Wednesday, February 23, 2011

limbo

After the melt, winter, dull
with Novocaine, lacking a proper taste
of death, waits in patient homage

for Nature to resume her pleasantries.
The insufficient poison of ice,
is swallowed-up in mushroom sky,

and leaves behind a chamois world,
a limb-strewn, cardboardy puzzle,
dirty as a pillowcase. She paces,

obtuse, in the squalor of good
intentions, scotch-taped, ephemeral, 
in an arborglyph of days.


Tess Kincaid
February 2011



Would you like me to read it to you?

97 comments:

  1. The wait will be well worth it, though, when glorious Spring breaks through, in bloom and rebirth. In my lovely San Francisco, the trees are brilliantly beautiful. I've even changed my blog header to show the most incredible tree I've seen in a long time.

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  2. Tess - I am dying to know what an arborglyph of days means. Please, please tell me. I love the way that rolls off the tongue and hearing you read it, well that is like chocolate silk pie.

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  3. Great poem, I love

    dull
    with Novocaine, lacking a proper taste

    Spring has arrived here in Ireland, snowdrops appearing again.

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  4. This reminds me of something my mother once said - that she is amazed to think of all those seeds hiding under the surface, just waiting, waiting.

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  5. Wow, sensational work. I especially love the last line
    'She paces,
    obtuse, in the squalor of goodintentions, scotch-taped, ephemeral, in an arborglyph of days.' Such a powerful ending, left carved into time.

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  6. Kristen, it's a new word to me this week, thanks to Barbara, on her blog Folkways Notebook, and I was itching to use it. Arborglyphs are tree carvings...Kilroy was here or R.K. + T.H....and the like.

    Carving on aspens has been an almost universal Basque sheepherder tradition since the late 1800s, many with wonderful artwork.

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  7. I simply read it aloud myself, without thinking about the words, and felt March. At least how it is to me. Arborglyph. I had to look up the meaning, but I prefer how you used it to any literal meaning. I do love your poetry.

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  8. beautiful Tess... can't get the thingy to work so i can hear you read it so i read i to myself... I find this time of year the most exciting with all the new growth around (well it is here in the UK... budding everywhere) but your poem makes me feel sad... as if the earth is still waiting to come back to life... very moving anyway x

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  9. Dom, I took this photo yesterday, and as you can see, spring is not yet here, but soon!

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  10. Tess,

    Lots good with this one!

    "Lacking a proper taste of death", "insufficient poison of ice", "mushroom sky", "chamois world", "arborglyph"(!!). Such wonderful phrases packed-in, yet smooth to read.

    A poem about natural recovery -- as seen from the hospital bed!

    Trulyfool

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  11. Very nice Tess! It's almost over!

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  12. I hate to admit this, but I had to look up the word arborglyph. Your poetry is brilliant, and your reading of it is only icing on the cake.

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  13. I looked up arborglyph too - I love it! It's one of my new favorite words, & I really like the way you used it. It does feel as though winter is pacing aimlessly, not quite ready to let go. Especially on this cold, dreary, rainy day...

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  14. Tess, "an arborglyph of days" is one of the great phrases I've ever read, even without the context! Beautiful write, perfectly expressing our current reality here on the hem of the lone prairie.

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  15. quite lovely and expresses this limbo between seasons beautifully ;-)

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  16. Wonderful feel of the words rolling from the tongue!

    I can't help but think that your recent dental experience inserted itself into this one with poor winter being dull with Novocaine. That made me smile...

    I love "the squalor of good intentions." So apt.

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  17. Dr. L., "hem of the lone prairie" is a wonderfully romantic term for our neck of the woods.

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  18. Jo, yes, my tedious dental escapades did have a bit of an influence on this piece. Oy.

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  19. I'm definitely waiting for Nature to resume her pleasantries! On a long, wet walk through the woods today I spied the first daffodil . . . but I'm so impatient for proper spring.

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  20. Wow that was wonderful! It's not my favorite time of year. Amazing here in this high mountain desert, the moment the snow dries, the dust hangs low, even over paved roads. It is a chamois world, everything is dirty. You are right there!...I am wondering what is a proper taste of death?

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  21. Sensational imagery here! Each time I read it I appreciate it more.

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  22. it's an awesome poem, hopefully the poet doesn't feel like he or she needs to be pacing. Sometimes if a puzzle doesn't fit I just lay the pieces down in an overlapping prosaic pattern, then hammer the F*** out of it till it sits flat.

    Sometimes I think it comes out better than the original creator's plan (although usually I am the only one who thinks that)

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  23. lovely image and an awesome poem

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  24. all that from a few puzzle pieces!
    we can see life, love, the seasons wherever we look.

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  25. The dormant grass in your picture reinforces the cardboard limbo of our days this time of year. Your images weave the deadening Novocaine experience so well.

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  26. A delightful mixture of words....a chamois world indeed.

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  27. Like this very much...an aborglyph of days.. spring is certainly special and the trees make it more so. Well written :)

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  28. Chamois shirts, chamois pants ... I had not considered a chamois colored Earth ~ I like the image. I like tree carvings too.

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  29. sweet pieces of images encapsulated into mindnumbing novocaine words tess. steven

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  30. Perfect description of this time of year. Although I did really enjoy the dark, rainy day today. We have a great new view outside our bedroom window and it really looked good on this gloomy day. There is a farmer's field, and off in the distance is a tree that I have fallen in love with. About half way up it splits into a double trunk and looks like 2 people dancing. Anyway, it looked great on this rainy day.

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  31. Yes, I gleaned the dental reference right away...been on your mind and in your mouth a lot lately hasn't it.
    I love this poem!
    Poor thing...drive over to Indy for your next dental work! You won't be dulled without proper taste, I assure you!.

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  32. A good expression of limbo. Although there are many, this is very good.

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  33. ah yes- good old limbo- perfect description of winter waiting for spring to take over!

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  34. This is brilliant Tess! You really hit the ball out of the ball out of the park with this one! :o)

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  35. Oh Tess...nobody says it better! There was so much I enjoyed with this poem, I cannot dissect it.
    Novacaine - anything to do with your recent dental surgery???

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  36. Wonderful ...I love to hear your poem in your own voice..
    "She paces,
    obtuse, in the squalor of goodintentions, scotch-taped, ephemeral, in an arborglyph of days."

    Tess,this is super....

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  37. More snow fell here today so the chamois days are but a dream. Lovely work!

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  38. oh i love the new word....excellent! spring springa bit here this week but i so hope it did not fool us...i can get used to these 70s...smiles.

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  39. Doggone it, TESS...you have SO many commentators, it takes so long to scroll through them. Oh, and I have to read and devour, formulate a reply for each one.

    Wonder why it takes 10 minutes to get to this empty comment square?

    Yes, the signs of winter passing on, can we play "Taps"? The symbols of spring readily noticed in all places, even in those glyphs--or whatever. I, too, looked it up. Handy word. Thanks for your 'season' update.

    Ho-Hummm! Guess I'll stroll down to the beach in the morning and watch the sun's focus on a tatted
    skin-glyph of bathers.

    PEACE! From Naples, FL

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  40. Skin-glyph. Steve, I love it. Yeah, go ahead and rub it in about walking on the beach. I actually spoke too soon, because our chamois-grass is now covered with a fresh new blanket of snow, as we speak.

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  41. I've been partial to creating arborglyphs since an early age. Cro L Mrs Cro etc.

    I'm now working on 'I L Willow's Poems'.

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  42. Oh you describe spring well this time of year back east as the snow plays with its melt and green has not yet shown face.....very nice..bkm

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  43. Oh , how fun to read all the comments. Thank you Tess for this education, once again! 75 degrees here in NC. Sixty tomorrow. Oh, how this northern transplant is loving it! I think it is a record high for this time of year.

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  44. Tranquillized state!! Looks like a lull before Spring blossoms out in its varied elaborate array!! Enjoyed it immensely!!

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  45. What I particularly like is the way the poem almost mimics a jigsaw puzzle : you can almost try slotting some of the words together to see of they make a fit, make a picture. Not sure if this is what you intended : but it works on this level as well.

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  46. I love this poem. "Chamois world" -- oh, how beautiful.

    Ironically, in this valley in W. Oregon we have had no snow all winter and are expected to have a real cold snap with snow arriving Wednesday night. Weather dude said it will be only the fifth time in the last 70 years that it has snowed this late. Oh, my poor crocus and the dear camelia...

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  47. Yep, Spring coming soon. Great words.

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  48. "...insufficient poison of ice,
    is swallowed-up in mushroom sky..." A great line.

    Poetry24…where news is the Muse

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  49. Arborglyph.... arborglyph..... arborglyph.... arborglyph....

    I am going to be saying that all day.

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  50. Tess, thanks for your comment. Your wonderful portrait is more than a mental crayon. I look forward to exploring Willow Manor when the forfinger of twilight begins to smudge the clear drawn lines of the Big City. Until then!

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  51. beautifully expressed, and I like the picture too.

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  52. Can't wait for the pleasantries to start.When??
    Tree carvings..hmmm...thanks!!
    Great!!

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  53. How do you manage to reap 53 comments in one day? Amazing, though well deserved ... As a Floridian for these past 30 years, I've lost the sense of transformation from winter so latent in early spring, when all has that feel of "Novocain," still dead, though pulsing deep down under with expectation.That in-between time as an "arborglyph of days": perfect. -- Brendan

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  54. Well said. I relate on so many levels but you said it better, so kudos. The picture is so very clever. I like this post.

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  55. Linbo is where we are for sure. Things struggling to recover from the onslaught of wind and snow. Hooray for spring.
    QMM

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  56. brilliant. brilliant.
    got my Valentine kiss near the arborglyph in a heart shaped natural marking at our mini vacation at the Chateau Montebello.

    and we were in limbo here, but alas, we're snow covered again .

    soon . soon.

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  57. I know I have said it already but the header is amazing. Oh my, your poem is so fitting. "Dirty as a pillowcase." I have been so cold that I am dull in mind and in body.

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  58. Walking through my kitchen garden, just at this mornings dawn, I felt this way as well. Here in the Sonoran desert,two more weeks demand patience, then let the ground-breaking begin!

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  59. Interesting piece. It speaks to me.

    Life right now holding still, expecting. And there will be countless births; countless days more vibrant than this one.

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  60. Your puzzled photo is excellent partnered with your limbo verse -- barbara

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  61. I am so ready for "nature to resume her pleasantries"! Although we've not had a terrible winter here in Germany this year, I find it more and more difficult to get through the winters. Love the poem, Tess! You are great as always!

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  62. Dear Willow, Ah, the flirtatiousness of Spring...but will winter yet lose her grip.....?

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  63. What a voice and what a blog !!!
    I often browse this blog with every time the same excitement and smile
    Recently I wrote two lines for someone I love and someone you love:
    "In the flow of love I will be the water and you will be my rock
    In the flow of life I will be your rock and you will be my inspiration"

    Looking forward to meet you soon...

    A secret French admirer

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  64. Yes ... 'as dirty as a pillowcase' ... yes, to every pacing image your poem expresses about this 'in between' time as we wait for greening. Amazing use of language, Tess. I love the word 'arborglyph'! It's new to me as well, and so perfectly perfect!

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  65. Dear Secret French, I look forward to the day the water and the rock grace my presence at Willow Manor.

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  66. Oh, marvelous, Tess! I can just imagine how you must feel, since we've had a "rough" winter here compared to most years. I'm so spoiled in NC--I'm so ready for spring!

    Love this poem and accompanying photo puzzle.

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  67. Yea I learnt a new word today Arborglyph love the poem as well

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  68. I do not think I can even add anything to what has already been said here. You are astonishing! So many images, so many strenuous words. You captured the imagination in one burst of verbal speed. Brava!

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  69. try saying arborglyph on novocaine...i double dog dare you :)

    seriously, Willow, everytime I read your poetry you just set that bar higher...

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  70. Rene, funny you say this, since I really did have to say arborglyph ten times fast before I recorded the poem! With novocaine? No way!

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  71. "obtuse, in the squalor of good
    intentions, scotch-taped, ephemeral,
    in an arborglyph of days." POWERFUL Tess, yes, yes, yes!

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  72. Your poetry is awesome and so different from what people normally write...sometimes way above my head but love it nevertheless... :)

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  73. Perfect images for late winter...

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  74. I like the image of a mushroom sky.

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  75. Winter does stuff to us...and we react
    I like your reaction

    Peace, hp

    stop by some time

    http://hpicasso.blogspot.com/

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  76. Just wonderful. As always.

    Your talent is off the charts Madame.

    Bisous, Love and Light,

    S

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  77. incredible use of words. you left me in awe. how i wish my mind could conjure such words and images. bravo!

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  78. arborgylphs...love that word!
    This poem makes me yearn for spring, which seems so far away at the present moment!

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  79. Creative use of diction, especially "arborglyph" - a fresh discovery, every visit, Tess.

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  80. I enjoyed it so much Tess. a great ending too...Thanks for sharing..

    ॐ नमः शिवाय
    Om Namah Shivaya
    http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com/2011/02/whispers-tanka-and-search-for-being.html
    Connect with me at Twitter @VerseEveryDay

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  81. a limb-strewn, cardboardy puzzle

    Great description!

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  82. I love the images you selected... "cardboardy puzzle, dirty as a pillowcase" is my favorite.

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  83. Once again I'm in awe - wonderful image.

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  84. Your image is very nice,unusual and seems tricky and so the poem is. Great work!

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  85. after every winter, must come spring; physically and metaphorically. profound writing, nicely done...

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  86. I really enjoyed this, Tess. I've read it several times. Nice Mag!

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  87. So eloquently written Tess... you have such a way with words, I loved it! Spring is my favorite time of the year .. a time of color, freshness, blue skies, warm sunny days & new life... I just love spring!

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  88. Was this some wordplay or what!! Very evocative of a mirth that's urging to surface.. I think it will indeed surface in Spring... Until then, we will have to make do with the dull brown scapes, naked after the removal of that white blanket!!

    WELL DONE, my friend.. your writing never ceases to amaze me!!

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  89. Excellent description! Love the seasons, but sometimes the spaces in between aren't pretty.

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  90. Nice descriptive limbo, Professor Arborglyph.

    8^)

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  91. Willow,
    I've left a few arborglyphs in my time, although I doubt they'll ever be included in any antropology study. I'm wondering now though if it would have been better to do my carving in the winter when the birchs were numb from winter's freeze rather in
    than in the sap flowing seasons.

    I liken winter to a deep night's slumber and awakening like spring; a new day to enjoy all over, but as I age there seems to always be an extra puzzle piece that I can't find space for.
    rel

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  92. Wow! I'm going in once again just to say these words again. Beautiful!

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  93. Great imagery? I'm really glad I came here to see your writings. It's really nice! Thanks for sharing

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  94. Arborglyph! That's a neat one. Thanks for the poem and the picture....I can see I'll be a while catching up with your work. Thanks for sharing it out here! this is becoming a cool century for the arts.

    PG

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