"Those were hard things for me to come by, and I offer them to you for what they may be worth." - Toby Wolff



Sunday, August 5, 2012

Dulling the Edge



It is these evenings I wait for.
Heavy air, a waning heat
like the kitchen, after a good baking...
the fruits of which, cool
on a windowsill with white lace bangs.

The pool is so deserted
that the ghosts of its waters beg me come
and I oblige
sitting on the edge, leaning in
as if this were the precipice from which I might fly
or drown...either choice
inconsequential to the movement.

Beneath the surface
an unseen force circulates the waters.
The Praying Mantis has crossed me twice...
frozen in repose
but for the leg bent
unimaginable wrong.

It is a good place
for gentle restoration 
and an edge removed
from that which sharpened the day
into a blade.
..







27 comments:

  1. It all seems to be about restoration. At some point in our lives, it seems we do more 'restoring' than we do 'living.' It's not a 'quick fix.'

    It just takes time...

    ~shoes~

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    1. Can restoring also be living? I hope so. Emotional restoration is a convalescence. You are absolutely right. Slow going. I think bones heal far quicker.

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    2. "Restoring" is "living" as long as we don't look back, Grasshoppah...

      ~shoes~

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  2. How often in solitude does the edge show so clearly through? You’re so good putting me well into remembered moods. They seem to take place at this time of the year. August, the transition month, from the expectations of summer, for some change that really wasn’t possible, and before the start of fall when schedules again surface with so much just the repeat of where we were at this time last year. The fears come back, heading back into what was expected to be changed by a months like May, June and July, but of course weren’t. I’m just rambling. I know: I probably missed the point.

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    1. You've not missed the point, and you've even added a few :) I always think fall will change me. I believe summer will be my undoing. I know spring will make my nose run but that it will be worth it. Every year I face the beginning of these seasons with my bag of sureties and as well as my insecurities. Seems I've hit the same starting line next time they come around, but maybe not.

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  3. It's the final 3 lines that get me on this one. There is this sense of peace almost settling and then the final lines. Bravo!

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    1. Glad you caught the nuance. As in life, how quickly things change :)

      Thanks Amy!

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  4. Oh, but why not swim, Annie? The water sounds so fresh and renewing!

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    1. I like to swim after dark when the pool is supposed to be "closed". It's even more peaceful and refreshing when the stars are out :)

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    2. I like the sound of that :-)

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  5. love love love the first picture. i would like that in a frame, remembering to look at the change, see the color. in this heat (in oregon it hit over 100 for the first time in 3 years, unbearable for this super mild, no a/c world) i can eat the air in my home with a fork and knife, and i lay on my back on the cold(er) wood floor and it forces me to slow. (give in)

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    1. That can be easily arranged. Give me your address and I will make sure a print gets in the mail :) Over 100 and no AC???? Torture. Poor thing.

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  6. Annie, has anyone told you lately that you are a good woman, hell a good person?
    If not here goes...Annie you are one hell of a good woman :-)
    Sometimes days are sharp...obsidian sharp; and I feel as if my life is an infomercial for the best under the sun all purpose super duper handy dandy commercial quality can't possibly allow your kitchen to suffer through another moment without these magic knives. Fully equipped with a bug eyed crazy dirty blond huckster, and I'm the prop that gets demonstrated on...IT SLICES IT DICES, IT JULIANS...as the day cuts me up into bite sized pieces for the world to enjoy...

    Then there are days like today...SUPER GOOD!!!

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    1. Very sweet of you Chris. What's a crazy dirty blond huckster? Yikes! I'd stay clear of it, whatever it is. I'm so glad you had a GREAT day! You were due. Over due.

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    2. Think of the "ShamWow" guy, if your not sure google it...a huckster is a sales person, pitch man :-)

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  7. from which I might fly
    or drown...either choice
    inconsequential to the movement.

    can't agree with this one, annie. i'm pretty certain it's better to flap upward :^)

    when the edge is removed from the blade, what remains? maybe it will be harder to cut a peach, but probably no more broken skin, which for me is a good thing. don't ask me where this thought comes from: it's your poetry! you get me zigzagging through all sides of important questions.. :^)

    small steps get you there....

    love
    ms know it all :^)

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    1. Well you have valid points. With no sharp edge, we couldn't slice tomatoes! Imagine! But, you know...it's all a metaphor. Baby steps. Thank you Ms Know A Lot :)

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  8. I luv ur pics. They seem so peaceful. I have a journal with me constantly. Anyone that I allow in my bag knows it is HANDS OFF. Some of my most vulnerable thoughts r in there. Only one person will ever be allowed to read them upon my death. U r so very much a poet. Ur words r soothing.

    Stormy Dawn

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    1. Thank you. And I love your name :) I was waiting for someone to comment on the fact that I still write my poetry out long hand. It doesn't seem to flow for me sitting in front of a computer. I have to be somewhere else. And I don't have a laptop or an iPad. Would really love an iPad. But maybe words wouldn't flow there either. Yes, I always have a journal with me too :)

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    2. I agree with you. It is more meaningful to me to have it handwritten versus typed if possible. My stepmom still sends me handwritten letters through the mail. I only have my computer at work and my phone which I can get on the Internet and type but it is limited.

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    3. Well you are about as backwoods as I these days. I with no television but what I find in a bar, and you with no computer. Maybe we should be roommates :)

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  9. saved at the waters edge. xo

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  10. Uh, I sooo envy your pool!! (107 heat index here today.) This is so achingly beautiful, Annie. I thought of Mary Oliver, one of my favorite poets, while reading it. You are such an amazingly awesome person/poet. I see you growing calmer through your words. Keep scribbling, poetry-girl. Love you!!!! xo

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    1. Yes, well...I made it much more romantic than it is. Hours earlier there were 100 kids peeing in there. I'm sure of it. So don't be too envious my friend. Your compliments are sweet, especially coming from a woman who has probably read every poet ever lived. But you love me, so you're biased.

      Love you my Marion. Hope you're saving your pennies for our next visit to one another!

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  11. We had a key from the place we used to live six years ago and used that pool until they changes the lock a few months ago. But a good friend gave us the code for her pool so now we have pool access again. Jacuzzi, club room, and gas grills too! Enjoy your summer!

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    1. :) Good Friends. Kinda f*ck the ruls friends...

      I hear charcoal grills rule...but I suck at BBQ. I'm afraid to light it! Can;t get far from there. Always wished I had more "sneak" in me. I'm relatively a fraidy cat.

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Thank you for listening.