március 15, 2008

ways upon the sky


what is beneath the feet on the ground
spinning between my fingers
the air licks me
what is beside me, lost within the darkness of the coming night
around me
covering my own self

with layers of a new reality
hands tied I look up as
she calls me for a ride
a hooting across the ages

spanning the present with the closed lids of jars
across the shelves
and I follow

with a hazy halo of mist
the Moon gallops through the somber sky

years drown leaving no trace
or not more than the sound of a bud popping out
as the season starts all over again

I am there with her
driven into the depth of neverland
into a wet, salty land

looking down there's a bunch of dreams
of shredded angels
broken glasses and lost pieces of puzzles
that never come out right

she takes me higher
and I sway
to fall

12 megjegyzés:

steve on the slow train írta...

This poem really evokes your love of nature and your communion with it. I'm more of a city guy who appreciates nature and the spring because my wife loves spring, and it makes me happy to see her face and hear her voice when she talks about the Siberian Squill and the crocuses in early spring.

Your poem and your last post made me think of Kathleen and when, in 1973, only a few months after we first met, she was so excited to see the blue flowers (squill) on the University of Iowa campus.

steve on the slow train írta...

Rereading the poem, I see there is a darker side to it as well, though the love of nature is there. I'm very impressed with your ability to express yourself in English and your understanding of the subtleties of the language. If my Gershom Davies story (set in 1959 Venice, California) ever sells, I was hoping to do a backstory on my character, a Chicago reporter who covered the Hungarian uprising and the Suez crisis in 1956.

If I do, I may have to learn at least some basic Hungarian.

SzélsőFa írta...

Steve,

I think some people are more attracted to nature, they seem to be living and breathing within it, while for others, Nature is just a a thing to look at, like objects on the stage in a theatre.
I really thank you for sharing this little memory of yours about your wife: it really is a nice memory!
About this poem: thank you for the compliment and I'm glad you liked it. This piece was meant to describe a feeling I had the other day and it was quite an intense and disturbing feeling.

If you need some knowledge about the Hungarian language, just ask me.

Névtelen írta...

A sensual vision of nature. Excellent images and touches of sensation.

Bart Treuren írta...

well written, you've included some powerful imagery in here...

thank you :-))

Névtelen írta...

Your poem reminds me to the Walesi bárdok which I have to learn today. I hate learning poems.

SzélsőFa írta...

Jason,

Thank you.

Bart,

I'm glad you liked it. It is based on a personal experience of powerful feelings - hence must the vividness come from...

Ropi,

I think it depends on the poem itself. Some poems are so great you just want to read them over and over again. Walesi bárdok by Arany János is not an easy poem to learn for today's youth.
5 graders (11 year olds) get to learn Az Alföldön by Petőfi, and I made my son learn our national anthem when he was barely 10. It was a tough job for him - but I re learnt it with him :)

Chris Eldin írta...

It felt like you were describing the sky around you, then you became part of it, then it let you down. That's how I understood it.
It's very beautiful. I agree about your communion with nature.

SzélsőFa írta...

It is a nice interpretation, Chris, I do like your version. Thank you!

SzélsőFa írta...

to Chris:
And although this is by no means a competition about the meaning, your version is very, very close.

Ello - Ellen Oh írta...

Nicely done. It really makes nature come alive in every stanza. I love the line "layers of new reality."

SzélsőFa írta...

Ello,

I'm glad it came through the lines to you.
New reality was a promise, a positive projection, but it disappeared.