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Monday, October 25, 2010

Their words led me to the course of water, but I would not drink

Call me paranoid,
or clairvoyant,
or a desperate seeker in need
of a kindly wink
who gets blank
stares from the battered
courtyard
plot of Black-eyed Susans.

I’ve seen sweet
grimaces and gruesome
grins locked in the fuzzy
outlines of a hinge
with its unused spins
perpetually
putting the bedroom
door ajar.

Cheerless chuckles
and twinkling frowns
bubble up
from the brown-edged
peels of paint
on a water-damaged ceiling
constantly keeping my looking-
back glass fogged.

They come visit, sometimes
smiling, often beguiling,
these faces who lurk
in this saddest of places
where I hold
their ghostly echoes
safe from the outside
voices cautioning me:

“Too many conjured guests,
even the prettiest
ones you’ve grown
fond of, eventually become
so much unfiltered noise.
Find and kneel down among
the moss
and lichen-covered pews.

“Put your whisper-burned ear
to the quiet-cool earth there
and hear her tell you,
‘Look up.
Look up. Share,
oh do share dear,
in the wonders of this infinite
and unpeopled blue.’”

5 comments:

The Scrybe said...

Another wonderful piece, also I have added you as a friend on Last.fm, I hope you don't mind :)

Eileen T O'Neill ..... said...

Francis,
This is a brillant piece of writing.
I liked the images, all of them. Ghostly and spooky.
Something shivery like those movies I watch through one eye!

Eileen :)

cooper said...

The was one of the best pieces of work that you have done Francis.

Kay Tracy said...

This is so fine...

Francis Scudellari said...

@Scrybe Thanks. I don't mind at all... I'm looking forward to checking out your "station" there.

@Eileen At least the result here is as gruesome as those movies :). I'm glad you enjoyed it.

@Cooper The constant practice is having an effect :). Thanks for the visit. It's always appreciated.

@Kay Thanks!