Survivors

Survivors

Monday, March 10, 2014

it rests so quietly the moon


©  Steve King
All rights reserved


it rests so quietly the moon
surface of the waters
deep with stars too

there rises a voice
to chorus brittle reeds
changing its tune always
as each wind turns its way

but I hear a certain song
as you would hear
were you still listening near

it is said there must be
distinction and some distance
in any harmony
as two separates conspire
to masquerade as the one
the ear must surrender
every compound use
and harbor only simple things

but this song comes and goes
a faint motif alone
in search of sturdier melody
song could not be made
more simple now
whisper of dead reeds
enough to score only
an incidental dream

a dream that with the song
does come and go

you with that waiting melody
so near but in another listening place
though I pray always for a harmony
I tell you I would do with less distance


A new post for Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads
http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/

23 comments:

  1. The distance inbetween...thereby hangs a tale.
    Subtle difference between technical and emotional interpretation of the melody: listening with the heart rather than the ear.

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  2. me again: just read your poem Seven Sails
    Love it.
    It starts off being pared down and distant, like Lorca.
    Then slowly it becomes emotional and personal

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  3. I get the impression that every word in this poem has been chosen with the utmost care, to create just the right nuance. Wonderful lyrical poetry.

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  4. When the sea is moon-calmed you'd think we could hear more clearly, but the rise and fall of waves lift us closer at times in all of its turbulence. I don't think we can have it both ways, do you?

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    1. You're right--it hardly ever works out so neatly...

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  5. two separates conspire
    to masquerade as the one

    Mmmm - harmony at its best.

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  6. Such BEAUTIFUL writing, Steve! Melodic and hauntingly beautiful.......I loved every perfect line, and was most struck by "the ear must surrender
    every compound use and harbor only simple things". Such a dance, to be both oneself and part of a couple at the same time. Thought-provoking.

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  7. Oh this is so nice! I love your description of harmony and that last beautiful stanza.

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  8. '.. the ear must surrender
    every compound use
    and harbor only simple things..'

    I am not big on cutting and pasting people's words back at them, but this really struck me as a very felicitous and musical three lines at the heart of the piece, with that classic feel you do so well, Steve--as if the message and phrasing is something one should be able to remember in one's bones. The sense of separation is strong, separation even in the unity of the forces of nature working on us,surrounding us all, that should bring us closer but often doesn't. The quiet yearning mood is set off by the solemn and measured language and cadence. Just a fine poem.

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  9. This is so beautiful. I love the way you've described the way harmony works, the distance between notes that must be just so… beautiful.

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  10. Beautifully written Steve, specially the ending stanza ~ When reading it out loud, it is melodious as a song ~ Happy week ~

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  11. The yearnings are there to carve a path to shorten the distance. If only a response is forthcoming. It will make things a lot easier! Brilliantly written Steve!

    Hank

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  12. This poem reminds me so much of your cover illustration, the sense of a magnitude beyond or inside the obvious one. It's what poetry tries to explore and name and share, even though the effort is probably a doomed one. How do we heart that music, discern its confounding harmony that is plural and one at once? How to hear far things up from the simple well of the present moment? Indeed. Thanks for this response.

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  13. Steve this is a visual and musical poem. I hear notes straining for the duet. I see the distance just a bit to far and I feel a sweet if not exhausting struggle...

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  14. This is just a beautiful poem, Steve. Almost archetypical in its phrasing--it describes so well the opposite of overlap-- maybe balance? The two sides-- one thinks one wants union but maybe there would not be so much fun or strengthen and yet one longs for that coupling. The phrasing and cadence are especially lovely. K . Manicddaily

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  15. This is really beautiful writing. It wafts in the senses--perhaps like the motif--

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  16. Lovely to revisit--just a beautiful poem--thinking of this dead reeds line this time--of course there are the woodwinds--but one also pictures a kind of sedge like the Belle Dame sans Merci. Just a lovely poem k.

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  17. Back again and finally loooked up the Pascal quote that this poem always makes me think of--you probably know it, but here's a link -- about man being only a reed, but a thinking reed. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/394587-man-is-only-a-reed-the-weakest-in-nature-but (Manicddaily)

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    1. Thank you, Karin. I hadn't known of that quote. I appreciate you sending it over.
      SK

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