It’s not a rift that a button can conquer
It’s not a matter of fashion or posture
My body is a starched linen
My face a wide-brimmed hat
My hands, two monkeys stirring
This island is eroding
Tame next to the sea’s wiles.
The boulder no longer commands
My exits nor presumes to waylay guests
I am not the same surplus
The same angel, the same grail
Immortal, nirvanic
Content to equip my enemy
With both ammunition and gauze.
When I die please do not consider me
A victim, know that, I went fighting,
Know that, the cave grimaced in sunlight
And that I took those yellow tendrils
Into myself as one takes a mirror
Willing, if inadequately equipped,
To embrace a truth superseding ego.
I can no longer justify my trips to purgatory
The poverty that follows each extraction
Some days I leave my face unmade.
And set out to conquer the extraordinary
I was given but one heart
And none but she can pronounce my name.
mindlovemisery 
brilliant… reminds me of elliot, ts that is~
Wow thank you Cindy!
Oh, excellent write!
Thanks so much Sue =)
That’s one brilliant picture and your poem is even better.
Thank you so much wow!
The first stanza is good but the second raises the poem to another level and the subsequent stanzas maintain the standard.
In admiration,
john
Thanks John I pushed through my writer’s block
Wow! I’m in awe.
Thank you Bianca!
Then fill those yellow tendrils of color!
Hehe
“know that, I went fighting”
Oh, yes, that we do know about you.
Thanks so much!
I’ve been reading this one and thinking on it and reading again – and each time, I find myself immersed in deeper in images conjured and metaphors that morph and I’m on a path that is both deadly yet delightfully light. It seems to me, whether this was intended or not, that there is this exquisite balance of edge and grace here –
I am not the same surplus
The same angel, the same grail
Immortal, nirvanic
Content to equip my enemy
With both ammunition and gauze.
Absolutely stunning images dance before my mind – actually through my mind. Stunning Yves – just stunning. 🙂
That is such a tremendous compliment knowing that you reread my poems and reflect on them. You are a dream come true!
LOL — well that is a generous compliment!
Perhaps overly generous?
LOL — when something has touched me in some way – whether I have understood it or not – then it sits within me – until it has finished simmering – and sometimes – there aren’t easy answers – and I “know” when I’m “done” with a piece; but even then, often, I have to revisit – because like any truly “great” piece of writing – whether it be poetry or prose or an academic thesis – something that resonates will always hold an attraction – much like a song or melody, or painting etc. 🙂
I am glad that you feel compelled to revisit my work even if it is just a matter of insanity lol
I revisit also XD My favorite famous poets are Sylvia Plath, Jim Carroll, Charles Baudelaire, and Arthur Rimbaud I spend a lot of time pouring over their work
ROFLMAO
” I am glad that you feel compelled to revisit my work even if it is just a matter of insanity ”
😀
no further comment necessary – besides I’m too busy clutching at my sides 😉