in answer to the confusion about "Buddhist expressions"..just integrating the zen koan concept [i.e.--one hand clapping] into the mix..that's what true inspiration does to you..it pushes you to the next level..that's what Emily does for me, and I was just trying to give back [you can thank me later--I accept visa/mastercard]..one of the many reasons I collaborate w/ her..[=

She's grabbed a hold of my technique and woven it into something transcendental--profound, but in an effortless way...thank you, Emily..[=

[Sabine]

You wrote,

The amethyst
beneath distressed wood and chipping paint
stubborn in its design
Buddhist expressions
listening for enlightenment
the package of unity found
on this door step
inexplicably dissolves everything
into itself

These lines speak with the mystical rhythms of 'unconscious logic' (by which patterns-- as you have described) so beautifully and colorfully combine into a sublime unity--expressing (in the realism inherent to your particular style) a more concrete and textile experience. Embedded with meaning, your poems so wonderfully bring the familiar to the doorstep-- opening an Aha! moment. As such, the reader may arrive as a consequence of thoughtful description to a 'peak' of enlightened sensitivity, to value the artistically expressed poetics and pleasurable sensory arrangements that you have presented. Sabine*

[Alice]

This is astonishingly 3D and kaleidoscopic. I didn't find it confusing - it might be disorientating to be thrown into a whirlpool but you still know what it was that turned everything upside down when you surface - it was crystal clear and gorgeous, it took me somewhere with a new logic. I wish things like this would turn up in my purse, all I get is fluff and the Queen's head.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

I found this, for the most part, confusing. "Buddhist expressions
listening for enlightenment " ????? What Buddhist expressions? How can an expression listen? Now here's a nice sounding line,"where the crack in the sidewalk nurtures your vibe " but what does it mean? I found my own attempts at translation frustrating. Parts of it sound like beat poetry, something Ginsberg might come up with, but then it seems to lose focus and wander. I wish Tony hadn't passed on his line by line interpretation, I would have been interested in reading it. It felt a bit abstract to me. To quote another one of the beat poets, "Just color me lost."

[Tony]

I would love to interpret this line by line, that is how good this is, but I will pass and just say, this is awe inspiring and there are some fabulous lines, which I believe answer this question.........How can this be?
and
How can it not?




a natural alliance
in intangible connections.

The amethyst
beneath distressed wood and chipping paint
stubborn in its design

walking that line

where the crack in the sidewalk nurtures your vibe

I give you my voice
and we tiptoe around
what can't be said.

Tony

[Belator Books]

great lines: un-asked for dread & gravity as it applies to heat.

I love an unexpected bit of prose, especially where it is actually carried off. Splendid.

[Touché Armada]

This is lovely very dreamy Em, I cant pick out what I like because it just all goes together.
Well done stitching of words here.

[Hedra Helix]

First there is this:

sentience
echoes of a pounding heart
un-asked for dread
looking to the sky for answers
one ear to the ground
a natural alliance
in intangible connections.

The amethyst
beneath distressed wood and chipping paint
stubborn in its design

wow;)