One by one, another gurney girl, some waddling the hall to gain gravity, then lying-in for a few hours of personal gethsemane
They say there're flashes underneath the lids, gembursts, pain novas betokening new space and time
The métier -- splitting the physical self, inside-outing at the crux, doing what's ever been done like it's never been done, then
Catching the one tune that becomes the other, childsong lungful of itself after the lungshriek of the she
Catching the one tune that becomes the other, childsong lungful of itself after the lungshriek of the she
And at its denouement, in the spotlit aureole of the O.R. or dimmer shine of the recovery tableau
Every one of them a just-now Maryam, each, for the now, a Queen of H
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"Personal gethsemane" is brilliant. I wish I had thought of it. And denouement is one of my favorite words. It will be repeating in my sleep tonight. Love this piece.
ReplyDeleteI so enjoyed this
ReplyDeletethank you for this gift on this cold and sunny morning
and thank you for your generous comments
may I say..Merry Christmas kind gent
Bang on, yet over the top, sir,
ReplyDeletefor you have somehow unearthed
the existential root to the whole
season and scene, rendered down
the virgin birth to embrace, to
include the entire history of
civilization, and warbled a true
hosanna, honoring every girl
and woman who fulfills her
destiny and her hormones
by repopulating the planet,
continuously, ad infinitum;
and you gently remind us that
Christ was mortal for those
33 years, and that even He
had to make his entrance
onto this plane of existence
in the prescribed way, down
the canal and bursting into
chaos and breath, just as Horus
had before him, and we have,
after him. This is not just a
good poem and a nifty sentiment--
it is a great one.
In France, we call it " l' éternel féminin".Motherhood and pain are the same whatever religion or nation.You make me feel like an egyptian goddess.
ReplyDeleteIsisabelle:-)
Tess,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you reacted positively to 'personal gethsemane'. Since it's quite an opposite NT reference point, I wasn't sure whether one would 'honor' the other or not. Or seem misplaced. Frankly, to some readers, this might be simple blasphemy.
We know better.
As to word choices, I've been flipping 'denouement' around in classrooms for so long (usually with comic twist), I thought I'd give it a try. I like its sound.
And in keeping with the anglicized French, I inserted métier (the accented 'é' appears to be the English spelling as well as the French), a word that stands out for me every time I watch Chinatown, when Jack Nicholson applies it to his detective work.
Thanks for your approval!
Trulyfool
Suz,
ReplyDeleteAnd Merry Christmas, to you, kind lady! I did love your blog entry which shows a true heart.
I'm glad the poem was received as a gift. I felt it to be so during its final execution.
TFool
Glenn,
ReplyDeleteStrong praise!
These themes have been percolating within me for decades, sometimes coming out in poems and sometimes in conversation or casual writing.
My friend, 'it's bigger than both of us!'. So big our mythic vocabularies stretch and bulge like the pregnant woman.
I was stumped by the prompt whose lovely stained glass image -- as any good image -- 'locked me' in place, wanting to describe it, simply, it.
For days I played around and walked away utterly unsatisfied with what I verbalized.
Then certain phrases rose, line 'conceptions' from the phrases, then some kind of critical mass. Despite the difficulty of the start-up (it was at dud-zero!), I came to be 'filled'.
Thank you for your response -- wonderful to have it!
Trulyfool
Isabelle,
ReplyDeleteEternal. We have the fact; we feel its fundamental importance. Doctors have come to explain it. It takes myth to make it 'eternal', myth and its 'expressive technician': poetry. The arts, generally.
And I always knew, from your writing, the 'Isis' connection! (Didn't need mine).
Trulyfool
what a fantastic word tour.
ReplyDeletelovely imagery.
Happy Holidays.
Jingle,
ReplyDeleteSometimes I just put on my touring cap, hop in the roadster, and head off!
Trulyfool