10 December 2017

Empower Grief: a prayer



Image result for fire in snow
source

First snow muffles
tires’ sound fully,
shuffles to the top
earth’s whale-like yearning.

In contrast, fire—
town-crier like—
admires its own
ire, burns desire.

Let snow smother
fire, assert grief’s
power to rule,
stir empathy,

discover life
under the knife
midwives use to
guide forth new birth.



Prompted by Fussy Little Forms: Than Bauk at Imaginary gardens, posted in Poets United Poetry Pantry #382



My blog poems are rough drafts. 
Please respect my copyright. 

© 2017 Susan L. Chast


15 comments:

  1. I hear - I actually FEEL) "earth's whale-like yearning." What a beautiful phrase, Susan. I feel the pain of the knife used to guide forth new birth. Must be what we are experiencing right now. We live in hope.

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  2. A layered piece, that gives pause. Birth is painful ... but there is no life without it. Brilliant writing!

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  3. An interesting thesis to present "hope"
    ZQ

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  4. Do whales yearn? One might believe so, listening to their conversations!

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  5. assert grief's power to rule.. wow.. am going to be stuck with that in my head for a long time.. what happens after yearning smothers the fire .. what is left?

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  6. I thought of the fires out west and the snow on the east. So much going on in the world.

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  7. Oh that snow would smother fire...and new life would be discovered beneath the flames!

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  8. We can't avoid natural disasters but being such a foolish race we create too many of our own as well. Just as the troubles in the middle east are slowly coming under control we find someone is stirring the pot again in Jerusalem!

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  9. "earth’s whale-like yearning."...I don't think I'll ever forget the line.
    How pleasure and pain are two sides of the same coin!

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  10. I like such depth to delve into in your poem. Most enjoyable

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  11. Singing through to this is hard, hard work, friend. Not singing through to this is burning us alive. Thanks.

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  12. An outstanding poem, among many at Poets United. One of my favs.

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  13. Perfection. I loved every minute of it.

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  14. The last stanza is a chant to action--powerful and full of meaning.

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