let me speak to you of a secret
in a poem written with rusted razors
found in a summer storm
so many many years ago …
’tis true
the gossips’ whispers buzz and burn
like hornets in heated bronze urns
but bathe your heart in sweet honey
let not the bigots sour your soul –
think nothing of their stinging words
– that alarming tittle-tattle
let them think they are alive
they too are thirsty for love’s embrace
but they lack the courage to seek
the passion of a lover’s touch
so they gossip about what they do not know
quoting gospel as they do.
© G.s.k. ‘15
THIS WEEK’S WORDS come from “Let Me Tell You What a Poem Brings” by Juan Felipe Herrera, the new poet laureate of the United States: secret, poem, speak, razors, bronze, think, sour, thirsty, storm, alarming, bathe, gossip.
The gossips in the bronze urns — an amazing image. Wow!
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Gossips are nasty critters ….
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Amen to that … 😛
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Oh My, this is Marvelous!
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Thanks Dell .. hopefully I’ll get around to reading today, I’m just about resettled after my trip!
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The courage to do not gossip or brag..yes and yes! wonderful imagery…biting message..(in a good way of course)
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Yes .. you’re right one would also need courage not to gossip and brag … thanks for dropping by Jae Rose.
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If you can’t say good of someone, keep quiet. Gossips are cruel hurtful people whose own lives are shallow and worthless…yet they still multiply. Like flies they need to be swatted.
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“rusted razors” and “hornets in heated bronze urns” and the insightful admonishment to never let the “bigots sour your soul”—-wow, this is utterly fantastic….breathtaking…..and so visceral in the descriptions. Love, love, love it 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed C.C. a lovely compliment you’ve given me here!
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Great poem slamming the nasty folk. Your depiction just proves how unhappy these vicious people are.
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Thanks Cressida .. I do think they are fundamentally unhappy.
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