17 January 2014

Inwardness

My small tribute to Susan Sontag on her birthday 1/17 is HERE. Today I am moving the poem from that posting to this location so I can place it in the Poets United Poetry Pantry #185:



                         Inwardness


    Life was cushioned and dull until she en-tered books' portals and lived other lives besides her own—dangerous dreaming time in parallel universes she half recognized in déjà vu dizziness—naked characters dilemma-driven at crossroads of life and death wrestling with logic and emotion. 
     She listened whole-heartedly,
eavesdropping on mysteries of silence
that perplexed her in the everyday
with books shut and eyes on parents, pets,
teachers and classmates—
     She closed and hugged her novel
recognizing in nature each life as
a closed book with covers and inward
dimensions.
     She, too, designed a cover to protect
her inner spaciousness, growing like a tree
or iceberg greater beneath the surface.



Copyright © 2014 by S.L.Chast






16 comments:

  1. each life as
    a closed book with covers and inward
    dimensions.

    very cool lines that...and i can relate to her...books were my escape early on in life...to places beyond where i was...

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  2. oh this was good.. one enters different worlds when you turn pages read the lines and what lays between those lines...

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  3. What a fab metaphor!
    Ciao
    Pea

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  4. Oh I love it. And it's so relatable. I've been thinking a lot about it lately, how little of people we can see on the surface, what sort of magic and treasures they hide underneath the impressions we make of them.

    This is really beautiful.

    <3

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  5. Wonderful. I am especially admiring of your three closing lines. Great poem, Susan!

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  6. Susan--I so feel this--really a great piece!

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  7. I like the last stanza. Enjoyed thinking about designing a cover to protect inner spaciousness. Perhaps something we all do or SHOULD do. Also liked the tree and iceberg comparison. So much that one cannot see under the surface....of anyone.

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  8. great poem.. the last lines in particular.

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  9. Turning the ship inward has saved many a life! Especially loved the ending! Lovely!

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  10. ...greater 'neath the surface----i loved that.... didn't know anything 'bout her but she seemed to be a very wonderful woman... smiles... thanks for sharing...

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  11. growing like a tree
    or iceberg greater beneath the surface....How truly depicting the truth of life!

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  12. "dangerous dreaming time in parallel universes she half recognized in déjà vu dizziness". I've felt that before and you've found the choicest words to describe it. I liked the idea of a cover but the cover can't protect us from being read, can it?

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  13. Lovely lines especially the ending ones..:)

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  14. 'each life as a closed book with covers and inward dimensions.'....love the expression and the tree and iceberg imagery.....


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  15. I love the way you allude to depth of character in the last few lines. Very nicely constructed.

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  16. "eavesdropping on mysteries of silence"..loved this line ..great imagery used ..wonderful !

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