deepundergroundpoetry.com
Nothing But Good
( after Louise Glück )
My parents at opposites,
and I in the middle.
Of the death nothing but good.
The plan as it’s shown
on the chart,
I can’t have it said of me,
unless it’s every bit
the painful truth,
on the edge of the maw,
a flower-eater.
I met halfway
as it was foolish sense.
And, looking in,
campaigned for mercy
and mother.
I grew into this old life filled
with blind dates, stretch lines.
The Lord is my Shepherd.
Of the death nothing but good.
My parents at opposites,
and I in the middle.
Of the death nothing but good.
The plan as it’s shown
on the chart,
I can’t have it said of me,
unless it’s every bit
the painful truth,
on the edge of the maw,
a flower-eater.
I met halfway
as it was foolish sense.
And, looking in,
campaigned for mercy
and mother.
I grew into this old life filled
with blind dates, stretch lines.
The Lord is my Shepherd.
Of the death nothing but good.
Published 25th Jan 2020
Author's Note
85 total words
Inspired by Glück’s “The Open Grave” https://www.google.com/amp/s/slate.com/culture/1998/09/the-open-grave.amp
For the Classic Corner Louise Glück tribute “Archaic Fragment”, co-hosted by Ahavati & JohnnyBlaze.
Inspired by Glück’s “The Open Grave” https://www.google.com/amp/s/slate.com/culture/1998/09/the-open-grave.amp
For the Classic Corner Louise Glück tribute “Archaic Fragment”, co-hosted by Ahavati & JohnnyBlaze.
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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comments 4
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25th Jan 2020 9:17am
Glad to see You Back K.!!!
Excellent Write as Always!!!
Your approach is exactly how I prefer words to roll.
Subjects aside, Your flow is what keeps me coming back for reads-TY
Excellent Write as Always!!!
Your approach is exactly how I prefer words to roll.
Subjects aside, Your flow is what keeps me coming back for reads-TY
Hello my dear soul friend... I miss your visits, such a kind one you are, listening to the music I keep at my page's doorstep - even I listen at least once each time I'm here on site before I log off, that's how much I love it.
Your reading of my piece touches me to the core as I haven't been writing much lately. It feels good to be here and that you've enjoyed my humble work. I'll be on my way soon, please take care and come again soon if only to listen to "White Bird".
blessed and blessings,
Kathy <3
Your reading of my piece touches me to the core as I haven't been writing much lately. It feels good to be here and that you've enjoyed my humble work. I'll be on my way soon, please take care and come again soon if only to listen to "White Bird".
blessed and blessings,
Kathy <3
Anonymous
25th Jan 2020 2:58pm
Standing alone, it's a very challenging entry, Kathy - open plenty to interpretation.
The poem "An Open Grave" you chose as inspiration is thus where we get our cues. It conveys a daughter's unwillingness to speak ill of her mother who passed on, despite the inner conflict and need for honesty as a result of her father's infkuence. The daughter expresses a desire for the earth to preserve the woman's beauty, as if her personality was less remarkable.
In your poem, it then becomes clearer ( or at least that is where my interpretation takes footing ) that the narrator is the one in the grave wishing for only good things that are truthful be said. The narrator's parents are at odds over this - and possibly more; they could almost be viewed as divorced and keeping their distance from one another at the gravesite.
Your narrator hints from the afterlife a perception that she was less than attractive and a wish for Life to be kinder to her mother than it was to her. Again, the unsaid open possibility that as an older divorcee and perhaps similar in comliness, the mother needs all the help she can get.
Good luck in this challenge, Kathy!
The poem "An Open Grave" you chose as inspiration is thus where we get our cues. It conveys a daughter's unwillingness to speak ill of her mother who passed on, despite the inner conflict and need for honesty as a result of her father's infkuence. The daughter expresses a desire for the earth to preserve the woman's beauty, as if her personality was less remarkable.
In your poem, it then becomes clearer ( or at least that is where my interpretation takes footing ) that the narrator is the one in the grave wishing for only good things that are truthful be said. The narrator's parents are at odds over this - and possibly more; they could almost be viewed as divorced and keeping their distance from one another at the gravesite.
Your narrator hints from the afterlife a perception that she was less than attractive and a wish for Life to be kinder to her mother than it was to her. Again, the unsaid open possibility that as an older divorcee and perhaps similar in comliness, the mother needs all the help she can get.
Good luck in this challenge, Kathy!
26th Jan 2020 10:49pm
Beautifully rendered, with a rare delicacy to the language. Emanations of loss, regret, reflection across a long period. Great work.
