Comforts Of Fear
Into the blue river
seven drops of blood;
into the honeypot
a tail-sting of acid;
into all pleasures
the pinch of a pain;
these are the charms
that comfort my heart,
staple it safely
two steps from happy
for that's a glass cup
too easily broken
by the thick fumblings of one
who sends vessels flying,
for one who has watched
all fragile things fall, time
and again, the bright heroes crippled,
songbirds in feathers on fire;
who parts her hair with
a sparrow-bone
who laughs with the jeer-caw of crows;
who sees welcoming smiles
dry as they meet
her insufferable oddity
the last worst theft
and the best confirmation:
never expect
anything whole
just sometimes the small
salvage, the private ray cast
by hope's prism splitting
the need to believe
from the narrow light thrown
by the comforts of fear.
May 2023
7 comments:
Beautiful writing. I especially am struck by the birds with feathers on fire, and her parting her hair with a sparrow bone. Wonderful.
I never could figure out why Hope stayed crammed in the back of Pandora's box, but there are clues here in both the poem's names and remedies for it. Certainly we must beware "a glass cup / too easily broken / by the thick fumblings of one / who sends vessels flying" and thus "never expect / anything whole / just sometimes the small / salvage." If only we could get that fool heart to stop taking the bait and thinking Lucy will let Charlie Brown kick the ball this time. Fear is a bitter charm against hope but a wizened, perhaps ultimately wise, one. All those broken shoelaces hymn as such in the wilted chorus. Delightfully woven even if it is yarned with gall.
The line about welcoming smiles melting at the speaker's insufferable oddity just blew up my heart that anyone should experience that or expect that. It's a well-wrought poem, but I keep coming back to that section. That sounds unbearable, and though it suits the prompt exactly, it pierces me.
I love the image at top, it's captivating,
Two steps from happy seems about the right sort of distance and it seems that those charms were spells cast by a worldly understanding of this. So much to love here. Maybe such an easily broken glass cup should be left well alone.
two steps from happy... the comforts of fear... tdarkness weaves through the lines...a great write.
Beautiful and poignant writing, there is just something so true and both scary and comforting about this line and image :"two steps from happy", like the one step forward two steps back, it reminds me of the eternal longing we feel, for something.
the jeer-caw is what caught my ear. mostly away from poetry these days, but will catch up with your pens. ~m
Post a Comment
This is an anonymous blog. The author politely requests that the author's name not be used if known to you. Thank you.