Chagall's Bride

I sail into midnight

in a gown of cobwebs, in firefly earrings.

I wear no shoes. I skim barefoot

through spirits. I float above

zombie louts, those Calibans,

those mooncalves who wonder

and stumble. I float alone

trailing serenity in a dusty blue wake.

I sing thin hymns to the night.

It swallows them whole.

 

Tears skate my cheeks like mercury.

They drop in tiny silver beads,

each one a starry story, particles

of secret that dot the sky.

Follow them and you may find me

where I bless the bread twice,

pulling air to me, pulling HaShem to me.

My whispers curse the darkness

and shatter yorsite candles.

Crows glide up from the earth

and speak to me from empty eyes.

 

They see angels. I do not.

I am occupied. I scatter

the distant ground, the barren ground

with memories cast in meteor dust

and so the Perseids are active tonight.

Reviews

[Denny]

You know how to send a guy to the dictionary. I keep going back because the flow was great when I knew little and even better when I learned to dance. Your poetry has a vocab larger than mine but I never have a problem picking up the rhythm. Isn't that poetry...dancing to the unknown...figuring out the puzzle...seeing it new.

[Toni Prehoda Kahler]

I like "tiny silver beads" - it's what mercury does, and it keeps that rhythm going, besides, "each one is a starry story" and that widens it, strengthens the specific....I am disagreeing with Tim here....but only on that! What I love best is the depth of meaning throughout - I find images of abundance and of death and so much more....

Another strong, incredible piece!

[Tim McGovern]

I haven't seen/ heard the word " moon calve" since a W C Fields movie, so I laughed out loud and then had to go through and read again.
Like trying not to laugh in church
: D

This is exquisite.
the only weak word is " silver" or even " tiny silver"
otherwise this is an incantation, a fairy tale, a lullaby, it's a snow globe on a window sill.

" zombie louts"
excellent

Did your absinthe show up too?
: )

I don't need to tell you how good this is, submit it somewhere
and I'll toot your horn.......baby

Namaste'
Tim

[Legion]

This was awesome. Heck, the last stanza by itself could be its own poem. You have a way with words and ideas. Wonderful.