Sunday, April 08, 2007

Ballet For Scene

1 a living-room and wine. Nine people. Interaction.

2 the argument which flows. Outside, moon rests
on the horizon’s steeples.

3 a trajectory graph. Near misses. Hits and
the wounded dodging the past.

In a field where fires burned there are now
ashes I once imagined to be snow.
The biting cold demanded immolation.

In the voids between sixteen years
and seven thousand time begged
fulfilment. For each second spent.

There are stories of old race horses
and back-road glue factories. Why would
I imagine the glue of my experience

to be enough to hold together
all of the photos I have used of us to decorate
the hallways of my memories.

3 you live in Montreal. We talk once
every other year.

2 that moment is still a dam between
our mountains and our valleys.

1 I didn’t leave. You did. Before my truth.

2 comments:

petergarner said...

I like this one (and not just because it mentions Montreal). It's cryptic, but there's enough there for the reader to assemble the skeleton of a narrative. I guess it's a modern ballet. ;-)

I just love the first line. It really sets the tone: This is a sketch. There are some details, but you'll have to fill in much yourself.

Can I make a line-break suggestion?

"In a field where fires burned there are now/ ashes... "

Nice one.

hwf said...

Thank you Peter. Welcome to my poetry month project.

I like the line break suggestion. Consider it done.

Helm.