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And you were beautiful
by Andrea ColtonI saw you that day when
the end of you was the only thing in your way.
Your undulating wrinkles softened the rocks, and I caught sight
(maybe just a glimpse) of music gingerly stroking your neck.
And you were beautiful.
On the Cliffs of Moher you stood two feet calm
on a fire you had slowly built as a pedestal for you
and all your wantings.
The time was droll, playing ribbons up the backs of your knees
and as I watched you ( me, wide eyed and heart so full of wonder it hushed
itself to cease to beat) I cried.
Your stories of arms lent hyacinths to the ebbing tide,
and the breathing of the earth was not left impatient.
For a moment you took to dreaming,
and your eyes filled with alabaster love.
You remembered your brother, a radiating mass of
muscle and joy, and how you once vowed
to save the world together. You remembered her, your pearl,
your human nightingale with wings in her mind, how she used to steal the wind
and hold its sweet smell hostage to sing your baby lullabys.
I saw you that day.
I Saw you that day.
I saw You that day.
In your face there was a secret and I knew it was not un-remarkable.
The hum of your pumping lungs set my fingertips dancing with
the drum of your aching prayer.
The hum of your smiling skin left me breathlessly breathing through clenched teeth
the drum of your starshot gaze.
The hum of your words escaping through the cracks in the sky to tune the wind with
the drum of your hands on your chest.
And in this song you moved. A manmountain in the shape of pieces.
The world lept from its axis and ran to your side. "Oh! " you cried.
"Oh, for just a lapse in the root of time. I don't care for the meaning
of it all, I only want back my rhyme!"
I was still as you dripped into the cliff. You fell
knee, knee, hands to your head and head to your feet.
In this moment you were incompletely complete.
And I saw you,
and you were beautiful.
01/25/2011 Posted on 01/26/2011
Copyright © 2024 Andrea Colton
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Austin Halling-Rowe on 01/26/11 at 03:08 AM I've never been to the parish of Liscannor...and now i have. Absolutley wonderful Andrea!! |
| Posted by Scott Utley on 01/26/11 at 05:17 AM This masterpiece is everything I want in poetic art and so much more. Your use of our brilliant language is astonishing. You have mastered cadence and rhyme as though Charles $#%@ens had melded with Austen and Frank O'Hara; beautiful, just lovely, and painful, and cleansing. |
| Posted by Laurie Blum on 01/26/11 at 02:35 PM An absolutely captivating piece! Excellently crafted. |
| Posted by Kristine Briese on 01/30/11 at 08:37 PM "the end of you was the only thing in your way" Absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for the visions! |
| Posted by Joan Serratelli on 02/01/11 at 05:32 PM Great flow- absolutely wonderful from beginning 'til end |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 02/01/11 at 09:18 PM Quite remarkable - so glad I read this! Thank you. Standing on the Cliffs of Moher was amazing in itself several years ago. You have added a poetic elegance to the experience. |
| Posted by Aaron Michael on 04/13/11 at 03:43 PM Awww. What a good morning to find you up on the front page! Great write. Well deserving of a spotlight :) |
| Posted by Alison McKenzie on 04/13/11 at 04:17 PM This is amazing and wonderful, Andrea. I currently work in a hospice office, so this was especially touching. The imagery is just perfect, and definitely brings the reader to your perspective of watching your loved one near the brink. |
| Posted by Mo Couts on 06/30/11 at 02:42 AM Wow...the powerful beauty of these words is immense. Thank you for the imagery and the gorgeousness of your mind. |
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