Sunday, December 4, 2022

Chalk Lines in Lace

 


Her wedding feels like chalk lines
marking the demise of freedom.
Love is blind until all the pretty lace
expectations get torn into dreamer’s compost.
 
Conflated vanilla odes written about
‘til death do us part’ never mention
death can come with its coffin while
the heart still beats, or the spirit can starve
on the gruel of monotony.
 
Candor bites its tongue, worries words
into origami butterflies when it is the lone
voice of reason in the hymn notes of glitter.
 
Like an induced birth piano keys urge
her heels to walk an aisle she questions,
yet fears to deny because a day of assumptions
is so beautifully candlelit she doesn’t want to be its failure.
 
“We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.”
― Oscar Wilde
 
 ©Susie Clevenger 2022


 

 


15 comments:

  1. The last two stanzas are making me dizzy they are so good. I have the deepest admiration for your talent.

    This could be a poem on its own:
    "the lone
    voice of reason in the hymn notes of glitter"

    I am also enamored of this:
    "... a day of assumptions
    is so beautifully candlelit she doesn’t want to be its failure"

    Beautiful work.

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  2. All the things we do when we know it's a bad idea, because we don't want to rock the boat. That was me, once.

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  3. I so remember walking into my doom, with my gut speaking truth I could not hear. Powerful, Susie, the more so because you have lived one of the few true love stories I know.

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  4. the use of "chalk lines", "pretty lace expectations", "gruel of monotony", and the whole last stanza are wonderfully written!

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  5. Excellent. All the lines are terrific, this especially: "Like an induced birth piano keys urge / her heels to walk an aisle she questions" Damn that's good!

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  6. How often do we follow a path to an uncertain destination? So much to ponder upon in your poem, Susie

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  7. Love this. So many unmet expectations trailing like horrors behind one.

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  8. This is so powerfully layered with conflict and emotion, Susie. A wonderful interpretation of the image, I couldn't think of a finer poem to complement it. These lines in particular are so striking:

    "Love is blind until all the pretty lace
    expectations get torn into dreamer’s compost."

    "the spirit can starve
    on the gruel of monotony." - As a creative who has endured many mundane jobs, I really felt this!

    This whole stanza:

    "Like an induced birth piano keys urge
    her heels to walk an aisle she questions,
    yet fears to deny because a day of assumptions
    is so beautifully candlelit she doesn’t want to be its failure."

    <3

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  9. I think there are many of us that can relate to these lines deeply my friend! I know I do! A stunning and true poem Susie!

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  10. "when it is the lone
    voice of reason in the hymn notes of glitter"
    More time than not that nagging voice in tge back of our minds need to be heeded.
    Wow this is so full of well crafted images.
    Happy you dropped by my blog Susie.

    Much💜love

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  11. A truth written in stunning language and imagery!

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  12. Chalk lines, vanilla odes, worries' words, keys to pound, and candles to light. Busy lady (or ladies??).
    ..

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  13. so much to think about in your poems

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