This morning over at Ruth's blog, synch-ro-ni-zing, she shares a prose poem, Skin, which was inspired by a photo she took of a deer skin left to wither on a fence post. It is a powerful photo and poem and as I read her words, the image of this poem started to form in my mind.
I'm not sure where it comes from (though I have an idea) but that is for more pondering. As always though, when the muse calls, I heed her voice, giving room for her to express what must be released. And as always, I am grateful for her presence inspired by someone else's words connecting me through the flow of creativity. Thanks Ruth!
Let Me
Let me
peel
back
time
exposing
flesh against flesh
pressed
tight
red and blue
veins flowing
arteries pumping
beneath
skin
hot
desire
scraping
bone against bone.
Let me
dig
deep
into sinewy
flesh
strung like telephone wire
linking cells
flush with life
pulsing
pushing back against
your tourniquet
bound heart
beat
trembling
in fear
of being touched.
Let me
peel back
the layers of your
skin
revealing
skeletal matters
of who you were
before time
exposed you
on a bed of
black on white truth
lying
beyond the pale
of dreams lost
running cold
against your flesh
pierced by a warriors arrow
long before
time
could heal
all wounds.
7 comments:
I found myself also thinking of Ruth's image and poem long after having seen and read them.
This is also an evocative piece.
thanks maureen. I think the sadness of that skin against the wooden post -- and the wondering of what would make someone do that -- it resonates... it is a powerful metaphor for what happens in life with our hearts as we layer pain and fear and then struggle to peel back the layers to reveal our hearts.
My pondering continues! :)
Dear Louise, these ponderings take us so far into wounds and layers almost too painful to contemplate. I found myself being pulled into it in the write of the poem "Skin" and even since then. There are many other directions and meanderings it could go.
Your poem for me gets at the wanting more, the understanding we long for, to know another. What lies below the surface of skin? It's impossible for us to feel what another feels, yet I'm drawn to know it all the time.
Thank you for the honor of this poem.
LG
I read it from two perspectives:
- the first, just enjoying the raw sensuality of it
- the second, sensing someone was hurt/violated (you perhaps) in the process . . . or maybe that is just knowing too much of your story
in any case, a very good piece that has nothing to do with a deer skin on a post
Mark
LOL Mark -- definitely not about a deer skin on a post -- yet, inspired by it!
very moving, Louise ... very
kind of like a surgery.
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