For Once
For Once
We drove into the driving snow,
the night a sea,
the flakes a wake of anemone,
pale tails pulling ahead,
as we trailed, so fast,
from the deep,
as they rushed, even faster,
past reach.
You had to try hard, you said,
not to look at it or you’d
be mesmerized;
yes, I said, eyes trying to scry
the fleeing neon–
mind trying to fit
on metaphor–
it was as if, I thought, time
had let down her hair,
let blow in the wind
a stranded invitation, as if we following
too could be wild and wet
and headlong–
But maybe turn off
the brights, I said, me the one who has always failed
to take risks
in life–
But–said you who
would mingle with fate in a moment
if it held beauty
on its arm–they actually help me
see the sides of the road better, see
if there are deer–
True, I said, as if you were, in fact, looking out
to the sides of the road.
Then you said nothing,
and I said nothing,
and so, you drove on
into the snow,
the sea,
the vast leading
anemone,
and me, I rode
along.
*************************
Hi All! Here’s a poem for Marian’s prompt on With Real Toads about the love of one’s life.
Sorry for missed visits and for long absence. I have been trying, ostensibly, to work on a novel, but in truth, have been taken up with job and family matters, and doing a huge amount of escapist reading–which has been very informative on the novel front! (So, I tell myself.) In the meantime, I’ve missed you all much and hope all has been well!
P.S. The photo above is not of the phenomenon I was trying to describe–the snow on a windshield on a dark night–I did not get a photo of it–but I also like this photo, so put it up. (It is one I took a couple of years ago–all rights reserved.)
Explore posts in the same categories: poetry, UncategorizedTags: driving on, For Once, http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com, love poem of two mesmerized, manicddaily, snowy night poem, watch out for the road poem
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ManicDDaily 
November 15, 2014 at 1:18 am
There can be such sense of adventure driving into the snow late at night.. But I would watch out for deer…the image of the anemone works so well for the snow…
November 15, 2014 at 5:12 am
Enthralling moment here, caught up in a fleeting aerie or precipice of being we cannot maintain or endure for long. It’s angelic, something meant for better-dimensioned eyes — to be so “wild and wet and headlong.” Thrilling. The pic is perfect. (Sometimes I’m surprised that I find it so hard to find an image that quite meets the mood.)
November 15, 2014 at 9:28 am
yes, enthralling is just the right word. very beautiful, intimate, a peek that almost titillates and one can relate.
signed, one who has hardly taken risks in her life 🙂
November 15, 2014 at 10:17 am
Both the outstanding metaphors here are arresting, k–the anemones, and the long blowing hair of time–so much beauty and so much natural centering and *rightness* in both, and the make the perfect backdrop for the this poem of love, that thing of risk and beauty, that pulls us along like anemones in the current, or holds us immaculate and self-propelling like the interlacing of heartbeats in the dark interior of a car on a treacherous road. So glad you are finding at least some time and energy for your writing, whether novel or gems like this.
November 15, 2014 at 10:17 am
Excuse all the typos–quite early here. :C
November 15, 2014 at 4:43 pm
Ha! Thanks! No worries. So nice to “see” you. Thanks for nice words. Not sure it really works but happy to go back to poetry and not just avoidance! K.
>
November 15, 2014 at 11:11 am
Such a richly realized episode, k. And what a metaphor for relationships and life. I love these lines so neatly tucked into the whole:
But–said you who
would mingle with fate in a moment
if it held beauty
on its arm–
November 15, 2014 at 11:13 am
This episode is so richly realized, k. And what a metaphor for relationships and life. I love these lines so neatly tucked into the whole:
But–said you who
would mingle with fate in a moment
if it held beauty
on its arm–
November 15, 2014 at 11:45 am
Love the mood of suspension, regardless of the facts, that drive the two into the unknown beauty. How much, really, do we see?
November 15, 2014 at 2:18 pm
Love the speedy flow of riding the car of time, feeling in the moment, trying to sacrifice the truth to comfort…’But maybe turn off
the brights,’ and then suddenly stopped by thought of deer….but the habit of inertia won.?…at least you observed and aware of this pattern. ~ Love the metaphor of hair very much!
November 18, 2014 at 3:41 am
you’ve captured that distance in the final frame, the silence made deeper by ears and still voices ~