I want to know, Mr. Poe

Desperate to have him with me

I bought a bust of Pallas Athena

to put over my study door

I bought a bright red cushion

to sit center while I weep and sigh

and languish for his true love

I miss him enough to seek

supernatural help, and hope

he will walk in even as an owl

to hoot "who" whenever I say

I cannot let him go again ever

that I rue the unfair year apart

Before he died, that unfair year 

when we were too angry to stay 

and too stubborn to speak while

never wanting nor hurting more

and then, the heart attack came

and took him with no goodbyes 

O, Mr. Poe, tell me about the year

before you  lost your Leonore

Were you sweet?  Did you speak?

Did you embrace and kiss her face?

Or were you more like an angry crow

with no wits to know how fast it goes?

And most of all, Mr. Poe, I want to know

whether your Raven became welcome

or no?  Was it forever punishment,

or is it reward?  Was it inner or outer, 

called or sent . . .  I have to know!  What 

meant the bird?  Relief or horror?

I'm leaning here on my pillow waiting

for the knock I know will come, and I

will have him near again, my dear,

whatever your answer.  The wind 

ceases, the day leaves, and I sense a

presence just beyond my door, now

I'm leaning here on my pillow, staring

at Athena's bust.  Did she hear a knock,

I wonder?  Did I?  The hairs on my arms

did, I am certain.  It is time to open the door--

and yet I lean here and hesitate to go

What is there to fear, I want to know . . . 

Posted for Fireblossom Friday: Do You Believe In Magic? on Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads, where Fireblossom asks us to write something of which Edgar Allan Poe would be proud.   I have written to Mr. Poe as the author of "The Raven" and perhaps the lover of a lost Leonore.

Copyright © 2012 S.L.Chast 

Revised and Submitted to Poets and writerss 9/27/2013

Window dressing

At Ella's Edge today, Ella shared a quote by Coco Chanel:  

Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.

Ella asked us to write a poem inspired by this quote, and, as usual, the sky is not even a limit.  I stay domestic and welcome you to my world, its skies and its window fashionings.  Posted at Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads.

 

green leaves commune with bent bamboo and birds

fresh air and traffic separate neighbor trees

peace waits in line

 

however absent the red blossoms, hummingbirds 

hover and bless the way

  

together now: turtle-potted begonia, porcelain-white 

water bowl, big and little kitties, inside and outside, 

crisp leaves and neighbors’ toys

hold on to the heat as temperatures fall

 

become mine what once was thine

when royalty exits 
little ones sit up

 

  house plants watch snow fall on evergreens 

near the church they have never attended 
but hold in the light

of seasonal holidays and circles of warmth
 

 

imitations aid memory
of what comes next--
never yesterday

 

Copyright © 2012 S.L.Chast