Wednesday, February 2, 2011

middle of the road


Step across your side
and meet me in the fallow;
come with the innocence
of a freshly laid egg.

Do not mind the cracks
and crevasses; if your foot
lands on one, it will not break
your mother’s back.

Quick, before the thin edge
of the wedge becomes deep;
prime the seed, like a pump,
with a feathered whisper.

Be brilliant, talk yourself into it;
wipe the yolk from your face
and move to the soft center,
flip your sunny side up.




Tess Kincaid
January, 2011


Would you like me to read it to you?


100 comments:

  1. Another one for your book. Excellent.

    ReplyDelete
  2. advice noted.
    you are good .


    and I clicked on the clan tartan but there isn't a link?
    which is it ?

    ( my girls did Highland Dancing... oh the memories . My husband would say ... oh the bagpipes again..:( )

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh please do cross the road..so that I may know why :)

    love this, Tess

    ReplyDelete
  4. Deb, my clan tartan is Hannay, my maiden surname is Hanna. Actually, my husband plays the pipes!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Australian film producer David Hannay is an old friend of mine. Any relation?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cro, if his name is Hannay, I'm sure we both connect to my ancestral home, Sorbie Castle in Scotland. I don't know him personally, though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Seeing as you are "egging us on," a question.

    Why did the chicken stop in the middle of the road?

    Answer: She wanted to lay it on the line.

    Not a bad yoke, was it?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Cute poem. Sunny side should always be up.

    ReplyDelete
  9. beautiful! im glad i stumbled here... you've got a new follower :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Well put! :-)
    Meeting in the middle of the road does indeed take a ballet dancer's skills, the ultimate pas de deux.

    ReplyDelete
  11. "Flip your sunny side up". It will be motivational thought for the coming month Tess (along with "have another pint before you leave")

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lovely writing Tess. First two stanzas particularly, for me.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Although we are so different, I like your poems. Do you like Hopkins, my favourite?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Beautifully done. Life affirming.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful. I like how "feathered whisper" sounds.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Full of hope and promise. Delightful, Tess.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This one brought me great joy. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  18. clever and imaginative. i esp like the last stanza. love the Janet Frame quote to. You are the only person I know who ever refers to Janet Frame. Also ESVMillay.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Underbellies! vulnerable, daring.
    Be brilliant- I used to think there was hope for that. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Marc, I love Gerard Manley Hopkins' work and have posted it on this blog, more than once, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  21. WarmS, thank you and welcome to Willow Manor!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I thought you might be quoting Chrissie Hynde. "The middle of the road is trying to find me
    I'm standing in the middle of life with my plans behind me."

    You're so good.

    ReplyDelete
  23. very encouraging, i'm all for flipping your sunny side up.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Beautiful and tender. Particularly the third stanza lingers with me.
    It occurs to me I don't write enough about eggs.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Quite possibly my favorite of yours. LOVE "flip your sunny side up!".

    I agree w/others here, you are good!!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I have the best commenters in the whole blogosphere. Thank you. xx

    ReplyDelete
  27. Dear Willow, There is nothing [apart from the title] middle of the road about this poem. Another wonderful juxtaposition of the everyday and the fantasy of imagination.

    One egg or two?!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Miss Sadie, for a doggy, you're pretty good at telling jokes! Thanks for the giggles. :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. Brilliant, as the morning here. Smiling when I hear you read, all sunny side up!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Very nice. I love the positive message here.

    ReplyDelete
  31. clever and brilliant and brought back many childhood naivetes and beliefs...love the innocence of the egg...contrasting the cracks and crevasses of life. Choices and decisions aren't really that hard are they? This too shall pass...

    ReplyDelete
  32. Great take on the prompt, very impressive poem.

    ReplyDelete
  33. A fine pic - and a talent filled poem.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Layers of meaning -- embryonic, innocence, attitude, and fear -- enjoyed -- barbara

    ReplyDelete
  35. Whimsical, deep, and beautifully
    rutted. The image is stone pretty,
    brickalicious. You add the mantle
    of diplomat poeticus to our resume.
    I like the line /meet me in the fallow/.
    Seems especially appropriate in a
    world of chaos, when Egypt is erupting
    and freedom howls like a stray caught
    in a bear trap, and who will spring
    the catch--why poets, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Glenn, the happenings in Egpyt couldn't help but flash in my mind when I wrote this piece.

    ReplyDelete
  37. you're off the wall as usual Tess... amazing photo and dulcit tones... cheers me duck!

    ReplyDelete
  38. "Meet me in the fallow"..anytime! lifts my spirits!

    ReplyDelete
  39. "Flip your sunny side up" could use that piece of brilliant advice....Beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  40. A terrific read - and definitely it's the sunny side up!

    ReplyDelete
  41. "Come with the innocence
    of a freshly laid egg"

    Just wonderful. Allowing yourself to be cracked open, your yolk to run, and egg to coat your face ....

    ReplyDelete
  42. When I saw your prompt, I immediately thought, 'road' or 'street'. This one is just up my street, Tess. Very nice.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I like how you folded the child's rhyme (crack/break your mother's back) into this poem. Great prompt, too!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Thanks, Terresa, I wondered if anyone would notice.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Fallow, yes, lying exposed to all the elements of our perception, dreaming of what will be born of the next planting. Thank you Tess,

    ReplyDelete
  46. smiles. flippingmy sunny side up willow...nice one shot!

    ReplyDelete
  47. Really like this association with the cracks of life

    Nice Tess
    Thanks for sharing with One Shot

    Hugs from the moon

    ReplyDelete
  48. Trying to keep the sunny side up when the world is blowing sideways outside...storms, we need them to remind us of the sunny side ahead...love it Tess!

    ReplyDelete
  49. Your poetry is brilliant and magic, your photography is amazing (I love photography) and your voice is lovely.

    =)


    Kiss you.

    ReplyDelete
  50. I love the egg metaphor here. Brilliant poem!

    ReplyDelete
  51. I wonder if I can remember what it feels like to be innocent as a freshly laid egg? Hmm.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Read this as a deep poem about life, time, and regeneration. Beautiful poetry and excellent use of metaphor.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Fun and beautiful. So glad I found you through Donna's blog.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Inspiring. Don't be afraid to step, and certainly don't let the world hold you back - good use of an old adage for the purpose of showing that, too. Warm, imaginative, and full of hope...one that leaves you with a smile when all is said and done. With a very gentle and tender reading on your part as well...wonderful write. A warm note to end the evening on, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Wonderful, Tess! And the perfect image to accompany this one.

    ReplyDelete
  56. P.S.: When I saw the title, the first thing that came to mind was, "Dead Skunk."

    ReplyDelete
  57. "Flip your sunny side up." Love that. Can I have it on a sampler to hang in my kitchen?

    ReplyDelete
  58. "...the innocence of a freshly laid egg." Darn, I wish I'd come up with this line...

    ReplyDelete
  59. What a lovely poem! And the 'egg' reference is inspired.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Just dropped in to visit the Manor. I like it here. It makes me feel like
    Sunny Side....Up!

    ReplyDelete
  61. I love the contrasts in your poem and the tension you have created. Thank you for sharing. During this frozen snow day "egg yolks" and the "sunny side" are comforting images.

    It takes many hours and the writing and reading of many poems to become talented at poetry construction. You are confidently showing your readers skill and depth of your talent for writing.
    You are so blossoming!!!

    ReplyDelete
  62. Tess,

    Bought the metaphor, followed the drift, enjoyed the experience!

    TFool

    ReplyDelete
  63. I will meet thee in the fallow...xxxj

    ReplyDelete
  64. I can't add to what has already been stated, so I will simply say: thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  65. Elegant piece as usual. I loved the 'egg' imagery, very appropriate for Spring.

    ReplyDelete
  66. This is really great. Adventurous and daring.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Poems like this always give me faith in life. Thanks for the vote of confidence that everything really is OK.

    ReplyDelete
  68. your voice is the voice of a young woman, I can't believe you have an opera singer daughter.

    May the sunny side always be your side of the road.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Oh, I adore each and every part of this. The poem, your voice, the words, the image. I thought it was a wall at first!! WOW! Talk about getting into my mind and walking around in it!

    My Magpie... These Stones...

    ReplyDelete
  70. Please flip the weather that we are having on Long Island, and let us see the sunny side. Right now we are having an ice storm. We need the sun's warmth.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Beautifully done! Made that chicken the last two days, really good! Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  72. I flipping well enjoyed that!

    ReplyDelete
  73. I've been trying to remember the words to that rhyme since I saw the prompt photo - thanks for this... and the phrase innocense of a freshly laid egg - wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  74. You amaze me...and inspire...

    ReplyDelete
  75. Oh, and please hurry! Lively request with fine lined layers.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Nicely conceived, Tess. Eggsellent!

    ReplyDelete
  77. This is so nice. I especially love that last line! We should all try flipping our sunny side up.

    ReplyDelete
  78. It just reminded me of the movie "The Egg and I"....all this talk of chickens and eggs...and that is a wonderful memory...nice reading....bkm

    ReplyDelete
  79. 'be brilliant, talk yourself into it.' i must say, i love it!

    ReplyDelete
  80. its one that merits publication.. nice one Tess and thanks for the inspirations and thoughts :)

    mine is here:
    http://leonnyes.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/mother/

    ReplyDelete
  81. Warm and welcoming poem. Makes me want to take a chance and see if something good will happen! And thanks for visiting my blog and the nice comment!

    ReplyDelete
  82. this was lovely..."you won't break your mother's back" "flip your sunny side up" great lines!

    ReplyDelete
  83. I'm puzzled by this poem, but I like it. It seems somewhere midway between deep earnestness and farce...as does your reading of it. I particularly like the line about the innocence of a freshly-laid egg.

    ReplyDelete
  84. Dear Tess: Your gentle lilting poem; "middle of the road" is brilliant and enlightening and as I hear your comforting and smooth voice! No, I shant trip cause I'm primed by your lesson and I'm pumped "like a pump" I hear my inner "feathered whisper" voice; I'm so much lighter in the foot now! Feeling this and feeling the "sunny side up"! Very upbeat!

    ReplyDelete
  85. This has so many things going for it, I found it difficult to take them all in. I shall have to return to hear you read it - couldn't do that this morning as I'm halfway through setting up a new computer and I have not et got as far as the sound!
    There is enough loveliness there, though, for me to take away for now.

    ReplyDelete
  86. This deserves to be published. My favorite so far.

    "Wipe the yolk from your face
    and move to the soft center,
    flip your sunny side up."

    Lovely imperatives.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Feathered whisper....the whole poem is moving....i love it Tess!
    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  88. One of the best poems I've read in this week's batch. Superb, distinctive, fun.

    ReplyDelete

Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)