Wednesday, March 28, 2007

oui

starving on the apricot cross
I believe in the mysteries
starving in your gaze
fondly returned
I also believe in the obvious
you play like a kitten in my lap
yet you are trying to kill me
you need no absolution
it is your act of grace
that like a serial killer
you stalk salvation

come to me trembling with
the rage that is love
bend back the limbs
that gave you no freedom
there is only one moment left
between the future and the past
and it is ours

12 comments:

ozymandiaz said...

"there is only one moment left
between the future and the past
and it is ours"
Sweet
fascinating one, this is.
such contrast

Pat Paulk said...

To be repetitive those last three lines are dynamite!! What a birth you have labored over.

Anonymous said...

Ozy has summed it up. Intriguing write, Russell!

Come visit me at my new blog, when you get a chance:

http://magnapoets.typepad.com/summa_summarum/

And Magnapoets is back, albeit under construction. Hope you can pop in from time to time. :)

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Ozy! Yes there are a lot of contrasts we usually don't see because we usually impose only one schema of our understanding of things on any envent at the time we share it with someone. I have been trying to represent at least two schemas simultaneously in the discription of a single moment (see psycholinguistics). It gives a much richer feel for the moment and the contrasts and contradictions can significantly add to depth the poem is capable of. And, as in post-impressionist color theory, it makes for such dynamically colorful blank spots. Thanks for the great comment, my friend.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Hey Pat, thanks for that enthusiastic praise! Usually after a period of forced 'celibacy' my first attempts at poetry tend to be a bit overardent. I am delighted you liked this so much. Thanks for that encouraging comment, my friend.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Aurora! I'm so happy you have all enjoyed this. I'm very excited to hear you are back to being active on the blogmos, that is great news indeed. Now I'll have a place to go (besides the bookshelf) to get my daily Aurora fix! Thanks for the great comment and the great news, my sweet!

I'll go and edit my links right now.

gautami tripathy said...

Great poem after that 'celibacy' as you put it..Worth the wait.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Gautami! It is such a frustrated feeling when one gets so busy that there is no time to write. I'm glad you liked the poem lots. That always makes the frustration seem less painful. Thanks for the great comment my sweet!

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

Interesting. A tale of love amok or perhaps something much deeper. In any case, this is a catcher.

Your Tucson Buddy

PS: Our work there is done and it was NOT easy...

Russell Ragsdale said...

Hey Don! I'm glad you liked this. We call it gentle love but how can something that is banging up your insides bear that moniker - probably tsunami love would be closer!

Glad you got the work done, brother Wildcat and thanks for the great comment!

Shubhodeep said...

ah sir!!! ive missed your poetry.. wonderful to be back.. hope to see you at my blog soon!!

Russell Ragsdale said...

Wow thanks subhodeep! It is great to see you again too!! Thanks for the great comment and greatly looking forward to renewed reading of your excellent work. Welcome back!