To Begin at the Beginning
By onemorething
- 1360 reads
My mother said, "Never give a man
a gun," but to begin at the beginning,
before metal and fire,
before men wore crowns,
we were earth and water,
we were the fruits of it,
plucked, ripe, from branches --
until god spoke
and his words were winter.
And the birches in forests grew
grey and high, dead kings
who murmured downward
to the lives that dwelt, ignorant,
in their paternal arms - whispered:
the moon no longer rises,
the sun does not shine,
taught all to fear
what might draw near
in the darkness.
The world breeds peddlers
of truth, coiling snakes of tales
and rich men who say
that only they hold the torches.
We sway, follow the breeze,
as sheets surrendered from a line,
hung by a washerwoman of souls.
My mother said, "Never give a man
all of yourself,".
And may you know Spring also -
build your own home and
let it be your heart,
where there is no door
too late to knock, or a justice
that threatens no mercy,
have only thorn as a fence,
see, in the expanse of sky,
your own light of a star.
Image from here: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walter_T._Crane_-_The_Advent_of_Spring_(1873).jpg
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Comments
there is something quite
there is something quite haunting about this poem - and wistful. I think it's one that will stay with the reader. Glad to see another piece from you onemore
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Like Insert, I feel this
Like Insert, I feel this needs lots of thinking about.
At the moment, it makes me think that a mother's words (or maybe, reading again, anyone in authority's words) can be a fence that at first we are happy for as it gives the huge world boundaries, makes us feel safe, but then we see glimpses through it and spend the rest of our lives trying to escape someone else's world view.
I LOVE "coiling snakes of tales"
It is great to read a new poem :0)
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Lesson 1
...how to survive and thrive under patriarchy.
Beautiful and elegant, smashing piece.
Best wishes
Lx
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Lovely way with words as you
Lovely way with words as you spiral through this poem of advice.
hilary
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So many soulful passages from
So many soulful passages from mother's imparted words of wisdom to the birth of man,to the spirals and flaws of life. I had to re-read to unpack all the treasures of thought here, and there are many profound phrases, literal gems of perfection: "The world breeds peddlers of truth, coiling snakes of tales and rich men who say that only they hold the torches". - so true.
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