by Kathryn E.
Member since:
January 15, 2006

On the precipice

November 19, 2006 02:18 AM EST (Updated: November 19, 2006 02:19 AM EST)
views: 113 | comments: 48
tresses down my back
meets furtive desire
and secret, fecund
webby spider parts,
thick like clotted cream;

I'd invite you in
for a warm soak,
but old parched earth
has slapped across my face
a glass, invisible over
dried deserts, now erupted into chasms;

rose petals, once ripe now lay
cracked, like deserts;
we have given over our webby spider parts,
thirsting, yet cannot drink,
hungry, yet cannot feed, quell that ache;

if only we could shatter the invisible glass,
parched desert upon our face,
and soothe the burning,
the flame that burns
burns brightly again, an eternal flicker
a fire that breathes life, screams succor
to our soul.

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Comments: 48

Webduck * Nov 19, 2006, 2:22am EST
Did you mistake the Ben-Gay for the Cold Cream again? Just kidding. Very nice Kathryn
Carol Roach Nov 19, 2006, 2:28am EST
wonderful, breath taking, beautiful, and I was just reading dylan thomas
June M Nov 19, 2006, 2:32am EST
This is beautifully presented. No offense meant, but I am sorry, the poem left me puzzeled. I am not really into poetry enough to understand it unless it is very clear like you Winter poem.
Grandma Maggy Nov 19, 2006, 2:47am EST
Interesting read!
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 2:49am EST
Webduck, that is very funny. I was just speaking with my daughter tonight about how i have not used much face cream in about 10 years, yet my face is still smooth and wrinkle free....

Thank you Carol, it was a feminized version of the trees poem, in a way....the one earlier got me thinking about even more fecundity...
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 2:50am EST
June, it is not easy or clear, but a bit complex, I was afraid it might be a bit too complex, it is sort of like a feminine version of the trees poem (A Hush) I wrote earlier...it is about aging, basically.
vijay kumar Nov 19, 2006, 2:51am EST
'an eternal flicker a fire that breathes life..' I simply love it. Great work, Kathryn.
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 2:51am EST
thanks Grandma.
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 2:53am EST
thank you vijay...thank you for your kind words.
So lovely, Kathryn, like you are... thanks for this! Enjoyed it so much..
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 3:14am EST
Thank you Marilyn.
Marinela Kotsina Nov 19, 2006, 3:49am EST
Wonderful and beautiful
thank you
You've once more demonstrated your skill as a poet! Ah, time can be so unkind. Out with the moisturizer!
tuwanda t. Nov 19, 2006, 5:53am EST
That was lovely . Thanks
Amanda "middle of nowhere" C. Nov 19, 2006, 6:03am EST
This is a good way to start the morning.
Connie C. Nov 19, 2006, 9:10am EST
I loved it! Thanks
Terry Collett Nov 19, 2006, 9:13am EST
It had me thrilled, like climbing backward down a ladder having seen the universe through a hole in the wall. Good.
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 10:06am EST
Thankyou Marinela.

Magi, it is interesting that I would use this imagery, because I seem to be uniquely blessed with incredible skin - the image of cracked deserts always appealed to me.
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 10:07am EST
Thankyou tuwanda and Amanda C.
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 10:09am EST
Thank you Connie C.

Andrew, FOUR thumbs up? WOW! Thank you.

Terry, what an incredibly poetic comment from you, thank you very much.
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 10:10am EST
Thank you chris b.
donna f. Nov 19, 2006, 10:16am EST
Beautiful, Kathryn. Just the sort of thing I was hoping to find on this lazy Sunday morning.
Rick McGirr Nov 19, 2006, 10:23am EST
Does this have anything to do with the spider outside your bathroom window?
John L. Nov 19, 2006, 11:21am EST
very interesting......
Carolion Grailbear Nov 19, 2006, 11:22am EST
youthing. Deepak Chopra speaks to that point.
Debra L. Nov 19, 2006, 11:50am EST
Nice poem Kathryn, but you did make me realize the years behind me. Speaking of cold cream, I better go slather some on those fecund webby spider parts.......
Clicker F Nov 19, 2006, 12:47pm EST
You're one of my favorite poets on Gather--well done on this one.
Nathan Schauer Nov 19, 2006, 1:58pm EST
Perhaps your best poetry to date. This one works on several levels and you have crafted the images precisely.
John Mitts Nov 19, 2006, 1:59pm EST
Nice description of me Kathryn,lol. nice work.
Cheryl W. Nov 19, 2006, 3:13pm EST
Beautiful, Kathryn.
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 3:46pm EST
mike e. - you certainly got that message loud and clear !

thank you Duchess, Rick, John L., (a late night writing...), Carolion, I love Deepak Chopra., Debra - how did the cold cream go?

Oh thank you, Clicker,

Nathan, that is high praise coming from you...I lost my muse a while back, she went elsewhere I know not where, but it seems she may have returned. let's hope so.
Laurie White Nov 19, 2006, 6:13pm EST
I really like this one, Kathryn. Regardless of the parched earth and desert and spider webby parts, there is still that flame that burns inside.
Shaunee C. Nov 19, 2006, 7:12pm EST
good words .i liked reading this
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 7:51pm EST
Oh Laurie, don't you know it !

Thanks Shaunee!
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 7:52pm EST
Oh Laurie, don't you know it !

Thanks Shaunee!
Debra L. Nov 19, 2006, 9:21pm EST
A few moments for myself was gratifying. I am going to have to go look up some of your other poems, seems I have been missing something. I can read while I let the moisturizer soak in!
Kathryn E. Nov 19, 2006, 11:54pm EST
Good luck with the moisturizer, Debra L. I use Nivea Regular, myself. Think I need to put some on before bed.
keith crawford Nov 20, 2006, 10:59am EST
Kathryn, great as ususal, you have summarized the aging process well, I don't want to grow old, is that so wrong, lol
Kathryn E. Nov 20, 2006, 8:18pm EST
Thankyou Amy. Thank you very much.

Keith, not so wrong at all. Just inevitable.
donna h. Nov 20, 2006, 9:39pm EST
interesting.
Kathryn E. Nov 21, 2006, 2:07am EST
Thanks Donna h.
Kathryn E. Nov 21, 2006, 2:07am EST
Thanks Donna h.
John F Walter Nov 28, 2006, 3:06am EST
Great imagery raised up like revenant of a dream--"webby spider parts" "the invisible glass" "the parched desert" "the flame" --that calls us back to our phylogenetic purpose from the parapets of archetype and yet speaks to the firestorm of our body in its hormonal changes in a close, sophisticated way. We are sexual creatures, reproductive dreamers in the trance of the gene pool, memory riders who look down corridors of archives for that which made us creaturely in the first place. One of your VERY BEST!
Kathryn E. Nov 28, 2006, 12:14pm EST
Thank you very much, John, for your comment. I, too, feel it was one of my best. The images had been lying dormant for some time, when they began to coalesce...It is not an easy poem, by any means, but it does work...

I love your words "memory riders who look down corridors of archives for that which made us creaturely in the first place."

Have a great day, John and I thank you deeply for reading this one, in particular.

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