Thursday, April 9, 2015

PO-EMotion -- Courage




SENECA ROCKS, WV

It's not enough
just to crawl to the top
plastering yourself to the rocks
in a smear of gravity.

Once you get there
you have to stand up
on your own two perilously unstable feet --
valiant and vertical.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015









Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.


Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month. 


Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!


Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems 
in the comments at Poetrepository.


Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.


Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.


Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.


Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge. 
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible. 


8 comments:

  1. You are so brave. "valiant and vertical" Just wow. I feel wobbly reading these words, and yet...inspired. Thank you, ML! xo

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  2. I agree with Amy, "valiant and vertical", and "smear of gravity" was very cool!

    I started several drafts last night, but I was most pulled by this one that explores the edge between cowardice and courage in relationships with those we love.


    On the Road

    They sit in the dark;
    headlights peel back the night.

    Behind, darkness swallows
    the speeding road.

    Dashboard lights reflect
    off the rims of her glasses,

    but do not deflect the pain,
    the thick silence. All this

    to say; those hurts;
    that trust. Who

    will have the courage to
    bring these to light? To say

    I am sorry for how this
    has all turned out.

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    Replies
    1. Like Mary Lee, I sit here, inventing this story, imagining those who are living it, traveling back to times when I have been in this position…

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  3. Wow. This has me inventing the rest of the story...but mostly, I am there in the car with them...

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  4. Both stanza end lines are amazing, Mary Lee! Are you planning to post the Progressive Poem here today too? (Just panicking a little since I'm up next!)

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    Replies
    1. Yes, Michelle. My post and line are nearly ready. Dang day job...give me a few minutes and I'll have it up! No need to panic -- I'm not going to do anything weird. :-)

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  5. This is a GREAT one, ML, and of course that's you up there in your helmet, right? What year?

    Because it's so great, may I suggest an edit? S1 L3 "plastering yourself to the rock"?
    Then the plastering and smearing are clearly the journey to uprightness. Also S2 L3 maybe perilously and unstable both are too much?

    You are blowing my mind with your consistency here!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the suggestions! I'll take the S1 L3, but unless you've stood upright at the summit of Seneca Rocks, you can't know how much both perilously AND unstable need to be there!

      Yes, that's me, in a different lifetime in the mid-1980s!

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