driftwood and kafka

having found a safe harbor at last

some driftwood sits on the shelf quietly

crashing waves bathed it on jagged, rocky shores

a merciless sun’s rays worked like

the busy fingers of an artist till the wood

revealed its pure, bare essence

flowers, freshly cut from their stem

are slowly bleeding dry in a vase full of life

mummified moments conserved in frames

are pinned to the wall like butterflies

whose wings still dazzle with their beauty

though they will fly no more

embalmed thoughts, lives, histories

lie buried in their tiny tombs waiting

for a kiss of life breathed into their

brittle pages by the mouths

of the living that are mesmerized

by the faint whispers of the dead

and you, whom I still carry in my heart

like a crazed mother who holds her dead child

to her heaving bosom, refusing to part with

the beauty that once lived in the limp, broken limbs,

you, too, may join the menagerie of dead things

on the shelf between driftwood and Kafka

Reviews

[John the Baptist]

This one comes across as an elegy, though the identity of the lost one is not revealed. Death hangs over the stanzas in images of things that have been shaped by life, maybe broken by it. The last stanza seems to be in memory of one who suffered intensely, and who is now being released to eternity by the speaker. That the person is being placed on the shelf with other relics of the past seems to indicate there will still be a memorial to one who meant much. The poem does have the somberness of Kafka.

[Laz K.]

Thank you very much for this detailed, perceptive analysis. It's always a magical feeling to hear one's own thoughts paraphrased. It's a sign of being understood, and naturally, that's not a bad thing for any writer. Thanks again! :)

[Dave Brown]

A sophisticated offering well beyond my frivolous contributions
I relate to the driftwood, which I hands-on create with, and the thought of things of beauty which have passed, and seem to have been stored away on a shelf or perhaps just as a memory

[Laz K.]

Thanks Dave. There's really something "artistically beautiful" about driftwood. They're sculptures by Nature's hand.

[Kerra]

This is such an unique write, very nicely written

[Laz K.]

Thanks for reading and commenting. :)