I knocked on the door of a house
on the cirque of a mountainside.
A wrinkled forehead with bottle cap glasses
and the smoothest skin around the lips,
welcomed me.
We sat near the window where
she handed over her glasses,
and told me to look down and see
how the ants look in the valley.
Scurrying, burying, constantly going,
only to get
crushed by the bottom of a shoe,
drowned in the flood of the rain,
or swallowed by the throat of something greater.
As we sat lofty,
she tempted me,
with how nice it can be,
to only watch and
never feel the sting,
of being crushed,
of being drowned,
of being swallowed.
Though I knew it would be easier,
to be an eye,
I went down from the mountainside
and joined the ants.
On my descent,
I looked back at the face and saw
where a smirk, a scowl, and a smile
could not grow.
Allison, This is a poem with the precise and interesting eye of a scientiest. I especially love the first two stanzas. And the last line of the second stanza "or swallowed by the throat of something greater..." is perfect. Excellent!
ReplyDeleteDid you write this today at the memoir workshop? (I can't tell because the posting times are all messed up.)
ReplyDeleteI love this: "A wrinkled forehead with bottle cap glasses and the smoothest skin around the lips"
It reminds me of some little old lady from a Miyazaki movie.
Lovely poem, I especially liked the repetition "of being crushed... drowned... swallowed".
I find this insanely deep. I enjoy the use of imagery," A wrinkled forehead with bottle cap glasses and the smoothest skin around the lips" and repetition as well as the underlying meaning of the poem. The change in form makes it dynamic.
ReplyDeleteYou could be a professional poet! This has all the things, fancy words "cirque", a deeper meaning, etc.
I really liked your use of imagery and repetition to convey the woman and the scurrying of the ants. I also enjoyed the conclusion of the poem and the last stanza, it's very profound!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the word "cirque" works here. cirques tend to be too steep to place houses upon. the entire rest of the poem fails based on this plot hole. that will be all.
ReplyDeleteI would like to remind the casual reader of comments that I am often sarcastic.
ReplyDelete