She asks him what it was like, how
did you, do you live that. And he
shrugs, but not before a gleam of
pain escapes his eyes and shudders
her heart. I don’t know, he says;
I don’t know. She says I want to,
need to know and because his eyes
are bonding to her heart he tells her
they believe the lie and hate
translate the lie into abuse and
beatings and the burns the terrible
burns when a cigarette is
extinguished on your back the
beatings a rape of soul and heart
a torture of the mind a torture of the
body a human act of human
destruction I longed for prayed for
the blessing of a rope a needle an
electric current but my prayer is a
stone dropped in a deep pool and it
never reaches bottom
The telling opens the door to pain
and to something else.
--From The White Cliff Poems
To see more poems for One Shot Wednesday, please visit One Stop Poetry.
I am completely drawn to these. You have no idea how much your poems have affected the way I view things and the way I want to communicate the stuff I write.
ReplyDelete"The telling opens the door to pain
ReplyDeleteand to something else"
Your words reach, touch, open pathways.
Your telling opens doors too Glynn!
snap. great imagery again glynn...i have a cig burn on my arm...i know that pain...and the abuse, that is where i work...nice one shot!
ReplyDeletetelling
ReplyDeleteopening
lies
beatings
pain
the stone
is lifted
to heaven
the soul
is free
Fascinating how we're learning about your novel's characters through these poems.
ReplyDeleteHow do we survive such pain? Told in a way that makes the pain even deeper.
ReplyDeleteDifficult doors to open.
ReplyDeleteMy poem is here.
The telling opens doors to many things but even a hard life is still a story worth the telling.
ReplyDeletethanks Glynn fr being a man of encouragement each day
Moon hugs
Loved those two last lines!
ReplyDeleteGreat poem!
Thanks for visiting ;)
D
The telling opens the door . . . to something else.
ReplyDeleteThere's the hope.
The line about his prayer being a stone dropped into a bottomless well really stood out to me.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought maybe his prayer was just sent in the wrong direction, but then I thought again and decided that the direction wouldn't matter.
Powerful work here. Personally I am fortunate to have never lived this scene. Yet, with words this vivid I can understand, empathize so much with the victims. The ones I've met can't verbalize very well the pain but most of them keep trying to hide in alcohol, drugs, sex, church. I think you summed it up so well with "but my prayer is a
ReplyDeletestone dropped in a deep pool and it
never reaches bottom." Truly great.
Gay
this was a very strong poem glynn, i liked its depth and there was some heavy stuff going on...very tight in its write and some great subtle rhyme...cheers pete
ReplyDeletethis was a strong write Glynn - i could feel the pain in every single line..
ReplyDeletestrong situations here
ReplyDeletein this poem
Heavy, powerful work. Touching, for all the pain that lies within.
ReplyDeleteWild emotion and feeling.
ReplyDeleteOh, my! How the plot thickens...so beautifully sad, Glynn. I am enjoying your poetry tremendously!
ReplyDeleteI;ve worked as a therapist,, especially with teenage males who are in custody of the state, for years. This poem expressed the specific and universal suffering of the boys...and there is an aspect here that reminds me of being a wounded healer.
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful poem...I feel it throughout my whole being
That shrug, and then the gleam of pain...
ReplyDeleteI know that shrug.