Monday, January 2, 2012

You Are A Scorching Salve




I am a tall order,
tree-high,
neatly bleeding

pollard style,
lumberjack-ravaged,
pickaxe-stark.

Your balm
soothes, burns
the lingering sting,

lip-sap applied
to skinned knees
and elbows, sticky

over wild initials
carved graffiti-soft,
forest-deep.


tk/January 2012

Listen to R.A.D. Stainforth's excellent reading:
(I say sah-ve...he says sal-ve)


image: River, Marina Moevs, 2005
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61 comments:

  1. Tess KincaidMon Jan 02, 08:47:00 AM

    R.A.D. ... I love the way you exhale between Tess and Kincaid ...

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  2. MrsupoleMon Jan 02, 08:47:00 AM

    Nice poem that fits the picture so well.

    I hope you have a very Happy New Year and a great 2012.

    God bless.

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  3. SuzMon Jan 02, 09:16:00 AM

    a deep woods of metaphor

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  4. The Weaver of GrassMon Jan 02, 09:16:00 AM

    I love this and the photograph goes with it perfectly Tess.

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  5. JJ Roa RodriguezMon Jan 02, 09:24:00 AM

    your poems always is good to read. helping me develop my skills in reading between the lines. I am learning to love the language more and more...

    Hope you had a wonderful end of 2011 and a very good start of 2012!

    JJRod'z

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  6. Carolina LintheadMon Jan 02, 09:27:00 AM

    This is gorgeous...so much said between the lines. As Suz put it, "a deep woods of metaphor" and the woods are so very lovely.

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  7. AnonymousMon Jan 02, 09:36:00 AM

    Interesting picture. Did you notice how the reflections are so much clearer than the originals.

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  8. Alan KleimanMon Jan 02, 09:40:00 AM

    nice pic
    and poe

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  9. Alan KleimanMon Jan 02, 09:41:00 AM

    a healing balm

    as well as

    a scorching salve...

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  10. AnonymousMon Jan 02, 09:48:00 AM

    Tess ... when you say "exhale" you clearly mean "inhale" ... I love this ambiguity in your work ...

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  11. Tess KincaidMon Jan 02, 09:52:00 AM

    Ah, R.A.D., inhale, exhale...you can clearly see I'm not a smoker...I'll have to admit...your puffs do make me dizzy...

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  12. MikeMon Jan 02, 09:57:00 AM

    You are a towering tree amongst bloggers!

    Happy New year!

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  13. SemaphoreMon Jan 02, 10:22:00 AM

    Besides how well the poem works with the image, I love the hyphenations here, it's a technique I'm still trying to master, but you do it so well.

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  14. Kathe W.Mon Jan 02, 10:45:00 AM

    gorgeous words for such a painting!
    Happy New Year!

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  15. TeresaMon Jan 02, 10:54:00 AM

    Great poem! It is perfect for the picture.

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  16. AnonymousMon Jan 02, 11:02:00 AM

    Nice painting
    I'm fainting

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  17. Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson BarryMon Jan 02, 11:05:00 AM

    this is magical and powerful, well done.

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  18. anthonynorthMon Jan 02, 11:24:00 AM

    Great symbolic words.

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  19. AnonymousMon Jan 02, 11:53:00 AM

    @ Semaphore Tess Kincaid is the Bitch Queen Goddess of Hyphens ...

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  20. susan m hinckleyMon Jan 02, 12:10:00 PM

    Lovely words for a sigh of an image.

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  21. Laurie KolpMon Jan 02, 12:38:00 PM

    I love your perspective here... simply beautiful!

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  22. UnknownMon Jan 02, 01:41:00 PM

    this is sooo hot Tess...
    and I think you secretly plant words in your poetry that you just want R.A.D. to say... :)

    ummm and I have my own list...

    Happy 2012

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  23. ShirleyMon Jan 02, 02:11:00 PM

    Beautiful...there is no other word suited to describe your painting and poetry. Thank you for sharing and Happy New Year to you!

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  24. Tess KincaidMon Jan 02, 02:40:00 PM

    Rene, is it obvious?

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  25. AnonymousMon Jan 02, 02:48:00 PM

    Never let me record that poem you wrote about tomatoes and potatoes Tess ...

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  26. UnknownMon Jan 02, 05:09:00 PM

    Sensual, rightly paced, erotic, staid. How did you do that?!

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  27. UnknownMon Jan 02, 05:09:00 PM

    Sensual, rightly paced, erotic, staid. How did you do that?!

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  28. JeannetteLSMon Jan 02, 05:50:00 PM

    well. I need a drink. First of all, who could resist "You Are a Scorching Salve" to begin with? And then... I need a drink.

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  29. Mimi FoxmortonMon Jan 02, 05:56:00 PM

    I just knew it was enchanted..........

    Lovely.....and lovely image as well.

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  30. BerowneMon Jan 02, 06:31:00 PM

    "I am a tall order..."
    True, and you always were, Tess. :-)
    Sincere best New Year wishes.

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  31. Glenn ButtkusMon Jan 02, 06:56:00 PM

    Hyphenated erotica as our forest
    queen turns nature inside-out,
    and we loose track of where
    the focus is going, overwhelmed
    by the sensuality and the earth
    mother caresses.

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  32. HelenMon Jan 02, 07:01:00 PM

    Your forest is a place I would love to visit ... if only for one night.

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  33. Steven CainMon Jan 02, 08:13:00 PM

    Ouch.

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  34. chiccorealMon Jan 02, 08:37:00 PM

    Dear Tess: Yes the language d'art d'Tess d'Kincaid (note the cadence and space gap of exhaled air energy; clearly sexy) yes it is, your have this voice of the poet clearly coming through with each poem. I'm loving this skill and I want to try this very abstract style too. And as always read with much finesse by the ever irrascable Ronaldo A.D. his is to die for as is yours Tess! Tres bon, et tres excellent!

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  35. dsMon Jan 02, 10:52:00 PM

    Gorgeous. I feel pulled into that forest. Wonderful poem to begin the New Year. Thank you. Happy happy 2012!

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  36. AnonymousMon Jan 02, 11:10:00 PM

    Lovely, especially close ( I thought.)

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  37. MargaretTue Jan 03, 12:11:00 AM

    ,,,pick-axe stark. Wonderful

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  38. ElizabethTue Jan 03, 12:17:00 AM

    Wowza, howza, wowza!

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  39. WanderTue Jan 03, 03:42:00 AM

    I am glad I started with your's thanks for hoasting!!!

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  40. sukipoetTue Jan 03, 08:14:00 AM

    gorgeous goregous photo. the poem too, wonderul love poem. and apropos for me at the moment as I am broken out in a rash. where is my salve???

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  41. Brian MillerTue Jan 03, 10:54:00 AM

    lip-sap applied
    to skinned knees
    and elbows, sticky


    over wild initials
    carved graffiti-soft,
    forest-deep.

    those last two stanzas are just gorgeous...love how you put word together tess....

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  42. Doctor FTSETue Jan 03, 01:08:00 PM

    The poem and the picture suit so well.

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  43. AnonymousTue Jan 03, 01:29:00 PM

    He sounds like Snape in Harry Potter movies. Love your poems.

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  44. Cobalt VioletTue Jan 03, 03:41:00 PM

    So beautiful.
    Happy New Year to you!

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  45. steveroniTue Jan 03, 07:51:00 PM

    You say poTAYto--I say poTAHto.

    I never come here without something wonderful happening, something to think about, laugh over, feel 'good' about, even now-and-then...weep.

    Tess...YOU a cool cst!

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  46. Cathy FeasterTue Jan 03, 09:27:00 PM

    tall order indeed...this was terrific

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  47. Wayne PitchkoTue Jan 03, 10:25:00 PM

    nicely done with this photo...thanks

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  48. Jeannette,Wed Jan 04, 02:26:00 AM

    metaphorically beautiful! the best!

    happy new year!

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  49. Carrie Van HornWed Jan 04, 11:28:00 AM

    Forest deep indeed...this is amazing Tess....as always! :-)

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  50. Alan BurnettThu Jan 05, 11:12:00 AM

    As beautiful as ever Tess. Let me wish you and your family a most wonderful New Year. I have no need to ask what plans you have for the next twelve months : after all this time I know they will be the same plans as I am busy hatching here. I am certainly looking forward to reading your words and following your vision.

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  51. Tess KincaidThu Jan 05, 11:42:00 AM

    Thanks, everyone, it's always a pleasure...you're the best...(!)

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  52. philThu Jan 05, 06:58:00 PM


    This could melt a guy's tongue right off a frozen pump handle.

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  53. Steve IsaakThu Jan 05, 07:41:00 PM

    Wonderful, perfectly rendered work.

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  54. Michael A. WellsFri Jan 06, 09:45:00 AM

    Very nice Tess. Such penetrating language... each syllable is shap and distinct and builds upon the he previous.

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  55. Ed & JeanneFri Jan 06, 12:15:00 PM

    A scorching salve...why do people keep calling me that? ;)

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  56. Tumblewords:Fri Jan 06, 03:51:00 PM

    Love the pen strokes in this piece.

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  57. MarySat Jan 07, 04:54:00 PM

    Nice one Tess. Happy New Year.

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  58. Ms. Geek GoddessSat Jan 07, 08:05:00 PM

    Nice! I really liked this one! Loved the reading by R.A.D.

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  59. The Carriage HouseTue Jan 10, 02:39:00 PM

    Double Haiku After Yuliy

    Leaving me behind
    in a field lit by starlight,
    you found him in lights,
    Colossus astride
    Broadway’s beckoning glitter.
    Who would dare compare?

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  60. UnknownWed Jan 11, 03:58:00 PM

    You are genius.

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  61. cyclopsevenThu Jan 12, 07:54:00 AM

    Loved the picture, drunken with the poem. Lovely.

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

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