What Does It Want?
What does it want?
There is a part of me that can’t shake
sadness;
that hears the rise of the mourning dove
as fall;
that substitutes for throat
but will not be slaked–
What does it want– this ache?
For everything that’s been
to have been
all right.
To lay down upon a lap
as if it were a head
that might be stroked.
To not be a head
that is thinking, thinking,
but a body of that water
that laps gently
and doesn’t churn.
And to have you, my sometimes world,
hold me
in earthen arms.
In the reeds that grow about us,
red-winged blackbirds nest;
just above, swallows swallow.
****************
Poem for open link platform on Real Toads (http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com)
Drawing is mine. It’s a bit more complicated than I’d like, ha.
Explore posts in the same categories: poetry, UncategorizedTags: http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com, manicddaily, sadness somewhere poem, What does it want poem
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ManicDDaily 
August 22, 2017 at 3:59 pm
For everything that’s been
to have been
all right…..oh my yes…
August 22, 2017 at 5:01 pm
“To not be a head
that is thinking, thinking,
but a body of that water
that laps gently
and doesn’t churn.”
Oh yes how I would like to be that a while.
August 22, 2017 at 5:23 pm
I echo Susie and I love the drawing!
Anna :o]
August 22, 2017 at 5:33 pm
Thanks! I like it too! I did it on my iPad Pro, using a stylus.
August 22, 2017 at 8:08 pm
Truly a beautiful poem!
August 22, 2017 at 10:57 pm
Literally,
Tonight my ache, it wanted a bandaid
It’s a mean sore that doesn’t ever go away
Wanted a scratch at first, that made it bleed
I could reach where to scratch but could not see
My help comes on two legs with eyes to see
Wiped the blood and ‘swoosh’, bandaid has been placed.
..
August 23, 2017 at 12:28 am
Such deep nostalgia! (With its own sweetness while it pertains.) Perhaps that is all that’s left to us. 😦
August 23, 2017 at 4:29 am
“To not be a head
that is thinking, thinking,
but a body of that water
that laps gently
and doesn’t churn.”
Sigh.. beautifully poignant!
August 23, 2017 at 4:58 am
A gorgeous painting that makes me feel the underlying sadness that is in many of us. Maybe it is that longing that CS Lewis talks about.
August 23, 2017 at 4:59 am
A painting of words and your drawing, I mean
August 23, 2017 at 5:52 am
Thanks. It is a weird amalgam as I drew it on the iPad which lets you fill in color.
August 23, 2017 at 11:25 am
Karin, your poem brings tears to my eyes because I so empathize with the content that it feels like the words could have been written for me alone. It’s a poem I want to keep. It’s a poem any poet would be proud of, so closely does it relate human experience.
August 23, 2017 at 11:46 am
Thanks so much for your kind words, Kerry. This is one I worked on a little while, cutting quite a bit from the original version to make it more effective. I can get awfully discursive if not reined in! Thanks again. K.
August 23, 2017 at 6:49 pm
love the thought of that gentle body of water
August 23, 2017 at 7:08 pm
Karin, this is an exceptionally beautiful and relatable poem. Sigh. Just lovely. Your image accompanies it perfectly.
August 23, 2017 at 9:11 pm
Thanks so much, sherry!
August 24, 2017 at 11:09 am
Thanks so much, Sherry.
August 27, 2017 at 9:30 pm
“but a body of that water
that laps gently
and doesn’t churn.”
lovely – as is the drawing – love the colors and I’m a fan of barn swallows…
November 7, 2017 at 5:04 am
awesome.. your drawing is good too..