cave

The wonder our ancestors left for us.

our handprints lie
in the surly dusts
of her ribcage

pleistocene,
magnificent.

cleanse her
and splayed fingers
leap retinas like fences
in pure azure delight.

hot winds and
lion-coloured grasses
tell the yarn of ritual
into an abacus floor,
entranced in a fugue state
for a thousand lifetimes.

Author's Note

This piece was inspired by a 40,000 year old cave drawing in Spain, made of handprints. Absolutely amazing to me.

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

I find cave art absolutely fascinating. The need to be creative all those years ago amazing. Leaving something of themselves behind, their rituals, the way they lived, all in hand prints. How wonderful is that, that they are still around today thousands of years later. Thank you for bringing those hand prints to our attention in your amazing poem Verse. We'll done.

Chris

[Verse]

Oh, thanks so much, Chris! Archeology and anthropology are what we will become to someone else one day, I suppose. Maybe that’s why I enjoy it so much. :):)

Thank you for sharing the view...

V

[jacob erin-cilberto]

wow how visual this is....we are in the cave standing in front of the drawing...fascinated...
on those walls of those caves...that to me is poetry...just like graffiti is also poetry...
there are so many different kinds of our genre.
nicely done,
j.

[Verse]

Thanks so much, Jacob!!! :):). I remember seeing the picture of the cave, and feeling like a kid running home from school to tell her family about something great that happened that day. :):)

(You guys at WC are the family in this scenario, btw.) :)

Very glad you enjoyed this piece in particular.

V

[Paul Bell]

Cave drawings, and all the way to Banksy.
Looks like we're still drawing on walls.
There is something exciting about wall drawing though, except when the police are around.

[Verse]

So true.

Cheers! :)

V

[barleygirl]

One of my favorite movies of all time: The English Patient with stunning cinematography about cave paintings. So I've already got a great vision in my mind & your words rise to the occasion, a further celebration of such traces of bygone civilizations. Love reading your many original details (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Verse]

Margie, you are the greatest commenter on this planet, you realize! I always see my own writing a different way after reading you reading me. :)

I’ve been away for awhile, so I have some catching up to do. I’ll be by to see your latest work very soon. :):)

V

[barleygirl]

I succumbed to winter for a month, incommunicado . . . trying to get back up to speed myself! Hope your springtime is bright!

[Gee]

Well that has gone about 6 miles over my head :)

[Verse]

hhahahaha! No, it hasn't. Think handprints on a cave wall, ages old.

You've come this far... take a deep breath and read it again. :):)

V

[Gee]

Need to find a dictionary first :)

[Einstein Noodle]

i am impressed first of your use of language and word choices ..very pleasurable to read ...then by the reverence paid to the past ...the ancient ones so tot speak ;) your V1 is so powerful .. "...surly dust" and "..her rib cage" ..i feel almost afraid to go in the cave for the sacrilege i may be committing :O ...i have never, ever never read of lion colored grasses ..always it has been lions colored like the grasses they hide in ... i just love that originality Verse ... (just a thought) does onto an abacus floor fulfill your meaning ...or are you saying "into" in order to evoke the magick of ritual? ... i think you hit all the high points ... senses of hearing, sight and of touch all conjured .. hot winds, abacus floor, and fugue state .. well done .. i feel all of it as you stepped into that cave my friend ..which surely you must have done .. fingers leap retinas .. so cool!!!! can you tell i like your poem? ;)
E.

[Verse]

Oh, I am well and truly humbled by your magical comment, Einstein! I have visited this cave in my mind many a time, and just needed to do it justice on the page. :):)

Now, excuse me while I float off into the ether on your lovely words...

but before I do, to your question about telling into the abacus floor, I wanted to do two things

tell a story of ritual (which is old) to the floor
and
count (i.e. the old meaning of the word tell) the strands of grass (which might look a bit wooly, or like yarn) to a floor that can count them (i.e. an abacus, which is also old).

(Spoiler alert to anyone reading this response to a comment before looking at the poem.) :):)

Seriously, thanks so much! You are my comment angel!
V

[Einstein Noodle]

that is so appropriate! the old meaning of "tell" .. i would never have known!!! great stuff verse ...

[Verse]

Thanks! It's the reason we talk about bank "tellers"...

[Einstein Noodle]

:) .................

[Zhavy]

Really neat love how you were inspired by another aspect of art. Keep being inspired, and please keep writing.

[Verse]

Hey there! Thanks for noticing! I’ll come check you out very soon. :):)

V

[Suhd]

Amusing and descriptive to the peak.

[Verse]

Ah, Suhd! I appreciate you!!! :):)

V

[Ghost writer]

Very cool, I like old history where you mainly have to guess, and I think you made that come across in this poem.

[Verse]

Hahaha! I know, right? The handprints themselves are nothing but guesswork, who made them, why, what kind of weather it was outside that day. And then I have a habit of not making it easy for the reader, of asking for a bit of brain when reading. It’s kind of a thing. :):)

Thanks!

V

[Neville]

I have been waiting a long time for these words, and am not disappointed..

Talk about our carbon footprint.. graffiti before street art for sure.. amazing innit

[Verse]

Hey, Nev! Thanks! Yeh, it is amazing! :):)

Bless ya.

V

[Neville]

My pleasure & true...
N