He meant to merely meander in the land he loved,
but, somehow became tripped up
by the scent of a woman, on the bark of a tree
and dropped to his knees in some kind of prayer.
I searched through the night, like a good dog
will dredge mile upon mile tail pointed to heaven,
like running autumn or wine seeping across a dinner cloth
seeking reason for being caught out in the cold.
Shadowy arms reached out to hold me back,
to keep me from my maddening surprise,
like one would hold a Chinese vase
tight to them, during a horrible hurricane
where that broken twig led me, half pale
from leaking moon surrendering to shadows
to the exact place where you had climbed on her
to become a soldier in some woman’s war.
Author notes
I choose:
Lost In The Forest
Lost in the forest, I broke off a dark twig
and lifted its whisper to my thirsty lips:
maybe it was the voice of the rain crying,
a cracked bell, or a torn heart.
Something from far off it seemed
deep and secret to me, hidden by the earth,
a shout muffled by huge autumns,
by the moist half-open darkness of the leaves.
Wakening from the dreaming forest there, the hazel-sprig
sang under my tongue, its drifting fragrance
climbed up through my conscious mind
as if suddenly the roots I had left behind
cried out to me, the land I had lost with my childhood---
and I stopped, wounded by the wandering scent.
© Pablo Neruda
It spoke to me about men who will fight in war because of scent of blood is a mighty seductress.
I choose the picture: “Lament”, by Skip Rohde, because it is, as he says, " homage to the families of soldiers who never came home, creator Skip Rohde of Asheville said. The pose comes from Michelangelo’s famous sculpture “Pieta,” which is about Mary’s grief for her son Jesus. “I changed it to fit today’s situation,” Rohde said. “The clothes may change, but the grief is the same.”
In a list
A contest entry
- Can you mesmerize me like Neruda? by Cherokee.
600 points, ended February 3, 2007, 10 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 8 of 8
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Wow!
I want you to write something for the closing of my circle, when I'm only poems, whispered by the north wind...
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Aw, thank you pen friend. We share the same circle.
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"Shadowy arms reached out to hold me back,
to keep me from my maddening surprise"
Sighhh...Powerful, poignant & profound, my Sister...Such incredible, indelible beauty in such horrendous sorrow...Good luck in the contest, my dear Friend...
Wanda
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Since I believe even our emotions send ripples out into the world....are weweighed heavily with grief with all this...are reasons to grieve magnifying. Lord, how do we balance that?
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Very nicely done. I enjoyed this. Best wishes in the contest
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My sister you really amazed me with this one. Your writing is powerful and the picture blew me away. I have never seen it. You did it justice.
Soulful Woman
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I had to really search for this..I had seen it years before and had a tough time finding it. tks gf.
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Good job.
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