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That Butterfly Feeling
by Ken HarnischMissing the butterfly feeling
That used to tickle me
I go once more into the
Breach, holding your hand,
One eye on the exit sign,
Only willing to give what
I may get in return.
It’s all connected,
Each day to the last
And tomorrow to the
One before. And yet,
For the life of me
I can’t quite grasp
The chronology:
When was it, exactly,
That I became
A raging cynic?
Maybe it was
The day after love
Became a negotiation.
And I’ve always been
A terrible bargainer;
The walls I built
To ward off heartache,
Whether of stone or steel,
Always seemed so readily breached
By lovers more interested
In vengeance than intimacy
After awhile I could tell
I was being burned
Before the match was lit.
A charred heart
Has an odor to it
That you can’t mistake
And it assaulted my nostrils
Every time I took a breath.
So I had pretty much given up
On feeling anything
Of the way it used to be:
You know, when your stomach squinched
Up and your head went light
And your breath was like a stone caught
Behind your tonsils that
You never tried that hard to expel.
And then you fluttered by,
All confidence and color,
A butterfly whose wings
Whispered their promise
And somehow got past the sentries
In my soul
So while I look beyond you
To the wreckage still to come
And predict its outcome hourly
I must admit, darling:
There are times when
Your damned insistence
On proving me a fool
Sets my own wings fluttering
And I swear, in this dead flower
I call a heart, your butterfly
Flits in the cold black petals
And dares it to revive.
05/10/2011 Posted on 05/10/2011
Copyright © 2025 Ken Harnisch
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Alison McKenzie on 05/10/11 at 01:47 PM "A charred heart has an odor to it" there is something twisted and wonderful about that line...and your description of new love (v.6) is exactly how I remember it. I happen to have a couple of sentries, too. Write on!! |
| Posted by Linda Fuller on 05/12/11 at 12:21 AM Just wonderful, that's all... |
| Posted by Clara Mae Gregory on 05/14/11 at 10:48 AM OH,the intensity in this is biting. Each stanza initates fulgarant memories of my own. It is extremely creative in word assemblage and all the lines are impressive,so it is hard to pin point any particular one. This one, though,really hits it home with the overall relationship concepts you hone in on within this superb work:
"Maybe it was
The day after love
Became a negotiation"
Ken,you have become one of my favorite writers here. This is tight. I LOVE IT. |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 05/15/11 at 07:54 PM Terrific use of butterflies and fluttering wings and hearts. S5 was very unique. The last stanza is a great sum-up of the emotions both people bring to this relationship. Thank you! |
| Posted by Sandy M. Humphrey on 05/16/11 at 02:33 PM Metaphorically genuis. smh |
| Posted by Maria Massarella on 05/20/11 at 12:29 PM On drawing the curtains of my room a butterfly fluttered by close as kiss-to-cheek. The encounter was enough to set my heart aflutter. It reminded me of this your beautiful poem, that I thought I had commented, but apparently had not...lovelight*smiles |
| Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 05/20/11 at 02:10 PM Cool poem Ken. Marvelous capture of the darker tones of love and relationship...One eye on the exit sign, Only willing to give what
I may get in return.
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| Posted by Julie Adams on 05/24/11 at 03:09 PM There is so much here, I love the innocence of the topic, but how it grows inward, body, mind and soul explored...I revel in the humanity of your poetry, a pleasure, peace, jewels |
| Posted by George Hoerner on 03/31/13 at 06:00 PM This is POTD today Ken. And gurss what? I just got that exit sign in my email the other day. First one I ever got by email. Times change! Things get quicker. |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 04/01/13 at 03:00 AM Good to see this as POTD! Congrats! |
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