poem: Receptive Anew

I am all that was ever found imperfect in me

and all that was once envisioned whole by you

a disjointed space of vulnerable parts, summed

the calculus of human surface tension

...and small delicate things, in flight.

Maybe you are the focus of concentrated effort

and my heroic stoicism's epic failure; I see

how wrong I was in my treaty of angels

my surety of love's ability to enlighten; thus

we remain in something akin to dissonance.

but could I know, I would give all that is perfect

and stand in receipt of the folding of space,

if it would do any good, to broil this thick skin

until it is tender and the raw me slips out, hollowed

-the whisper of starlight on now-useless currency.

I stand at the edge of excess, and declare,

but I will love until the pain loosens its grip

thinking that was exactly the theory behind

the decades of carefully conducted measurements

and everything small winged messengers told me

about seeing perfection in the damaged thing.

this is me, the sum of things, awaiting release of tension

-the call to open at the midline and embrace your solitude.

Reviews

[redzone]

In some ways both real and imagined we are damaged beings, so to see our dissonance, accept it, embrace it, to understand it's reality and still seek to love and vulnerable to be loved is special and far too many never realize this and so go around with layers of walls built up around them. It is rare that a poet admits to such vulnerabilities, as you do in this poem.

But we live in a social setting and so while we relate as social beings isn't it also true that we must fix these nagging social ills we find around us and determine our social being well as accept our vulnerabilities in doing so?

This is a very moving and personal poem Marie, I enjoyed reading it. ~~redzone

[Marie Anzalone]

Thank you very much for this astute and in-depth review, redzone. You raise soem interesting questions. Us people from the US tend to value independence to absolutely mythical levels- when we would all be far bette roff and far happier as human beings embracing levels of interdepence. Doing so requires humility and vulnerability- and I wonder if that is maybe the responsibility facotr you allude to in your questions?

[Marie]

We are the sum of imperfect things. There is nothing in nature that does not have some flaw...

[Marie Anzalone]

Nor in nature, nor in humanity. Appreciate the review, Marie.
from, "the other Marie"

[Pól]

bloody hilarious!!!!!!!!!

[writing mojo]

this a beautiful interpolation of self flowing and moving within the narrative of collective thought spacing out...amazing piece

[Marie Anzalone]

thank you very much for your articulate, helpful, and kind review. Your thoughts are appreciated, and your observations help me understand better what it is I am trying to do.

[Perdition]

I imagine this as I do a snow globe. It is there even in the peaceful moments but once you declare a "cognitive" dissonance then things really begin to fly and for a moment there , you almost lose moment...until everything settles back into into its own new, yet snow-globed universal law....or you simply break your arm shaking in triumph. This one I will definitely revisit..Thanks~

[Marie Anzalone]

Thanks, Perdition, your metaphor intrigues me, and I think you caught the essence of that fleeting eternal moment that I was trying to capture. Much appreciate you stopping by my woods on this cold evening.

[Corset]

you are such a beautiful soul, "I stand at the edge of excess, and declare, but I will love until the pain loosens its grip" and have such a wonderful voice, "but could I know, I would give all that is perfect

and stand in receipt of the folding of space, if it would do any good, to broil this thick skin

until it is tender and the raw me slips out, hollowed"

I was thinking earlier how wonderful it would be to grow backwards, grow younger as we grow wiser, so when we die we slip back into the womb of the wonder of birth and the childike fascination with the world, bright and looming so largely fresh before our eyes.

[Marie Anzalone]

But I think we do have that ability, dear friend, don't you? Everything we learn, opens us to more and more wonder... if we let it. It is always a choice we have every morning, when we choose how and how much love to give this world of ours.

The natives have an exercise they do: take something mundane that you see every day, and try to draw it from memory. Then examine the real thing in full close detail, and see how much you miss. Attention to detail, openness to it... I think that is the key to loving acceptance. And boy do I struggle with that every day.

[Ken Simm.]

A cry full of pathos. Saying even in my dispair I can be incredibly beautiful and real.

[Marie Anzalone]

Mmmm usually, Ken, you nail it... but I think this one escaped you a bit... or else I screwed up in delivery. Pensive and scared, but not really in despair... more opening slowly after two years of holding shut. I will examine further and see if there is more it is trying to tell me, though.

As always, your visits are cherished and appreciated.

[h d e rushin]

"I see, how wrong I was in my treaty of angels
my surety of loves ability to enlighten."

Love, among humans, still remains an abstract concept. The moonstruck can also be
considered as mentally unbalanced. But the best love poems are those that admit
to human vulnerability. Not just the saying of it (love) or admitting to it, but embracing
the outcome(s)

I love you.
dana

[Marie Anzalone]

Vulnerability, I am convinced, is the very essence of what makes and keeps us human, despite it all. And yes, being in love can be described as a mental illness. But I like to see it as an infusion of so much joy that it overflows the vessel and spills out into the world.

I need to fall in love with the world again. Am thinking I shall just start with your beautiful soul.

[Horizon K.]

... I will love until the pain loosens its grip...

Your words always move me to incredible spaces. This is so haunting and hollow and sad. The way you express, elegant and exquisite. I am so glad to see something new from you, who are one of the most gifted poets I have ever met on the WC...

[Marie Anzalone]

As always, Horizon, thank you muchly for the very kind words. I have found that most human situations only improve when they are infused with more love- as difficult as that can be to achieve.