Saturday, September 29, 2012

The Drop - A Decision Deferred








The Drop



They had let the conversation
Drop
He would not vow to
a promise he would not keep
She thought it all just a pretty party

They had not decided 
Not quite yet
What they would do 
When the baby came

Their flushed enmeshed excitement
Faded their fear, obliterated all urgency
It all seemed so distantly unimportant
And when the child came
In that  rush of magic 
They floated
Mystified by the majesty
Of their manifested union 


Until 

On a tide of others tenderness
They somehow stood 
Dazed in incense
Breathing uncertain gasping pants
Sentient and not completely complicit 
In a service showering spine chills 
Hearing smiling prayers echo on vaulted
Marble and a single drop
Feeling sprinkled water divide
In two pings dangling on each furrowed forehead

As something holy scurries

Beginning family flaps ribboning 
Into a distant forever 
Their six packs of discussion
Discarded as forgotten empties
As between them 
their wet-headed infant
Baptized into ambivalence 
Sleeps 


29 comments:

  1. Oh Lord...this is a story. The six packs discarded as forgotten empties is a brilliant use of language, Pearl. Brava!

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    1. Thanks Brenda - Awww - will sleep well after your lovely comment :)

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  2. L.ovely, lovely use of the wordle words: took me back to that special time

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    1. Oh Viv- thank you, thank you for stopping and I am delighted that the wordle words carried an image of a time and place that took you back to a special time of your own :)

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  3. I enjoyed where the words too you with this wordle. Beginning a family is a time so full of feelings and, yes, confusion.

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    1. Ah yes Peggy - delighted that you so clearly felt the sense of confusion of this situation that the words brought to me. Thank you for stopping :)

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  4. Oh, this strikes close to home...3 wks from grandfatherhood!

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    1. Oh congratulations on the excitement we are not in a very different personal position!
      Enjoy the journey - and happy soon-to-be-grandfatherhood! :) A special thank you for stopping by and sharing!!!

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  5. Really like that line "As something holy scurries". Seems to underscore a bit of what this particular list of words has affected. Just as the naming of a child underscores the sense of sacred responsibility that action should lend itself to.

    Elizabeth
    http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/prodigal-steps/

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    1. I am truly delighted that the poem that sprung from the words brought some pleasure to you. Thank you so very much for stopping by and commenting.

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  6. Complex story here. Not only a poem but a saga. Rich work!

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    1. Thank you so very very much Mary, yes there is a good deal of complexity - I so very much appreciate your more than kind comments! :)

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  7. Pearl, I love the water imagery. And "Dazed in incense" is such a wonderful image.

    Richard

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    1. Oh thank you so very much Richard for stopping by and for your specific comments - they do mean a great deal to me - I am delighted that you enjoyed the images as they came to me :)

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  8. Wow! Their infant "baptized into ambivalence". Powerful. Hope they make it!

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    1. Oh Sherry - yes that was an important line. Too many in these sorts of situations do have difficult times of it... Thank you for the "Wow"... :)

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  9. There are so many wonderful acceptance rituals, into faith yet to be projected, as yet they are the innocents protected. Wonderful wordle.

    I'm still looking for balance...:
    http://julesgemsandstuff.blogspot.com/2012/09/sunday-whirl-76-feeding-souls.html

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    1. Thanks Jules - I like the idea of "faith yet to be projected" ... always appreciate your comments! :)

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  10. A complex story tole well with wordling. I've been away too long.

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    1. Thank you Cheryl - Good that you are back. Wordling takes us to such interesting places doesn't it? So happy that you stopped in and left a comment. Very much appreciated :)

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  11. "As something holy scurries" something about this phrase Pearl...sad and beautiful poem my friend.

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    1. Aw Laura thank you - too often too many find themselves in serious unresolved spiritual situations such as this one.

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  12. Pearl Girl! Great to read you. Of course I'm a vet of many a baptism, but your sympathy for the couple, combined with a unique description of the ritual itself, was satisfying. Of course, they usually do it because Grandma bitches until they book a church... and then, that "ribbon" flies every which way because, cart before horse, they have not considered whether they values, the real values they hold dear, are on the same page, let alone the same BOOK! True for my first time at the altar... Great write, honey! Love, Amer (back after computer meltdown)
    http://sharplittlepencil.com/2012/09/24/last-post-before-break-twofer/

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  13. I love this Pearl; it's so life-affirming and took me to such a nice place, I have to admit, it was something I was really thirsting for and your word choice and imagery are just wonderful ... so very fine. Thanks.

    http://seingrahamsays.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/when-angels-fly-too-close/

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  14. Pearl, the final line and "something holy scurries" are brilliant. Catches one's breath the first it's read. Nicely done.

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