Somewhere along the line,
the big zero of time was twisted
at the waist to become an eight.
An hourglass of days, slipping slow
from the top, then fast below the belt.
Is it providence, or a lemniscate of fate?
I like to think of myself as a verb
and not the object. Chop-chop!
I wait the hours. I empty my head of winter.
I am frightened by other people’s fears,
but not of the eight, not of the hourglass of days.
Tess Kincaid
September 2010
September 2010
To join in the fun at Magpie Tales creative writing prompt blog click HERE.
"the big zero of time..twisted at the waist to become eight." That is a great visual! I like "slipping slow from the top, then fast below the belt" too. just like the older we get the faster time flies by. Glad to hear you aren't afraid of it.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful
ReplyDeleteThis is so very good. Time should be strangled and then forgotten. The time we have would be so much more enjoyable.
ReplyDeletelemniscate of fate....LOVE it!!
ReplyDeleteConfession - had to look up lemniscate. Geometry, it figures.
ReplyDeleteSee, you make me smarter. If only I could remember all these wonderful things I learn here...
I sooooo had to look up lemniscate.
ReplyDeleteI sooo threw it in there to keep you literary peeps on your toes.
ReplyDeleteI too have to confess that I had to look up lemniscate as Everton did.
ReplyDeleteI think too much worry and thought has been given to time - nit for me an hour glass as time slips too quickly in those,
What a great image! I'd always wondered where time went so slowly in my younger days and flies so quickly now. Then it was pointed out to me that to a child of six, a year is a huge part of his existence -- maybe as much as a half or a third since he may not remember much of his first few years.
ReplyDeleteBut to an adult in her late sixties -- a year is only a small fragment of experential time.
Made sense to me, anyway. And it seems to me what your poem is speaking to. Lovely!
funny you should mention it, I woke up this morning and thought, 'oh, is it september?'
ReplyDeletelove the visuals incorporated of the 0 to an 8 and an 8 to an hour glass... wonderful, flowing transition...
just like time itself... :)
Time wastes our bodies,
ReplyDeleteand our wits.
But we waste time,
and so are quits!
Bisou, Cro.
OOHH.... "...time was twisted at the waist to become an eight..." I have absolutely twisted time to slow the flow! Has it helped? Not sure. I STILL feel like a verb!!!
ReplyDeleteRick
My dear Willow, you should be a Literary Lion. You are that good.
ReplyDeletedecadent writing! I'd love to read poems like this in your future writings, willow.
ReplyDeleteLove it especially 'lemniscate'!!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of letting winter sink (except for that other seasons would follow it too in turn)
ReplyDeleteInfinite beauty in these words
ReplyDeleteYou write beautifully ... I always finish properly sated, like I've eaten a wonderful meal :o)
ReplyDeleteDear Willow, Your poems are not only a delight to read, for language, themes and ideas, but are always so very thought provoking - a mark, in my view,of real poetry.
ReplyDeleteThat zero twisted into 8 is a terrific conceit!
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I have a mind of winter. :)
Wow Willow!! great poem.
ReplyDelete"Time goes, you say? Ah no!
Alas, Time stays, we go."
~Henry Austin Dobson
;)
cleverly written willow! i very like that time - i n the right circumstances - slows down and even stops. steven
ReplyDeleteI agree... other people's fears are most frightening!
ReplyDeleteHello Willow,
ReplyDeleteNo purpose in fearing Time, it carries on regardless. Glad you are happy to go with the flow. I think lemniscate had a lot of us wondering!
I thought about defining lemniscate, but decided it was better to keep you guessing! Great word, huh? Even rhymes.
ReplyDelete"Lemniscate of Fate" is brilliant, indeed!
ReplyDeleteTime will not stop for anything. And we have nothing to fear.
ReplyDelete"a verb not an object" is a great phrase..
timeless flies search for fries
Willow,
ReplyDeleteYou and your words are the Muse!
rel
Lemniscate? I don't care what it means, I love it!! How great can you be!!
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot to be said for the NOW. Let tomorrows and yesterdays take care of themselves.
ReplyDeleteStunning Willow. I often think of myself as a verb as well after studying Bucky for so many years. Nice Magpie. Gros Bisous, Love and Light, Sender
ReplyDeleteOh I really loved this... "the big zero of time was twisted at the waist to become an eight"
ReplyDeleteWonderful writing! :-)
This is wonderful! So many lovely images and "slipping slow from the top, then fast below the belt" is just perfect.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant.
ReplyDeleteyet again.
you are good willow. wow.
chop-chop
ReplyDeleteI'd say you have the chops indeed!
Jeffscape's comment made me laugh, I had to look it up too. Thanks for that, seriously!
"I wait the hours. I empty my head of winter.I am frightened by other people’s fears, but not of the eight, not of the hourglass of days."
Willow, that is simply BRILLIANT!
I am basking in your glow, hope that is okay.
I love the number 8,
infinitely.
13.7 billion years is time. A lot of time. That's how long the earth and solar system has been here. It is a huge hour glass.
ReplyDeleteahh, waking up to a slice of buttered toast with a side of willow's heavenly poetry.....
ReplyDeleteand i am now off to look up 'lemniscate'!
Wow.
ReplyDeleteYeah no need to fear the hourglass. Onwards and upwards.
Hey I've been researching Osage history because I'm going to Branson, Missouri (of all places). Came across this and of course since it's centered around a Willow, I thought of you. x
Reya, that was beautiful. Thank you. Hey, have fun in Branson. I visited there long ago, before it became a such a big deal.
ReplyDeleteI love your hour glass of days! Twisted in the middle. I like the way you think! Magical you.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully put my dear. In the wonder of the beyond of time there is so place for fear, it is the here and now we need all our courage for.
ReplyDeleteThank you for being a true friend and dropping in more often. Wading through the mud of life without respite in sight, my well of words seems to have dried up. I have not done any writing in the last six months at least but one must take heart and wade on.
Love . . . Arija
Wonderful poem Willow. I, too, had to look up lemniscate. Great word. I think I'll use it for a photo title. Maybe I'll steal your whole phrase, lemniscate of fate. Love it.
ReplyDeleteYour saucy sidebar picture reminds me of the post card Marcel Duchamps created. It was a post card of the Mona Lisa under which he had written the letters LHOOQ!
ReplyDeleteMarc, I thought it was cute and so apropos for "current moon".
ReplyDeleteI love the shape of the hourglass. The only time I get anxious about it is when it is being used in a game as a timer. I think I'm always watching the sands trickle by and not focusing on the game at hand - no metaphor there...really. Lemniscate will be the word of the week - no doubt, and by the time I had read all the comments...there was Mona Mooning! What fun was this post! :)
ReplyDeleteAs always, I learn from your photo prompts. About me, about the world, about life.
ReplyDeleteTwisted at the waist ~ loved that visual.
am glad to see that you fear others' fears but not the 8 ! :)
ReplyDelete"the big zero of time..twisted at the waist to become eight." I loved this line. And like many other I too had to look up for lemniscate, and what perfect sense it made with the fate... WE are all bound with the time and geometries of fate..
ReplyDeleteYou keep beating yourself at being best
Such profound thoughts with beautiful words Willow....i love it!
ReplyDelete:-)
Beautiful poem, must come from a beautiful mind. Thanks for the new word - I can't even spell it.
ReplyDeleteThinking of what was said,
ReplyDeletemakes me think of
"ad infinitun"
meaning forever and the symbol is a figure
eight laying on it's side.
yvonne
How about coming to see me sometime.
Yvonne, thank you! I just may do that! :)
ReplyDelete"..the big zero of time was twisted
ReplyDeleteat the waist to become an eight.." That's a great line, willow. Loved the entire piece.
The imagery and metaphor of this poem are so wonderful, Willow! "An hourglass of days...", what a beautiful phrase (no, the rhyming was not intentional :D )
ReplyDeleteman, it flies!
ReplyDelete"I am frightened by other people’s fears, but not of the eigh , not of the hourglass of days." Hey! You are sane!... Well, I think so.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the (continuing) support. Go the Greens!
You do well to be frightened by other peoples' fears. Because fears are the things to which people tend to respond, often in unhelpful ways.
ReplyDeleteDelightful post!
Wow, really love this one - it's rich.
ReplyDelete"I am frightened by other people’s fears, but not of the eight, not of the hourglass of days."
You are wise, my friend.
yes I think lemniscate may have
ReplyDeletegotten the number one online word search today :)
this was wonderful
and the zero is totally jealous
of eight's new belt.
Rene
Rene, eight's new belt! Love that. :)
ReplyDelete"I like to think of myself as a verb
ReplyDeleteand not the object. "
Great line!
Standing the mobius strip on its head! Love 'the big zero of time' -
ReplyDeleteFunny, we share a theme this week...great minds? Although yours is better. I have to look up lemniscate...Really nice images in this one, Willow.
ReplyDeleteI especially like the phrase "the hourglass of days"...beautifully done, as always.
ReplyDeleteWonderful images, the hourglass of days...brillant...love the prompt too...bkm
ReplyDeleteOnce again I learned a new word. That is very cool.
ReplyDeleteI love the whole thing, but of course I'm zeroing in on emptying my head of winter. I know you mean figuratively, but can I do it literally? :)
ReplyDeleteI've always liked the word lemniscate. It's strong. Thanks fo a great blog and website.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful poem! The passage of time in the shape of infinity--great observation.
ReplyDeleteDear Willow: Very concrete visual and iconic imagery! The last stanza was ecletic blend of all that we fear about fear which is the fear of time running out. Saved by your lemniscate nuances in the nick of time named "Chop-Chop"! Tres excellent. Tempus does figit!
ReplyDeleteWillow thanks for the prompt and the visit. I especially like your final lines. They remind me that on its side, the eight is the sign of infinity and somehow that is comforting.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
Like everyone else, I love your verbal images willow! "fast below the waist" ...how true!
ReplyDelete"lemniscate of fate"...love it:)
Love the waist twisted, belt, the crazy eight imagery going on here. and the "lemniscate of fate" -- superb, Willow!
ReplyDeleteWillow, you vixen of the poetics!
ReplyDeleteI, too, or maybe 37th, needed
to look up "lemniscate", before
I could write my own poem,
before I could get my vapid
cortex around the infinite.
So wonderful for each of us
to read here that poets
by the dozen were today
out there in the cyber ozone
searching for your word.
Old Webster only got me
close, "lemniscus", which
in retaliation I used in my
poem, as well as your word.
You stirred us up, and then
educated the masses.
Your poem sings a song
of polyhedron, and it looms
over us like the branches
of your lovely willows on
a spring day, wafting us
with hope, with love.
I especially liked the line
/I empty my head of
winter/. Great piece.
I missed your poetry a lot. It is very introspective and visual. My favourite line was:
ReplyDelete'I empty my head of winter'.
Many thanks.
Greetings from London.
This poem is indeed very good.
ReplyDeleteOMG I just can't stand how good this is you brilliant woman. The last two lines have left me speechless in a very profound way. You are a bit of a talent, Willow.
ReplyDeleteI love this line.."the big zero of time..twisted at the waist to become eight." :)
ReplyDeleteVery charming description of the zero to time. Being a verb shows the action and zest for life bursting to be.
ReplyDeleteYour last line is a favorite of mine. Great poem and photo!
ReplyDeleteFascinating poem, and I love the image for this week. Am leaving this particular comment here rather than MP because I haven't yet written a magpie.
ReplyDeleteBut..... I just keyed in magpietales.com thinking it would take me to you and (of course, being wrong url) it brought me here to one who says she has just changed the name of her blog to Magpie Tales. Can she do that, use your blog name? Here's the link
http://www.magpietales.com/
Ver nice Magpie poem, Willow.
ReplyDeleteother peoples fright... frightens me as well.
ReplyDeleteWeekend love!
Lydia, I left her a message concerning Magpie Tales. Thanks for the heads up.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way, Willow--our culture is too caught up in making us think we have to be young forever. Wonderful imagery here and great sound to this one: I wanted to recite it out loud.
ReplyDeleteEight is a favorite number in China and means good luck. Many babies were planned for 08/08/08 in that culture, everyone hoping for lucky children.
ReplyDeleteWonderfully written! =)
ReplyDelete-Weasel
ahhh...how time flies when we wish it would drag and drags when it should fly. Especially once you've got a few years under your belt.
ReplyDeleteLove the image of a zero twisted into an 8. Of course, you had me running to Google to discover Lemniscate. Geometry. No wonder I didn't know it.
ReplyDeleteVery much like the self-description of being a verb. You take life by the throat. Action on, not acted upon. Full of life.
Nice, inspite of lemniscate hahahaha. (I don't even know if I spelled it right.) Loved the visuals, too. Twisted eight, etc.
ReplyDeletelove the way you play with time and the image to create possibilities--excellent!
ReplyDeleteAn optimist says the glass is half full... a pessimist says the glass is half empty...!
ReplyDeleteSO well written, Willow. I have experienced time slowing (did not realize at the moment), and time stopping. Well, that happens also. SO true.
ReplyDeleteOne day of twisted eight I can handle, it's those years ahead which I fear--but not often--grin!
Mine is really stupid this week, but are we not allowed a few of those?
Gosh I love you blend a twisted figure eight into infinity so very creative Willow!
ReplyDeleteI was a math minor in a university, but I, too, had to look up "lemniscate."
ReplyDeleteI like the images of the big zero twisted at the waist and of time slipping slowly from the top, then fast below the belt.
loved "empty my head of winter" and had to look up what lemniscate means - fantastic - the lying 8 - the movement - summer and winter, wake and sleep, give and take
ReplyDeletegreat write!
Willow, just stopping by to say thanks so much for checking up on me and WoW you just have the greatest blog. Hope to catch up on all you have been doing and The Willow Ball, I can't wait. Your bloggy friend Stephen
ReplyDeleteTime is EXACTLY what I fear the most. The waste of it, the last of it, the inability to begin again.
ReplyDeleteHourglass/infinity. Beautifully rendered, willow. A keeper, this one.
ReplyDeleteLemniscate was a new word for me, and a fine word it is - especially as used in your marvelous poem.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a little girl my favorite "toy" was an HO gauge train set with a figure-8 track. I thought it to be much superior to regular oval tracks. It's been at the forefront of my memories these last days.......
Events of the last two weeks have made me even more aware that our time on earth does not stretch into infinity. Only time itself enjoys that luxury.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are enjoying a wonderful, autumnal weekend!
hmmm i'd like to be less alarmed by the rush of time
ReplyDeletei do like this
and am off to investigate "lemniscate"
Hello from comment 105. No time for writing only reading Willow. You are a busy lady.
ReplyDeleteLiked your poem. So glad the 8 doesn't scare you.
What a waste that would be.
simply breath taking...
ReplyDeleteSo much to think about in such few words. And what words!
ReplyDelete"a lemniscate of fate" Love it! There are so many levels to this poem.
ReplyDeleteI think of myself as a verb and not the object.
ReplyDeletePowerful lines Willow
~Harsha
Beautifully said, willow. Those grains seem to flow faster past forty, I think. As there is nothing we can do to slow them, I think it's best not to fret too much! Or to spend a fortune on potions and lotions.
ReplyDelete-Check out the link for info on my blogaversary giveaway:
http://rnsane.blogspot.com/2010/09/flash-55-friday-happy-anniversary-to-me.html#links
"I think of myself as a verb not an object" Love this. Love this!
ReplyDeleteA nice twisty poem - I like it!
ReplyDeleteBTW--where did you ever find that old car with a Nixon sticker,of all things? What a time capsule that is!
The photo of the car with the Nixon bumper sticker I borrowed from Google Images. I usually take my own pics, but that particular one was perfect for my piece!
ReplyDeleteTurning a zero into an eight - turning nothing into something into the hour glass of days. Cool!
ReplyDeleteYou really have a way with words, Willow! I am always blown to bits by your beautiful works... this was a fine and elegant piece... bravo!!
ReplyDelete"I like to think of myself as a verb and not the object" - that was absolutely beautiful!!
'the big zero of time,' is fab. So visual, wonderful description of an hourglass.
ReplyDeleteFrom one verb to another, Willow, I say BRAVO! Thanks so much for sharing this with me. Loved it! <3
ReplyDelete