Thursday, December 07, 2006

Fable of dark silence


















a dark silence glided across
the hills like a black bird,
silent and steady, barely noticeable
unless one were specifically watching

the silence landed on the clouds
and draped them across the low
angled sun, pulling them together
into a long shroud to dim the light

the silence landed in a tree
and waited as the leaves crinkled
and fell, faded and dry, into still
piles below the spreading branches

the silence landed on the river
where the water chilled and slowed
and its song grew high and thin into nothing
and the rocks drew within themselves

all the songbirds flew away
the fox burrowed deep to sleep
the owl fluffed its feathered coat into thickness
the woman walked more quickly

the woman kept her head down
the wind did not sing with the leaves
and the river did not sing with the rocks
the silence took a deep breath

stretched and arched its back
slid its shadowed eyes across the land
and, opening its bottomless mouth,
let slip its inaudible darkness




Click on the photo to see a larger version.

20 Comments:

Blogger floots said...

beautifully done mb
i love the images
thank you

12/07/2006 10:40 AM  
Blogger mermaid said...

My favorite stories for children. Disguised as something intangible, unreachable, you still take us there.

12/07/2006 11:11 AM  
Blogger Pat Paulk said...

Dark, haunting with a stalking feeling to it.Definitely image rich!!

12/07/2006 11:35 AM  
Blogger polona said...

hauntingly beautiful! love it!

12/07/2006 11:48 AM  
Blogger MB said...

Floots, images to fit a dark and stark landscape. Thanks.

Mermaid, mine too. Although I'm not entirely certain where I've taken us.

Pat, yup, a brooding sort of thing it is.

Charlie, thank you very much. I believe I've only tested up to 10,000 feet or so, unpressurized!

Polona, thanks!

12/07/2006 4:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Always finding beautiful poems here.

12/07/2006 5:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is something beautiful coupled with something menacing in this poem. Fabulous verbal pictures still trying to wrap my mind around.

12/07/2006 8:58 PM  
Blogger Bitterroot said...

My goodness, there is a feast for the eyes, the senses, and the intellect every time I come here! This is excellent.

12/07/2006 9:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Smooth, beautiful work
poetry that reads like a story and moves along with music
(I'm still in awe of your photography)
Those sunsets must be West Coast? Gorgeous!

12/07/2006 10:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hello mb!!!

i love your image of silence moving around....

another stunner! when and where is the book?

12/08/2006 12:34 AM  
Blogger trinitystar said...

mb Absolutely beautiful.
A Divine Expression ... she feels.
Thank you for sharing.

12/08/2006 1:38 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My old fear of the dark may be back, now.

12/08/2006 2:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My old fear of the dark may be back, now.

12/08/2006 3:06 AM  
Blogger snowsparkle said...

hi mb, wow! this brings on such a vivid sense of winter's deep, silent darkness... i felt like i was standing naked in it, just as on the january day i was born into it.

12/08/2006 6:18 AM  
Blogger Fred Garber said...

Haunting.....powerful....a stick to the ribs of your brain kind of poem...primal.....the Duende was with you when you wrote this....There is a Mexican legend of La Llorona ....this poem of yours mines the same vein...

12/08/2006 7:27 AM  
Blogger MB said...

Cathy, thanks much for reading!

Becca, sometimes that is the way the world comes across. Thank you!

Bitterroot, thank you very much. I'm glad to have you here.

Gel, thanks! No, not the West Coast. Just at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Actually, you wouldn't know from looking at the photo, but the sun is setting over another mountain range to the southwest.

Ruth, always good to see you here. Thank you!

TrinityStar, thank you for reading and commenting. I'm pleased you enjoyed it.

Charlie, Alfred J might give anyone a nosebleed! Such rarified air... Sorry I got a little carried away, sometimes it just comes over me. Or overcomes me.

Zhoen, sorry! I know mine is.

Snowsparkle, I'm glad you felt it.

Fred, I'm not familiar with La Llorona (the crying woman? am I translating that right?). I'm glad you found it so, it was a different kind of writing experience for me.

12/08/2006 9:00 AM  
Blogger Yes said...

I love the "bottomless mouth"!
Somehow I feel warm amid all this chill...like a lullaby of nature.

12/08/2006 10:11 PM  
Blogger MB said...

Michelle, oh, thank you!

Firebird, thanks! Bottomless is the way it feels sometimes.

12/09/2006 6:45 PM  
Blogger Tongue in Cheek Antiques said...

I am speechless.

12/11/2006 10:24 PM  
Blogger MB said...

Corey, that's very appropriate to the subject of the poem! ;-)

12/13/2006 6:38 AM  

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