15 October 2009

cemetery walking

I fear my poetry muscles are very flabby indeed, but I couldn't resist LL's invitation to write about a moment where I experienced slowing.


watching angelAlign Center


Cemetery walking,
I come to chase after autumn hues:
Bursts of crimson and gold
Flaming forth from tree branches
That will soon be stripped
Of their fiery filigree;
Falling amber and emerald
That make a carpet,
Downy and bejeweled for my feet.

This is not death, I think
But transition:
The movement from one way of being alive
To another.
This thought will comfort me
In the coming months of freezing dark;
I will patch together a warm cloak from these hues
And the memory of them.

I happen upon her innocently,
Unsuspecting.

I stand and wait.
Feet rooted into the patch of grass
Over the bones and dust she guards,
I stare:
Hoping for revelation
To come blazing from the stony angel-eyes
That stand watch over the grave underneath.

Unmoving
She tells me nothing,
So I click the camera
And click again.
A few more.

Part, lips!
Tell me your secret!
I beg
From silent mouth,
From likewise stony eyes.

I watch.
I wait.

Riveted she remains, and unflinching:
Listening in silence for the voice of God,
And waiting for the resurrection
Of the dead.

7 comments:

  1. I'm glad you flexed those poetry muscles ... this is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. That's beautiful, Kirst. I like how you pointed out that this is not death but transition from one way of living to another. I also like how you felt she stood silent, listening for the voice of God and awaiting the resurrection of the dead. Beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love this . . . as I read, I also wanted to hear her voice!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This phrase...

    "I will patch together a warm cloak from these hues
    And the memory of them."

    A poem in itself. Lovely.

    Thanks for joining the 'slowing' celebration!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for this inspiring view of autumn--transition. It is all transition, change, goodbye and hello. Beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Remarkable. Thank you! My mom loved to walk through old cemeteries and snap photos. I understand now why.

    ReplyDelete