She taught him the gods. Was it teaching? He went on
hating them, but in the long evenings of obsessive talk,
as he listened, they became real. Not that they changed.
They never came to seem innately human.
In the firelight, he watched her face.
But she would not be touched; she had rejected
the original need. Then in the darkness he would lead her
back –
above the trees, the city rose in a kind of splendor
as all that is wild comes to the surface.
Louise Gluck
The Triumph Of Achilles (1985)
Perhaps this is a sort of cheating; to read one poem for the thought and then transfer it over into your own words and interpretation. But isn't that what creativity is all about? Taking an idea and making it your own? Either way it was a good exercise to get some writing done when I haven't been doing very much of it at all…
Disconnect
She knows her limits;
sees them clearly.
Understands immediately
the things she can and cannot have.
She who can touch and reach
and see beyond the concrete wall to what exists;
to what is real.
She remembers looking into his eyes –
blue ice fringed with lashes like shutters,
an effort to keep his heart disconnected from his mind.
Allowing him to
- touch -
without being touched,
leaving only her to burn with the emptiness of his goodbye.
She knows her limits;
sees them more clearly now.
Understands how to separate herself from herself,
to act on instinct alone.
Pulling herself apart at will,
disconnecting emotions from needs to satisfy the wants of her hunger.
Creating her own distance like she keeps her own
counsel...
She knows him unlike anyone else who has known him,
knows him from the inside out.
Things he wouldn't normally say,
thoughts he wouldn't dream to speak.
He has told her these things, perhaps she thinks for absolution.
To resolve some regret he believes she can wipe clean from his soul,
using her up like a one time confession,
dirtying her with the stains of his sins until he needs her no more...
She who would have once believed that he was someone worth saving
believes only in his power to break her.
To be one more name -
on a long list of names - of those who have made promises they could not keep…
She leaves before he knows she's gone.
In a note that says no more that what she needs to say…
No response required,
Burning him this time with the simple etching of her name.
(Happier things from here on out... I promise. We could all use some good thoughts...)
No comments:
Post a Comment