LISTENING FOR THE VOICE OF THE CROW (photomorph) & THANKSGIVING DAY 2017 (non-dream free verse poem [revision]) by Roswila

THANKSGIVING DAY 2017

as I float unmoored around Isla Vista
in the silent emptiness of Thanksgiving Day
waiting for a poem to start, I realize how little
I like the poetry I've been writing these days;
it's way too centered on my own belly button
where only the barest bit of lint from the outer world
gathers, as if the universe starts and ends where I
was first bodily attached and then rudely unattached;
and so I determine to let the world in, to let it speak
to me of its own life, to lead me in a poem ...
but this silence! how will I hear anything past this
almost thundering silence where cars and voices
and traffic usually hold sway? then the crows in an
autumn leafed tree caw and flap through the hush
as if reading my negativity and laughing at it; I watch
them as they settle down, then another crow lands
among them and their flapping noisy show starts all
over again; such dark clowns they are, I think, do
others laugh at me the same way, so intense
and pointed, a clowning that calls one to an uneasy
attention; I continue to stare at these self-conscious
black patches against a bright blue sky: how could I
forget these fellow travelers, loved by some, disliked
and ignored by others? they've followed and even
sometimes led me on long walks across the decades;
yes, I'll listen to the crows today and laugh gratefully,
no matter what others or even I think, for thoughts
are like belly buttons: the place where new
things grow and then disengage, but they're
not the new things themselves


[non-dream free verse poem written 11-23-17 (revised 11-24-17 & re-posted). Photomorph "Listening for the Voice of the Crow" (11-2-17 011v3f) by Roswila; it's a wider pic than it appears to be as the left side is white against the white of the blog template and the edge can't be seen; I could get it outlined/framed I suppose in Photoshop, but I don't have the time or inclination ... Crow is calling me to other pursuits! :-) However, you can see it properly if you click on the image as it will be on a dark background, in a larger version.]

PLEASE NOTE: in most browsers you can click on the above image for a larger version. Also, the photo accompanying a post is not necessarily meant to illustrate it, but to reflect some small, even slant aspect of the verse, similar to Japanese haiga (illustrated haiku).

There are many other sorts of posts on this blog. I indicate which are about or influenced by dreams. Some non dream focused posts are book reviews, "regular" poems (some by other writers), scifaiku, writing exercises, Tarot haiku, photos, haiga, and so on. However, most of those are in much older posts. There's a listing by month going back to early 2006, at the end of the sidebar.

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until next time, keep dreaming,

[a/k/a Patricia Kelly]
**** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”). Roswila's other blog (dedicated to her photos only, i.e. no poetry or other writing; daily post); TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.