Thursday, May 9, 2013

After Dark

    Image by Daniel Murtagh

In the long winter nights
when time eclipses thought
and dreams bleed into waking
I question the turning of the stars.
Which of them is already dead,
how much longer until 
their lights go out, 
and how will I navigate
through the treacherous dark?

Spooned into the hollow of your arms
I count on your tenderness.


The image above was provided long ago by Tess Kincaid as a prompt for The Mag.  I never managed to write anything at the time, but the image haunted me until I recently paired it with something I wrote for G-man's FF55.  Check out both of these links for some wonderful poetry.


36 comments:

  1. Mary Bach...
    Turning a Super Nova into a beautiful Ode to Love, is no easy task. You are such a poetic genius!
    It must be the Beer....
    Loved your Celestial 55
    Thanks for playing, Your Rock ALL of Dairyland
    Have a Kick Ass Week End

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    1. Thanks G-man. You sound like a Wisconsinite when you say 'it must be the beer.' Thanks, as always, for the 55 forum, and enjoy your weekend. :o)

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  2. The poetry goes very well with the image. Very impressive.

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    1. Thank you Opal...that image rested in the back of my brain for a long time.

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  3. Sounds like celestial navigation at its finest. A lovely blend of image and thought, that midnight feeling is always very relatable for me.

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    1. Thank you Joy. What is it about the night sky?

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  4. This was gorgeous. I think we've all pondered such things...and it's always sweeter to ponder the unknown when spooning :)

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    1. Thanks Talon, I've always thought spooning was underrated! :o)

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  5. Well worth the wait...beautiful.

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    1. So, something else I should maybe have mentioned, in the JK Rowling book for grownups (A Casual Vacancy) she has a line about the stars that got me thinking along these lines. Here it is:

      “But who could bear to know which stars were already dead, she thought, blinking up at the night sky; could anybody stand to know that they all were?”

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  7. Thoughts to surely ponder, if the spooning doesn't get too active haha

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  8. Beautiful and somewhat haunting to think of the stars already being dead.

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  9. I remember that image! It certainly haunts the psyche and your poem is beautifully rendered and I'm sure Tess will agree that it was worth the wait. I've been very absent of late but the Mag and Friday Flash on Sundays and Fridays is always something I think about. Thanks for the ode to stars!

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  10. Wonderful. Everyone should have tender arms to hold them during the time in the dark.

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  11. nice...very cool closure on this mary...giving a little relief to the tension you set up nicely through the main verse....very cool take...

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  12. Mary, a beautiful poem! Awesome!

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  13. Navigating is always treacherous, which is why we are given tools.
    Applicable tools, we hope, to make the journey. Thanks for the poem.
    Hope your spring "comming-out" is pretty.

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