Hi everyone! Hope you're having a great Friday. I'm going to take the afternoon to finish up all the FINAL edits. Here's an old poem of mine which first appeared in St. Ann's Review. Happy Friday!
Love One Another Constantly
Upon entering my grandparents’ trailer, my
grandfather would take me to the master
bedroom and say, This is granddaddy’s
pistol. It can kill you. Don’t touch it. He’d
slide it back under the pillow, satisfied
that he’d made his point. No one had to say
anything twice around there. In the midst
of their everyday staples -- karo syrup, Jack
Daniels, empty cans of Old Milwaukee --
stood a small statue of St. Francis, a relic
from my grandmother’s ancient childhood --
Love One Another Constantly -- burned
into the base. Since I couldn’t touch the gun,
I’d run my finger over the words in the dark
like a blind person, thinking what if this sense
was all I had left to me in the world, not realizing
that it was, that it would be, the words carved
into wood still as clear as my grandfather’s
warning, long after the grave had taken him.
7 comments:
A hauntingly beautiful poem.--Sister Peter Marie
Michelle,
Very nice poem.
Hope edits are going well...take care and have a good weekend!
Whether through serendipity or intent I always seem to find comfort when I read you Brooks. Thanks.
Interesting how certain things touch and stay with us. And we are probalby not what we are saying to others that will be remembered.
That almost made me cry, in the GOOD way.
This is an excellent poem, but may I suggest substituting "beaded" for "burned" in line 12 and "molded" for "carved" in line 17? These changes would evoke the image of St. Francis' beaded rosary that he wore as a cinch or belt on his monk's robe. Also these changes would be more in keeping with the blind reading the raised dots of braille, which are "molded" upward, not "carved" inward. Still, this poem is an outstanding achievement. Yours, Cleanth Brooks
Go Steelers! With coach Dick LeBeau(former Detroit Lion) on defense along with All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu and courageous QB Ben Roethlisberger on offense, my Steelers(by the grace of God) will beat the Cards 21-10.--Archbishop of Detroit(ret.), Cardinal Adam Midol(Pittsburgh native)
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