{ pathetic.org }
 

Draw your name in cliff song

by Shirin Swift

Flung and wild, white flowers
clung like hailstones or tiny mints of panic
to the overhang’s green ribs.

Jeans toughening in the sun’s detergent
mind, a scrubbed hand-me-down
such as a grandmother’s cooking pot.

Trees fall across the view
and seem to decide we need an occasional glimpse, like prisoners,
of the green valley kneeling in its worn dress.

Tears kick their way out like babies like spirits;
the sharp bends arm themselves – reload their antique Boer revolvers.
God wrote flowers for the wind, and the distances to evolve us.

10/01/2007

Author's Note: After a scenic drive.

Posted on 10/01/2007
Copyright © 2024 Shirin Swift

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Kathleen Wilson on 10/01/07 at 01:58 AM

Wils imagery as befits the drive! Love the clothing images, carried through, and cooking pots, unexpected but seemingly in place. The "tears" can be read both ways.

Posted by Joe Cramer on 10/02/07 at 12:44 PM

Outstanding!

Posted by Meghan Helmich on 09/29/08 at 08:24 PM

this is fantastic, shirin. the language is ridiculously fresh - i love it!

Return to the Previous Page
 

pathetic.org Version 7.3.2 May 2004 Terms and Conditions of Use 1 member(s) and 2 visitor(s) online
All works Copyright © 2024 their respective authors. Page Generated In 0 Second(s)