Saturday, February 17, 2007

Blacksmith

The night is huge and powerful,
a dark muscle, massive and bulging,
changing as a hammer hits
hot steel the color of sunset
and sizzling stars shoot
into the blackness of forge smoke.
There is no reason to face this,
she says, and a ship sinks below the surface
of convolutions and ripples.
He takes the bottle with the ship in it
and pours out an ocean around him
drowning till the clouds part
and in the full moon light
the faces of the bobbing, bloated crew
shine with grins.

The diamond of the day had a flaw
and through that crack came the brutal black –
the bulging blacksmith pounding, pounding,
telling all you wanted secret,
heralding in the ample night.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is excellent, and the ending is just WOW!

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Aurora! I've gotten another wonderful WOW from you. That just makes my day! I'm so glad you liked this and infinite thanks for the wonderful comment my sweet!

Pat Paulk said...

Russell one of the most stunning descriptions of sunset and night I've ever read!!

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Pat! Stunning is big praise indeed from a master of metaphore such as yourself. Thanks for such a fantastic comment my friend!

gautami tripathy said...

This is amazing. What a great description of the night.

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Great one, Russell. I would like to hera you read this one aloud. The words were meant to be spoken.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks GST! Sometimes it is important to see the night as something overpowering and immense. Thanks for the great comment, my sweet.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Don. All of my poems are ment to be read but some of them seem to especially cry out to be loved into sound. A soon as I can, I'd love to post a whole collection of readings. Thanks for the great comment, my friend.

Pris said...

This is top dollar!! I love it!!!

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Pris! I'm glad you loved it. It is great to get your praise. Thanks for comming by and leaving a wonderful comment!

Sue hardy-Dawson said...

Glowing positively glowing with pictures-love it

Russell Ragsdale said...

Wow Sue, what a wonderful comment! I'm glad you ewnjoyed this. Thanks a lot!