Monday, September 07, 2009

The Blanketed Ones





Sink into packed earth
sealed with a tear
or willow rain
a sometimes summer sun
may tickle
butterfly distractions
but the stone still burns
because the heart will suffer no grave



16 comments:

Aniket Thakkar said...

The photographs themselves speak so much. Nature consuming their identity, cutting all their ties. Taking away what was meant to last for eternity. It seems cruel, but I also wonder if setting them free might be a better gesture. Free of all burdens all the ties.

Sarah Laurenson said...

Beautiful.

The pix remind me of Carl Sandberg's I am the grass.

Shadow said...

beautifully eternal!

the walking man said...

I will comfortably
let the frost
push the stone to the fore
while I sleep
and cry no more.

PhilipH said...

There are simple stones at our natural burial site called Hundy Mundy.

Engraved with just a name and two dates they say just as much as all the tall, expensive and stony monuments that adorn many more 'formal' graveyards.

Jean said...

By the time those markers are covered, the ones who grieved have also been long gone.
Nothing lasts forever. Not us.
Not the stones.

Catherine Vibert said...

You got me with the first line, Sink into packed earth, sealed with a tear...it just feels so final.

Looks like you've been having some fun in cemeteries again.

Charles Gramlich said...

A touch of melancholy in words and pics.

Karen said...

I think this is your most beautiful (and melancholy) poem to date. The first line grabs and the pictures also tell the story.

PixieDust said...

Every line hypnotized me... that last line took my hand and looked me straight in the eye... brilliant.

love,
me

Aine said...

These make me think of lost civilizations. The way the rainforest blankets the ancient mesoamerican cities. Perhaps in a few millenia, people will uncover our cemeteries and try to understand our culture's values.

Anonymous said...

Aniket, I don't know if letting them sink away would be best. It just feels wrong to let them go. (To me, at least.)

Sarah, thank you. :)

Shadow, much appreciated. =)

Walking Man, that was seriously beautiful.

PhilipH, there is something about the expression, the personality, shown in different monuments that appeals to me.

Jean, that is certainly true. These stones last a couple hundred years, then fail. There doesn't seem to be any way to endure longer. Even the most famous of us only survive in caricature.

Catvibe, thanks for the sentiment. :) I've been missing the cemetery posts. We finally made it to a new cemetery.

Charles, definitely a touch of bittersweet.

Karen, thank you! I'm glad this one shines.

PixieDust, it sounds like you've been on similar walks of reflection. Thank you for sharing the experience. :)

Aine, maybe the act of burying these stones will actually preserve them. Treasures for discovery long, long from now.

SzélsőFa said...

amazing photograps, and a beautiful poem. thank you.

Anonymous said...

Szelsofa, it's an old cemetery tucked on the edge of Amish country. Thanks for the warm wishes. :)

Vesper said...

This touches me beyond words...

Anonymous said...

Complimenting each other in a way only a bittersweet melancholy knows how to.