Sunday 2 October 2011

The Gift

Crouched beneath a rising moon I see them
strewn beneath the Firethorns: fallen stars, devil-red
and smelling of bees’ wings.

Without a second thought I gather an armful
and drop them in my basket, visions of her requital
glistening inside my ego.

I wouldn’t! A voice, sweet as a fig, sings out to me
rushing like an unstoppable wave of magma
through a congeries of shadows.

They may be beautiful but they are dying, it sighs
as the rain falls, a thin drizzle of mockery
that clings to my skin like alamine.

I hurry indoors, eager to lay my gift at her feet
but those luminous rubicund orbs have melted
into figments of dark matter.

Back in the garden a soft green light cools the soil.
Only night birds now, picking the flesh from the last
few fragments of starbone.

11 comments:

  1. I fear it's redundant at this point to say, but this is truly one of your best. The evocative imagery, the phrases, every word feels like a gem. Just stunning. And I'm desperate to know who owns the "voice as sweet as figs" and what she's up to. :) Bravo, Peter.

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  2. I do believe this is now my favorite of yours.

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  3. Beautiful poem about evanescence and conscience. As usual I needed to consult the Peter Wilkin dictionary and look up the word "congeries", which sounds a little like "conjures" or conjuries if you will. Q x

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  4. Wonderful in its mysteriousness. It does not sound as if you were only picking berries ;-)

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  5. Hi Heidi ~ & thank you so much for your absolutely lovely comments. So pleased you enjoyed The Gift. Ah! The voice ... 'tis the voice of my anima, trying to tell me something ~ alas, I took no heed ~ & the stars disappeared!

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  6. Wow! Thank you so much Diana. So pleased you like 'The Gift' ~ it's such a huge fillip receiving a comment like that from you.

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  7. Hi Quirina ~ I love your summary: 'evanescence & conscience', the two words seem to blend almost oxymoronically. Yes, conjeries is a strange one ~ has a very plural feel about it but can, of course, be used in the singular. Thank you sincerely for your thoughtful comments. So pleased you enjoyed the poem.

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  8. Hi Martin ~ really pleased you enjoyed my poem. Strangely enough, the Firethorns (Crocosmia) in my garden that contributed some inspiration to the poem are sandwiched between two 'berry' bushes. One of them is cotoneaster, not sure about the other. many thanks for your lovely comments.

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  9. Beautiful poems as always :)

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  10. Thank you so much Marousia for such a lovely comment.

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  11. This really took me away. It's strongly visual and has a really dreamy quality about it, something almost nostalgic about it for me. Gorgeous.

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