Thursday, February 22, 2007

And so on the way down to Jersey to visit with friends, we were given a visual gift of the previous days ice storm, and what a gift. The pictures work hard to capture the awesome beauty of the ice coated landscape but fall very short. It was like looking at something in a National Geographic Magazine. Here is the paradox of nature at her best and worst. Serendipity in action. I doubt if I'll be lucky enough to ever witness this type of indescribable magnificence again.


















Awestruck

Noonday we sailed on an arctic sea
shimmering with diamond dust,
frozen as far as our eyes could see.
Thoughts came in visual fragments-
cold, crystaline, slivers of silver
icicles pirouetting in rays of light
spearing through broken clouds-
and held us stunned; breathless;
witnesses to the whimsy of God.

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And here's my response to Poetry Thursday's optional challenge (a bit of a downer, I know, but still a poem. yay, I'm writing again!!)

The Body Knows

The body knows the invisible ink
of our betrayals, each abuse indelible,
and still it serves for long years
until, one day, it breaks.

The body knows the braille
of our excess - the fast food dinners
that pad our waists; the after work
cocktail rituals; the cigarettes;
and still it serves for long years
until, one day, it breaks.

The body knows the written legacy
of our ancestors, their DNA
thumbprints recorded in our genes,
and still it serves for long years
until, one day, it breaks.

Why do we rewrite our body
until, one day, it breaks?

Labels:

18 Comments:

Blogger angie said...

An absolutely gorgeous, stunning poem -- magical. I can see how those photos inspired you.

6:35 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

thank you so much! and welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed the poem!

10:30 PM  
Blogger Clockworkchris said...

Great job and welcome to poetry Thursday. Our family, if you want to call it that, is always happy to have new members. If you have visited around and see some people have 2-3 comments, some have 5-10, and some have 20-70-it's all about getting there first and visiting everyone else's pages. Just a hint if you are comment hungry like me-I have been slacking big time. Hope you have a great day and thanks for the interesting read. Good start to a new day!

8:45 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

thanks so much for the warm welcome to PT - I'll be seeing your blog soon. glad you liked the poem!

12:30 PM  
Blogger gautami tripathy said...

Welcome to PT. Great pictures and words.

gautami
In-between state of consciousness

12:55 PM  
Blogger Regina said...

Perfect- the poem and the pictures. It almost makes me miss the winter time up north...
I loved the visualization of icicles pirouetting!

1:16 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

guatami - thanks so much for the welcome and glad you enjoyed the poem :)

7:14 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

regina cj - thanks, and glad you enjoyed the poem!

7:15 PM  
Blogger wendy said...

I like your take on the body..esp the dna...I've read alot of poems this week, and yours was the only one to think of that slant. Welcome to PT!!

11:08 PM  
Blogger Crafty Green Poet said...

I enjoyed reading your poems and your photos are stunning.

11:10 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Welcome to PT from another newbie.
Nice job on this one and the pics are great too.
Hope to see (read) you here again soon.

10:37 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

wendy - thanks so much! I tried to leave a comment on your entry but couldn't for some odd reason, so I'll just say it was an interesting poem, and that I learned something new from it. thanks for the warm welcome to PT, too!

crafty - thank you so much!

ron - backatcha. gotta get over to your blog to read you, too.

1:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I like the refrain in this piece, and the interesting phrasings, such as "the braille of our excuses." Welcome to Poetry Thursday.

4:01 PM  
Blogger Mary J. said...

Lovely. I like the word "indelible" especially, and the idea that the body knows so much that we "rewrite."

1:55 PM  
Blogger Scotty said...

Great shots, Cookie, and glad to see that writer's block has lifted too. My writer's block is still with though, can't write for squat at the moment - you might even say it's indelibly inked onto my Muse's DNA... *smile*

5:22 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Hi, Dana! thanks for dropping in - glad you enjoyed the poem!

5:44 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Mary, thank you for stopping by - glad you enjoyed this!

5:45 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Heya, Scotty! thanks! yes, writing, but just barely. it's still hit or miss. I joined a site called Poetry Thursday and this week's challenge triggered an idea - so I grabbed a pen and went with it. Each week they post a different challenge on Thursday - you should check it out. Maybe the same will happen to you. :-)

5:49 PM  

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