Survivors

Survivors

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

This Page


by Steve King
© 2011
All rights reserved


i.

The blank page,
an unblinking annoyance
that will not turn away.
I cannot see beyond it,
though its glare does skewer me.

I inspect it, careful, and at length;
all its imperfection,
specks and whorls,
perhaps some remnants
of reprocessed rag,
or atomized remains
of old cardboard
and sixpack wraps.

That part there perhaps,
spun up from a soup
of crass handbills,
unanswered letters,
desperate replies,
holiday scribblings
and tart ‘good-byes,’
all well-seasoned with a spray
of bright confetti gaud.
A busy page, though blank.
Its breadth supports a second life
for all these transient things;
makes immortal life’s discards,
though not a strophe of mine.

Mottled and well used,
corners bent, creased and worn,
hammered near to death
by idle drumming fingers,
it’s figure is the very shade
of an exhausted muse.


ii.

It will outstay distraction,
this place where worlds do manifest
and legacies transport;
where far-seeing souls,
gone from time and place,
long the source of your close reveries,
strive for their communion;
as if they might impart some certain grace;
as if you might accept it
for your version of a sacrament.

Through darkening afternoon it stays,
a-dance before the eye,
upholding all the shapes
imagination might require;
a cloud, alit to render
hard won heavenly intent,
there to yield new spirits
in trade for your old dreams
and all the weary summonings.

All the old secrets,
all already known;
ancient stories leavened with new breath;
imagery ageless
as the breaching sun
or descending night
or red moon parting bitter seas
or narrow eyes upon new-risen heights,
opening to peer through an advancing mist…


iii.

No, nothing of this page is new,
save, at last, that part suddenly you.

17 comments:

  1. Great piece, love how you turned it back on itself there at the end making it all seem worthwhile.

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  2. nice...i hope everyone reads it all the way through to catch that last part...it makes the poem for me...

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  3. i agree with bri...these last lines are breath-taking....and it's just like that..

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  4. Beautiful and the ending just gorgeous!

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  5. I love everything about this, the two voices this is written in, the rhyme (intentional or not) replies/good-byes in stanza 3:

    "...spun up from a soup
    of crass handbills,
    unanswered letters,
    desperate replies,
    holiday scribblings
    and tart ‘good-byes,’ "

    and especially those last two lines.
    Perfect!

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  6. You write so beautifully and exquisitely. Your form and ending are perfect. These lines have great imagery :

    Mottled and well used,
    corners bent, creased and worn,
    hammered near to death
    by idle drumming fingers,
    it’s figure is the very shade
    of an exhausted muse.

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  7. I'm late night bar crawling here Steve - but this thoughtful piece is perfect for some cool reflection before sun up. your gear changes and pattern alterations propel the excellent content at a smart pace and the tone is constantly cool and the finale is just perfect in its order and weight.

    worth staying up late for

    arron

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  8. This is just lovely. The details, the descriptions--the odd things that make up the paper, the other lives of the paper, as it were--and then the middle portion, in italics, is suddenly Yeatsian. The end wonderful too. You should feel very proud of what you put on that blank sheet. K.

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  9. Recycled paper, recycled ideas, but in the moment that I, the reader, bring it in, chew on it, think a thought I didn't have a moment ago, there is magic. I believe a poem isn't done till someone else connects with it. So perfectly you ended it too. This one is done.

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  10. Think this has got to be my favorite of yours, so far. There's a demon talent that shines thru in this piece. And it reveals itself, particularly, in that last stanza. "ancient stories leavened with new breath"..you certainly filled the blank white page. Steve. Your imagry left me ga-ga. Beautifully crafted. Bravo!

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  11. Oh, nice ending :) Writing is a strange proclivity, but it is necessary for those that have the unction. It never passes. Well done!

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  12. Superb writing, Steve. It give a whole new complexion to the idea of recycling and really, for me, brought to mind the concept of reincarnation. The contrast between parts i and ii is made so effective through using italics. So good.

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  13. This requires a couple of reads to feel the lines, understand the meanings, touch the textures. Very satisfying the way certain papers are to the finger's touch and to the tip of a fountain pen particularly. I kept feeling the "differences" there to writing on screens bright and truly empty except for rows of top icons that promises to format the heap of words thrown under them.

    I write a completely different way and style with pen and paper from the one I write with a computer. I'm partial these days to the keyboard..so close to my lifetime of playing another keyboard where music and brain fuse to take me into another space and place. With paper and pen, it's not an "up" action for me but a digging down into etymologies, histories, story-telling. The words are bleaker and far less musical but more deeply textured and bumpy. It's a different road. I love both but the magic box more consistently calls with it's easy-do keys.

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  14. Interesting concept Steve.. really enjoyed the whole. And the first section is a study in texture... beautifully done.. And slipped in quietly a lovely understatement:

    A busy page, though blank.

    Really made me smile. :)

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  15. Steve- I love the contrast b/t the two... and the third is so powerful.

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  16. I nominated you for this award (an appreciation) from The Poetry Palace.

    Here is my blog post:
    http://a-sweetlust.blogspot.com/2011/12/unmeasurable.html

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  17. hey man...thanks for popping in today...sorry we did not get to see you at OLN but hope that your week is going well.

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