Thursday, July 19, 2012

the road

    Straining to hear
Broken eggshell pieces on white plate of the day,
    drops of leftover rain
scattered leaves on brown feet of the road--
    bouncing from leaf to leaf
where does one find the path on these highways?
    in surround sound--

Inside the mailbox, spider dusty,
    Trucks rumble by, 
outside the lamp post, black sentinel.
    an engine idles, 
On the roped mat, where are the footprints?
    children holler. 
In the river of stones, where are the fish?
    It's like trying to hear a rainbow 
In the smoggy sky, where are the banners?
    from the bottom of a well.

We trudge in the lead-stained edges of our palms

    Struggling to coax the sun
in the everyday, seeking the spark to move our lips.

    from the corners of her eyes
We flounder, scouring the sea with nets and ropes

    to light and heal
to find that the pearl is inside us. The fire is within us
.
    the parts of her that are ravaged.

We marvel at the sunrise on the moon-shaped lake,
    
    She heard about a man
whose arms are wide as the river, face of red wine.    
    who wrapped himself in plastic
Gather all the broken pieces, layer a brick stone,    
    and lay on a hot tar roof,
lean on your back, a forest sleeps in your hands.
    begging the sun to come and heal him.
We build the road, one step at a time. 


This meandering created by  
Grace and Marian.

Happy Birthday to Imaginary Garden With Real Toads! 
We are honored and grateful to be part of this inspiring group.

22 comments:

Mary said...

Just beautiful, Grace and Marian! What a unique presentation of your words!!

Mary Ann Potter said...

How beautiful! The line that begins "straining to hear" is what we do as wordsmiths --- we are always listening, and sometimes it's a challenge to shut out everything that would interrupt our creativity.

Susan said...

Brilliant! What an achievement!
Take these lines:
"We trudge in the lead-stained edges of our palms
Struggling to coax the sun
in the everyday, seeking the spark to move our lips.
from the corners of her eyes
We flounder, scouring the sea with nets and ropes
to light and heal
to find that the pearl is inside us. The fire is within us.
the parts of her that are ravaged."

At first I wanted all of the type to be the same so that my eyes would read them continually (like we can in this cut and paste), and then I read them separately without strain. Thus I tasted them 3 ways--1st one and then the other and then the mix--enriching my own experience and seeing the road as it is--a "seeking the spark to fill out lips" a "Straining to hear" and most definitely "We build the road, one step at a time."

Marian said...

Susan, I really thought about that and in the end somehow it made sense, at least just for the blog here, to use two typefaces. I too think it reads interestingly and well as a whole, though. And somehow we both thought it looked pretty the way we presented it, so there it is :)

Herotomost said...

This reminded me of an avante garde music video in flickering black and white. Very cool rhythym and pace. A great collaboration congrats to both of you on a job weel done.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

This work is sheer brilliance! WOW!!!!!!!!! It is UNCANNY how the lines, interwoven, actually work so well together, to flesh out the basic story. I think it works wonderfully as you have presented it. I did go back and read each set of type separately, and then when I read it again, noted how often the lines of one expand upon the thoughts of the other. However you arrived at this, it is a work of art, and a perfect collaboration to celebrate Toad's birthday.

What a group we have developed here, hey, kids? I am so grateful to all of you for what you have brought to my writing and my life this past year.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

p.s. Plus I LOVE some of the way cool questions the larger type asks.

Marian said...

Grace and I didn't discuss this aspect, but I really thought it read kind of like call and response. That's what make me think the two typefaces and the italics worked here. We agreed to write from different perspectives on the same broad topic, and then we compared notes and tinkered with each other's words to make it flow. I love how it turned out!

Mary B. Mansfield said...

Brilliantly beautiful! Love the way your two poetic voices interweave, seems so effortless although I'm sure it wasn't. Very nice job ladies!

Ella said...

I have to read it again...it was gorgeous! What a beautiful gathering of thoughts~
I love how it turned out~
Wonderful job...dazzling brilliance!

Kay L. Davies said...

Fabulous, Grace and Marian. Like the others, I love them interwoven, and I love both on their own.
K

Kay L. Davies said...

Happy Birthday to the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads. Even when this toad is under the weather, she loves the garden and everyone in it.
K

Laurie Kolp said...

Really lovely... I like how you went back and forth each line. Great job!

Scarlet said...

Thank you everybody for all the kind words and compliments ~

Marian, you are such a great partner ~ Love the final outcome dear ~

Daydreamertoo said...

Wow..didn't you both come up with something quite stunning. Loved it!

Peggy said...

Wonderful presentation of cooperation! This really is stunning.

Karen said...

What an amazing piece! And...Happy Birthday Imaginary Garden!

Kerry O'Connor said...

At first read I have been swept along this beautiful imaginary pathway, which seems to take the reader deep into the heart of all that is natural and certain. I shall be back later to read again, for the beauty of each line.

Thank you so much for this wonderful collaboration.

Kir said...

Happy Birthday to this wonderful community (My first visit!!!)

what an amazing place.

This collaboration was so beautiful and my very favorite line "like trying to hear a rainbow" , I want to tuck the emotion and image into my back pocket and keep it with me when it's drizzling.

great work you beautiful writers.

Marian said...

yay for new visitors to the Garden!

KB said...

Love!

Hannah said...

LOVE the way you two approached this!!! Excellent writing and this section just grabbed me:

"We flounder, scouring the sea with nets and ropes
to light and heal
to find that the pearl is inside us. The fire is within us.
the parts of her that are ravaged."

Love the oceanic rawness of it...wicked good!!

Great writing you two!! Thank you, for doing this such a joy to read!!