Scattered

Scattered

the steps are timid and trembling

treads and risers as mismatched as candelabra in the ghetto

there is a swirl of black pearl there

beyond the edge of the world

                                                  it drops off.

certain hearts shrink for the fear of things

others excite

they are special people ... faith .. or some wild recklessness

                                                   it drops off.

Something Blind; Something Evil

A plan was laid in rock and root today.

one more day just like yesterday

but now now now now now now    ...  dust has changed everything

changed the floor, the mantle

changed on the tops of picture frames 

hanging there on the walls

changed the air and black pearl swirl ...........changed everything

i woke up with the same dread of 

loosing my connection with God and myself

dread fears of taking my last breath and

gazing with last eyes

missing ....missing the sight and line of 

forgiveness ..... missing the point

suspicion like derechos blasting canopy and solid ground

                ...... missing the leveling

ozone scent ... sweet pickle dimple

sublime fertilization of the mind and heart .. lifting

like important information through the shredder

chrome metalflake in back velvet

tacky hotel.

she tip toe'd and

he spent his time striving to

curl his toes around her. 

not much of a future really

so grey and purple when

listening goes to stone and

ears' drumming brakes instead of dawn.

cream color requires dire scrubbing. 

how can i fit into your still small voice?

it keeps it hiding under the bed

forgotten not;

but in waiting while dust swirls and black pearl winds 

are a desert.

03/02/2020

E.

Author's Note

"Derechos: Spanish for “straight ahead,” ..storms producing winds in a straight line that knock down trees and buildings in the same direction from storms that produce rotating winds that cause tornadoes. A derecho storm system is also distinctly wide and fast-moving, causing wind damage for more than 250 miles(larger than the diameter of most hurricanes),with gusts pushing faster than 58 mph along most of its length."

Reviews

[barleygirl]

This is a heart-moving poem. I'm like Dave B . . . glad to read a complex & nuanced poem that actually plucks my strings instead of leaving me baffled! As a recovering perfectionist, I can say there's much to be said about embracing our scattered tendencies. If we humans weren't so likely to be scattered, we wouldn't work so hard to be control freaks. This is what it looks like when we finally learn to embrace the scatter . . . to love how the pieces never fit . . . to still enjoy fitting the pieces together anyway. You use stunningly sweeping imagery to show all the ways we feeble humans bumble along, despite our dumb universal act like we're in charge here, which fools nobody. This is such memorable writing:
"i woke up with the same dread of
loosing my connection with God and myself
dread fears of taking my last breath and
gazing with last eyes"

and so much more! But I've got to go plant me some tamaters & squash! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Einstein Noodle]

luv you babe! truly do :) thank you for reading and i am so grateful you went along with the scatter and your perceptions derived from it ... for me... are very gratifying ... you are a gem to continue to read my stuff ... being that linear person you claim to be :) tamaters, squash! ... no taters??

[Fran Marie]

Something Blind; Something Evil
A plan was laid in rock and root today.
one more day just like yesterday
but now now now now now now ... dust has changed everything
changed the floor

just one of the many parts
of this exceptional piece
I like..can we ever figure
this life of ours out..the why's
where's and when did this happen

dust swirls with black pearl winds"
another line I love..the stone
hardness of harsh realities.the
fear we feel in the end..dim
outlook seeing that only darkness
prevails so dense and opaque
which our eyes and ears have
tuned out..an intense piece here
thoughts are fearful and scattered
to the winds of time..

nice work E

[Einstein Noodle]

gosh Fran Marie .. and i really mean that .. gosh .. i am humbled out of words to respond .. your review and those of others on this one lift my confidence level to think .. maybe there is something in me that has worth .. don't get me wrong ... i am not negative about me self and am pretty self assured .. but with poetry we risk a lot putting it out to be "examined" ;) when readers come away with feelings and thoughts from the abstract ... feelings and thoughts that are spot on as far as my dim understanding of my own "stuff" ... it is grand my friend .. thank you so much for visiting and sharing those spots that jumped out at you .. it is very helpful ... i post a poem first shared here on my FB page .. i have wanted to post this one but have hesitated because the audience is not one filled with poets ... but i think i will ... thanks you Fran .. your review is encouraging and helpful to me .. love and peace always!
E.

[Fran Marie]

you re. s o very welcome

[Eilis]

This feels very philosophical to me. Existential even. A crisis of understanding one’s place and how long any understanding can actually be maintained. One of the things that has been hardest for me to come to grips with is the idea that change is constant and that my understanding of everything is fluid/shifting. Just when I feel I’ve figured something out, something new presents and I begin on another path.

I sensed a bit of that here. Especially where the more fundamental aspect of personhood are concerned. Those things that define us like our beliefs or grasp on reality itself. The question of meaning and the individual’s place within the structure of meaning looms large for me.

I love the repetition of ‘it drops off,’ because this is like a lament and puzzle at the same time. We are on the discovery journey too.

As the poem ebbed on, I sensed there was something to do with love as well. Personal connection even. How do we sort out ourselves and also be what others need us to be. At least this was where my mind wandered. It’s a big question and like all the others, one with no definitive answer. The journey down the life road is so different for all of us.

I enjoyed the thought-journey of this. There’s an underlying mournful tone, but I don’t feel that’s meant to define. More like it’s expressing a momentary anxiety. Great work, E.

[Einstein Noodle]

dear Ellis .. i am so gratified with your review .. it is so spot on it scares me ;} i couldn't ask for more from anyone who reads .. thank you and God bless you big big! :)
E.

[Eilis]

You’re welcome, E! Glad to know I was on the right track.

[.]

Reading this one, Monsieur E, my first perception is the scattered sense of panic and clutching for answers that seems to reside in your lines and the cascading of images. As if the dust of time and advancing years has blanketed the mind and the writer has lost sense of perspective and personal connection to himself and his beliefs. He acknowledges the dust and loss of perception but also knows that it is still within and close to hand for when it is truly needed. It's an interesting premise....of acknowledging the passing of time and one's eventual mortality. I enjoyed this poem very much! :))

[Einstein Noodle]

you are perceptive and sensitive a reader Jamila .. not surprised as you write the same :) this is one that is close to me and you are right on all counts ... things get shaken ... blasted and scattered .. but we survive .. not by conquering .. but just riding the storm :)) love your review ma'am ... hope you will find others on my pages that intrigue and inspire your responses .. peace and joy
E.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i have found a different connection with God as time as moved on and i have gotten much older...gathering dust...wondering if i have served some purpose here that is worthwhile...
it's that time of life when leaving is inevitable...and i question myself and savor each moment i get to do some good and make use of myself in a way that matters.
this poem really speaks to me...getting older gives us more wisdom...but it also gives us more and more questions about who and where we are...and we hope to find answers before our minds decide to take the next bus out.
j.

[Einstein Noodle]

yes!! so true says i! ;) and from one old guy to another .. i find the questions also loose importance .. i love what you say about also savoring each moment of giving through some small deed ... we are better than we use to be aren't we my friend?! simpler and ... better:) i am very happy this spoke to you .. my stuff can be pretty abstract but this one especially is close to me heart and nog! thanks good friend .. thanks for visiting and letting me know your thoughts on it ..peace and love
E.

[Robert Trakofler]

Einstein I think your trying to fry my noodle:? but then again you warned me with the title didn't you? when I read these words juxtaposed with the image and suddenly i realize your conveyance matches with it rather well... there is a beauty in chaos when you catch it at the right time and motion:) but then I also hear the disparate in the voice as well like the chaos returned to a non formative state... scattered to the wind as it were like death what i'm not sure of is if this is a resignation of acceptance of the chaos or a resentment of lack of ability to change it

[Einstein Noodle]

hmmmmmmmm both perhaps :) thank you for finding the artist Bunny ... i should always give credit but finding a pic is usually the last thing in my "process" and i get excited to hit the publish button :] and yes! we aren't "in control" no matter what the situation seems to be .. our efforts, though admirable at best can leave us with a false sense of power ... things scatter all the time .. and how we handle that, i think, is the very best of lessons to learn ... a resignation to trust .. a higher power ... Faith as it were ;) love your review sir ... i think we connected ...
E.

[emmajoy]

That painting gets my attention.. as it was meant to. It's not, not a Dali, is later, to do with fiestas or carnivals or similar.. wish i knew because it would be a guide to what't behind your incredibly wide spread of thoughts in your write. Guess in fact it is the mix and un-match of your words.

Unsure after reading this post again and now three times. Your wondering wanders to so many thoughts, good and worrying, of happenings or human actions, of the unknown and the worringly known. And more. Life is one giant Scattering of good and evil, perhaps to allow us humans an ability to work out good and evil. Don't we need the 'Scattered' to create motivate ourselves in discovering what's 'out there', to make discovery. No problems, not exploration. No problems, static life. Perhaps.

I need come to this and read more.. thus find I suppose that 'Scattered' invites one to think.. and think more.. and then, learn more. Perhaps. Again.

[Einstein Noodle]

i should be more careful to give credit to artists when i use their stuff ... i found this and just knew it was the right one for the poem ... thanks you extra much for looking deep into this one Emma ... your time is precious as all of ours is ... i appreciate your thoughts inspired by reading ... it is a mix for sure ;) i like your "Life is one giant Scattering..." if there is a point at all my dearest friend ... that would be it ;)))))))))))))))))))))
E.

[emmajoy]

My pleasure, absolutel y.

[Robert Trakofler]

The title of the painting is "Carnival" by Ciro Madueno you clever as ever Emmy:)

[emmajoy]

THANK YOU for telling me artist and name of the painting. Knew it.. maybe sort of.. love artwork of all kinds. Happily lose self in art galleries and exhibitions. Take care of yourself

[Neville]

from a poetic perspective, this is better than good Gene.. It reads like a Dali painting and correspondingly made me think no end … it is most certainly one of those that I shall be re-visiting, time and again...
Down ya neck my Friend..

Neville

[Einstein Noodle]

thanks Neville ... we all know what high compliment it is when another poet would read and re-read .. i couldn't be more humbled and grateful for this review my friend ... thanks so much for saying so ... luv on ya brother! slainte mhath!
E.
I have had a couple of 3 beer days in a row ..i'm working on a raised garden spot for Noram's b-day

[Neville]

you are more than ever so welcome .. and ever will be my brother..
slainte mhath back at ya... I'm sure Norma will be delighted … convey my regards and best wishes for her big day....

Neville :))))

[Einstein Noodle]

will do! ...almost done with it .. just another post and some tweaky level and square .. and a door .. with hummingbird on it ;)

[Neville]

Sounds good to me sir.... :)

[Dave Brown]

I was pulled down this path, first by the excellent art which requires a very free mind and second, by the first four lines which led me along into an immersion of wild thought and, I guess, I am still stuck there
All very impressive
Love it when I can read poetry far beyond my fumble limits.

[Einstein Noodle]

yes!! i love that pic .. was so happy when i found it as it seemed perfect for the poem .. it truly draws me in to gaze at it ... and its so colorful .. though very abstract when i look at it i feel settled .. how strange right?! thanks for reading and sharing your impressions Dave .. great to be getting to know you ... right here at the Cafe' :) i am pretty scatter brained me self sir ... we fumble together then eh!? :)))))))))))))))))))
E.

[Dave Brown]

UbetchA.........

[lightsong]

and that's something dear E... "the end of the world" is all what I was feeling while reading this astounding write, and the most amazing and totally brilliant and smart, was the ending... atop of it I was feeling the end of the world in general as You expressed the frustrating of all the mess, craziness and unkindness around it, and as the moments of death comes near the fear is of not of it as of that You couldn't do so much to this world (powerful lines here), then comes the surprise ( as I said earlier) when we found how the ending of a relationship is like the ending of the world for the lovers, Your brought Your very brilliant talent and mind by the way You merged and bonded these two subjects, even as we read/think of them separately in Your words, it is still powerful. great write my fine friend.

[Einstein Noodle]

thank you Light .. always ... i so appreciate our friendship here ;) it is a crazy world isn't it ...dangerous at times too ... yes! when an end comes ... do you think we all will be surprised?? or reaffirmed? ;) i think we are in for a surprise :)))
thanks again for taking time here Light .. and for taking my poem to another level ... so happy you stopped to read
E.

[lightsong]

for me dear E, I believe it will be smooth and warm, I never feared death, nor ever I will, if You have some fears or troubles, remember those who left before You and You can have the comfort by knowing You will not be alone. still I'm here for You if You needed company or anything else ❤️️

[Einstein Noodle]

oh ..you are very kind with a soft heart Light..i too neither fear nor question death .. it is our constant and close companion we typically recognize later in life .. grateful for each day my friend reminds me to rejoice .. i have the tattoo of a skeletal sea Captain at a broken helm .. on the wheel in Gaelic it reads .. "Body be mine and Death be Captain" ... its meant in a positive way and is one of my favorite and best tats ... i think our doors are always open to each other Light .. thanks so much!

[lightsong]

You have some interesting tattoos don't You? ;) with no doubts my door is always opened for You 💕

[Einstein Noodle]

back at ya! ;)