UNDER THE WOLF MOON
We live in the
bare branches now,
our skin splitting
painfully under
the brilliant circle
of a Wolf Moon.
We have been
busy filling the
universe with
our human voices,
mouths open,
sensuously, in the
O of rhetoric;
no time to press
our lips against
the sun and stars.
Somewhere out
in the dark, a fox
slouches low -
and turkeys, as
black as crows,
bark like dogs
and run wild
over the ice.
We try to remember
the names of things,
trees, sky, woods -
fractal thoughts,
meaningless now.
Transmutation
metamorphosis
shifting
I breathe you in.
The moonlight
shows your
low set ears,
your curved nails;
and now, I recognize
you only by the bristles
under your tongue.
metamorphosis
shifting
I breathe you in.
The moonlight
shows your
low set ears,
your curved nails;
and now, I recognize
you only by the bristles
under your tongue.
32 comments:
This just makes me want to howl. To howl far away from computers and televisions and all the things that take us away from her moon.
I breathe you in...
This piece stirs the wild inside me K. Beautiful.
wOw! ~Breathless am i~
Oh, how this brings us back to the natural world. I love the contrast of our human voices with the natural voice of the universe. You have a way of cutting through our busy-ness and bringing us into a more visceral reality.
Imagery here is incredible:
mouths open,
sensuously, in the
O of rhetoric
no time to press
our lips against
the sun and stars
and now, I recognize
you by the bristles
under your tongue
Love these lines and the whole poem.
When I was looking at the moon last night.
I wondered then if something happen to our world would we become feral, to be out there as the wolf?
I love this work of yours...
K. I am awarding you with The Lemonade Award. Please come to my site to retrieve your award.
Cat - Glad the wildness was stirred up inside you - now go out there and Hooooowwwwl!! And have fun in the process! Thank you very much! ;)
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Nollyposh - Welcome to OMM. Thanks for the adulation! Please visit again soon. ;D
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Karen - That is what I was hoping for, a return to nature. I wanted to create a poem about shape shifting that didn't seem too phantasmagorical. Not that shapeshifting is commonplace - but I wanted to lend a cetain credence to the piece. Thanks for all your astute remarks, I appreciate them. ;)
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George, I guess it was just one of those nights! I am glad you liked the poem. Thanks for the kind words! :D
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Catvibe - Many thanks for your recognition. That is so nice of you! I will be over later on to pick it up. Thanks, my friend.
*?*
There certainly is a primal beast within all of us. It's good to think we would still recognize each other in the moonlight.
Aine - Yes, isn't it! :) Thanks for stopping in on a Friday evening - so good to see you.
Very striking imagery, I really enjoyed this!
Bob - glad you liked the poem. January's Wolf Moon inspired it.
Thanks for stopping in and leaving the nice remarks! :)
the wolf moon poem made me strangely happy.....
Ghost Dansing - I am glad! :)lol!
To Ms. K.Lawson Gilbert--Thank you so much for this award. I am truly honored. I will try my best to entertain you and your followers as well!
Ever Yours,
Clayrn Darrow
M.IV
I really enjoyed this piece. Reminded me of some lyrics with similar themes,especially the below,which you may or may not be familiar with, but perhaps will find interesting.
"Off through the new day's mist I run
Out from the new day's mist I have come
I hunt
Therefore I am
Harvest the land
Taking of the fallen lamb
Off through the new day's mist I run
Out from the new day's mist I have come
We shift
Pulsing with the earth
Company we keep
Roaming the land while you sleep
(shape shift) Nose to the wind
(shape shift) Feeling I've been
(move swift) All senses clean
(earth's gift) Back to the meaning, Back to the meaning of... Life
Bright is the moon high in starlight
Chill in the air cold as steel tonight
We shift
Call of the wild
Fear in your eyes
It's later than you realized
(shape shift) Nose to the wind
(shape shift) Feeling I've been
(move swift) All senses clean
(earth's gift) Back to the meaning, Back to the meaning of...Life
I feel a change
Back to a better day
(shape shift)
Hair stands on the back of my neck
(shape shift)
In wildness is the preservation of the world
So seek the wolf in thyself
(shape shift) Nose to the wind
(shape shift) Feeling I have been
(move swift) All senses clean
(earth's gift) Back to the meaning, back to the meaning of wolf and man"
Hard to believe I am quoting Metallica now... you can hear it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA14Vw033Us
KGT - No, I had not heard that song, nor am I familiar with the lyrics - but, thank you. The words are interesting and poetic. I appreciate your stopping in. Glad you enjoyed the poem.
I loved the sensuousness of this poem, K, the primal scream of it. The sharpened moment when thought is shed, and desire and instinct curl their fingers round. It can happen to any of us...we fear, and hope.
I breathe you in was so simple and perfect here. Its intimacy is beautiful. Wonderful, evocative work! :)
I think I need to go check the moon's status now... ;)
This piece continues to haunt me!
"painfully under
the brilliant circle
of a Wolf Moon."
Saturnalia, Saturnalia...
I am smitten by this poem, completely, it flows so organically--Bravo Ms. K.Lawson Gilbert, bravo.
Ever Yours,
Clayrn Darrow
M.IV
Sarah, glad you liked this one. I thought I couldn't let January pass without posting it - January full moon, et. al. It had rattled around in my brain (ED) for a few weeks. Thankfully, I had a snow day last week to work on it! Thank you, Sarah! :)
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Clayrn, I am gratified that you found this piece memorable. It is so good of you to visit and comment so eloquently. Saturnalia, indeed!! Thank you! ;D
What more can I say that hasn't already been said:)
You've taken me on a magical ride!
my kinda imagery, thx klg :D
Every Photo Tells A Story - So glad you came along - ;D Thank you, Nancy!
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Wolfie, I thought you might like this one! :) Thanks a bunch.
wolf... moon... what's not to like? ;)
Dear Kaye,
Thank you for this thoughtful award. What a delightful surprise! I shall be back to read your piece, especially because it involves two of my favorite topics: wolves and the moon!
wow.
i love nature poems and this one is one of the better i have read.
beautiful feeling and touch. stuning photo.
Laughing Wolf - I could not agree more - ;O
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Gel, you are very welcome. Your unique poems, written in your distinctive style, are to be honored. ;D See you later, my friend.
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Utopianfragments - I am so happy that you stopped in. Thank you very much for those kind words. I am glad that you enjoyed the poem. Hope you will visit me again. :)
I can feel like that in the night. Shedding human skin. Becoming something older. Something that never was.
Great work, as always. :)
Stunningly beautiful, Kaye! I would have to quote the whole poem to show all the images that have touched me in many different ways...
Jason - yes, I know you can feel that way. Blame it on the moon. ;) Thank you!
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Vesper - That's so nice of you to say. I always value your opinion. Many thanks! :D
i don't know what i can add to what's already been said - but i love how this moves - i'm not sure if it's regression or progression - maybe both - it is (to me) the sting of shedding and the uncertainty of transformation and the transcendence of instinct - i do not think masterful is an overstatement.
Joaquin - very astute reflections - "regression or progression or both"...probably both. Yes, a going beyond the limits of what was once thought or believed...that transcendence of self.
I appreciate the high praise much more than I can say. Thank you, dear, Joaquin.
When I read this I want to be wild(er) :) and wish I still felt impervious to the aging process. ("we live in the/ bare branches now,/our skin splitting painfully" and I see this them pervade the poem to the end where scent is one way of recognition and sight shows that evolution.
I read and acutely feel that you know what the passage of precious time, never to be regained again means, or moments we could have changed("no time to press/our lips against/the sun and stars.")...if ("O of rhetoric")
Last, but not least, that "brilliant circle of a wolf moon" is personally significant to me and I thank you for a stunning poem.
(If you prefer I didn't write analytically as to why I like your poetry, please drop me an email.)
Gi Gel... I am so happy that you related to this poem in a special way. I thank you for sharing your reflections and interpretations of the poem. I want you to continue to write analytically - I enjoy your perceptions very much! Thanks, my friend. :D
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