formal | Poem A Day

Posts Tagged ‘formal’

Absence lies at the heart of everything.

These green mountains rose up to define

an eddy of sky and oxygen. Birds sing

to help us hear the silence. I find

myself looking for something that’s gone.

These green mountains rose up to define

an empty space, the echo of a silent koan.

In the mirror of the thinnest moon, I see

myself looking for something that’s gone.

The stars map out a million ways to be

the person who embraces wind and snow.

In the mirror of the thinnest moon, I see

the one who can endure what she can’t know.

I dive into the night, in dreams pursue

the person who embraces wind and snow.

But in my heart and eyes I carry song,

an eddy of sky and oxygen. Birds sing

the night to teach me what was wrong:

Absence lies at the heart of everything.

I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone.

Frida Kahlo

In my self-portrait, I want to be truly alone,

me with me, holding hands with myself,

both my hearts exposed. I want to show

the self who loves and is the loved, and the self

who wants to cut out hearts with a pair

of scissors. The one who wears casual blue,

an old, brown skirt, she doesn’t care;

the other who wears a wedding dress, with a too

tight collar, strangled. I don’t want that. I

want what I want: the self, exposed, the shimmer

of two gray storm clouds, my hand holding my

very own hand. I want the blank canvas and the mirror.

I want to show everyone the me I thought I saw,

the self-portrait as judgment: scathing and raw.