Saturday, September 15, 2012

The Rich Woman's Daughter 




The Rich Woman's Daughter



My mother was an artist

In the silence of her suffering
In the shadows where bruises blossomed 
Like tattooed bouquets 
Unseen, hidden in the saunter of her silhouette

I, a child of three or four 
Peering through sleep tangled tresses
Leaned into a cornered wall 
and listened, lurching in lyric luminosity 
Through thin walls of thick silent dark nights 

My mother was an artist 
With closed eyes, swaying hips sashaying 
Barefooted in the sensuous way I knew only
As her 'ocean dance' - rising to embrace
tall perfect partner visible only
to us - his arm around her
slim waist - his eyes soft 
as she rose and fell into his gentling rhythm

an Aubusson replacing the lineloum under her toes 


My mother was an artist  filling

those dark silent empty nights

with arcs of color as she danced and
finally, finally, the walls of silent suffering 
melted as she sang in liquid lyricism 
carefree as a songbird pouring
sweet sonneted alliteration songs
as I, a child of three or four 
watched and loved and learned 


29 comments:

  1. Thank you Walt - found that I had to repeatedly quiet the image of your beautiful poem... :)

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  2. really like
    In the silence of her suffering
    In the shadows where bruises blossomed
    Like tattooed bouquets
    Unseen, hidden in the saunter of her silhouette

    very nice use of the language

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    1. Thank you ... I have no idea why my reply to you at the time did not post - please accept my apology and thank you for stopping and commenting :)

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  3. I read it twice. It really got into me. Beautiful work...

    saunter

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    1. Oh thank you so very very much - Your words mean a great deal to me.

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  4. Lovely storytelling here; and beautiful words. Thanks for taking part in Pantry. Here's mine:

    http://inthecornerofmyeye.blogspot.com/2012/09/cold.html

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  5. Oh Pearl, this is fantastic. It washed over me, and took me to a different place. A beautiful write!

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    1. Aw Brenda - thank you so very much ... means a great deal to me. I adore these prompts and all thanks to you - I have been taken to many different places ! :)

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  6. Beautiful lyrics... The feeling has been depicted very nicely
    "Walls of silent suffering" take out the essence very uniquely.

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  7. Wow, I can SEE your mother, dancing, swaying, dreaming....mesmerizing piece. Love the repeated lines which SO totally work!

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    1. Oh thank you Sherry - but not at all autobiographical in my true physical life - my actual mother would have slugged anyone who touched her! :) (perhaps in some parallel Universe) Delighted that you enjoyed :)

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  8. A poem that engages the senses and illustrates the loving connections between daughters and mothers, women and men,side-by-side with life's inevitable pain.

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    1. Wow! Kim - that is quite a critique - if I only portrayed a part of what you've written I am delighted :) Thank you so very very much :)

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  9. This seemed to me to be a powerful depiction of how an artist can beautify life...

    In the silence of her suffering
    In the shadows where bruises blossomed
    Like tattooed bouquets
    Unseen, hidden in the saunter of her silhouette

    and then how she colored the dark, empty nights... This was very well-written and gave me much to consider.

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    1. Aw Serena - A poem that you enjoyed and where you found sentiments worthy of consideration. It doesn't get much better than this for a writer/poet ... Thank you so very much :)

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  10. Beautiful work! Gorgeous sense of a lyrical retelling of this child's experiences---

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    1. Audrey - often the wordle words seem to flash me to places that although never seen are quite real - this was one of those - I am humbled by words like "gorgeous" Thank you so very much. :)

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  11. Your opening stanza made me think of the phrase "strong in the broken places". But your poem is lyrical and sings of balance and harmony to be found in even darkness. It pulls the reader in and holds her there taut and listening,thank you.

    Elizabeth
    http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/attempted-alliteration/

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  12. Pearl you struck strong chords of emotion with this i love it

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    1. Chris - thank you so very much - who among us does not wish to strike a "chord" thank you as I thank you deeply for the "love" expressed :)

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  13. Oh Pearl, you continue to enthral me ... this is magical and paints such images; I totally forgot you were wordling; I love how you go from an almost sad, hopeless/helpless artistic soul to one who seems on thresh-hold of saving herself...the rhythm running throughout reminds me of some wonderful cello music ...(Bach's Sonata in C Major, I think ... but I'm guessing) Very cool none-the-less

    http://thepoet-tree-house.blogspot.ca/2012/09/deaths-silhouette.html

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    1. Oh Sharon - you always take me that extra mile - assuming a knowledge that if more than often not there - but very present in you - thank you for your beautiful comment and I am truly thrilled that you did enjoy. What comments! I am humbled

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  14. Thanks for giving my words such a tender rendering, Pearl. I love what you've done with them.

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  15. I read this twice. It made me want to dance and cry at the same time.

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    1. Sara ,Sara - no more powerful words can a writer read! Thank you - :)

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  16. I always find it striking (pardon the pun) when we fall into a poem making it personal when it was the wondrous magic of wordles that have lead us in a romantic dance with words...as your piece has done.

    I'm here:
    http://julesgemsandstuff.blogspot.com/2012/09/sunday-whirl-74stroll.html

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    1. Oh yes.. Jules... I am always moved when something seems personal - a poetic re-telling of an actual event - when it the words of wordle that have reached out their hand and invited me to a"romantic dance with words" HOW BEAUTIFULLY PUT ! Sometimes - I do feel the need to reply that something is not autobiographical - but I suppose in a sense all the 'dances' that we move with words are parts of us -

      Thank you so very much for you comment and of course for stopping by and I shall stop by gems and stuff... :)

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