He escapes,
shakes loose
the chains of iron.
Key clicks,
locks open;
anklets fall
away;
stain of metal
and dirt
and bruises
wash away,
wash clean;
soreness
rubs into
softness.
Circular band
of memory
tightens around
his head;
chains
of imagining
weigh more.
The poem is being sumbitted for One Shot Wednesday at One Stop Poetry. To see more poems, please visit the site. The links will be live at 4 p.m. U.S. central time today.
Photograph: Chain Link by Peter Griffin via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.
Though physical scars may heal, inability to forget - those "chains/of imagining" - stays with us, keeps us anchored to the past, becomes the far greater burden, the lock on the mind.
ReplyDeleteI like. I really like the way your very short lines, one or two words, form a kind of chain in themselves. An appropriate choice, and well done. I know it's not always easy to make language fit into that kind of structure without mangling things. Again, very well done.
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ReplyDeleteThe way I interpreted this was the imagining chains were tight because real freedom is so foriegn to those who have been bound for a long time. Freedom is scarey and to imagine a life outside of that freedom becomes shackles. Great write Glynn. The comments so far are interesting as well.
ReplyDeleteSorry Glynn...what I meant was imagining life outside the shackles become shackles sometimes.
ReplyDeleteSome have to grow in the process of freedom...
And there was a typo at the beginning of line 4 - or actually a missing letter. Thanks for the heads up, JofIndia.
ReplyDeleteYour words cut deep and hold me in their thrall.
ReplyDeleteThis made me think of how some elephants wear a chain that they could break in an instant, but they don't.........
ReplyDeleteA lot of warrior poets on the loose today! Terrific dude!
ReplyDeleteSo much truth in this. Thank you, Glynn. Love it.
ReplyDeleteaway!
ReplyDeletewash away!
wash clean...
i like that part
and oh how true
those chains
of memory
not so easily shed
ya know
the word chains
reminds me of that song
chain chain chain
chain of fools
aretha knows
ReplyDeletehow to sing it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmYWGjFFs4k&feature=related
This one hit hard this morning when I read it.
ReplyDeleteAmazing images, feeling chained and anchored and unable to be free. I think we may have all felt this at one time or another.
ReplyDeleteThank you Glynn, lovely bed time reading
Tight poem. Good job.
ReplyDeletetender...and hopeful too.
ReplyDeleteExcellent use of short declarative words and phrases to knock home the truth in the last lines. Good one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bob...the form of the poem was a visual of its content for me. Very freeing, and I feel this sense of relief at the end.
ReplyDeletesome shackles are hard to find release from...but there are ways...
ReplyDeleteChains of imagining weigh more...yes it is our imaginings that weigh us so to this world and its worries...nice write Glynn...bkm
ReplyDeleteI think you have tapped into one of the truisms of human consciousness and its coping mechanisms. Well done and insightful write.
ReplyDeleteMental chains are the hardest to escape. Nice One Shot, Glynn!
ReplyDeletesuch deep and true words glynn..
ReplyDeleteI love how effectively this moves from bleak to hopeful.
ReplyDeleteI loved it Glynn. Metal chains, pretty much the only way to escape is to be released. After so much time there are scars still remaining. Perfect One Shot!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of William Blake's line about "mind-forged manacles." Mental chains, especially ones that come around in a "circular bend" are torture to many experiencing the worst of it. I'm amazed at how much is said in the use of short lines. Cheers
ReplyDelete