BlueIris
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Thu Jun-26-08 03:38 PM
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The BlueIris Semi-Nightly Poetry Break, 6/26/08 |
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"The Goddess of Quotas Laments"
George Wallace is dead. Few recant as he did, dropping Skeins & masks, but I still see The army of dragon's teeth
He planted like Cadmus of Tyre. Fists of oak clutch barbed wire. How many replicas of him relume, Wheedling east & west, here
To Kingdom Come, in vernal Valleys and on igneous hillocks That overlook god knows where? I wish I knew why hatemongers
Drift to the most gorgeous Spots on earth. I have watched Choke vines & sunlight in cahoots, Edging toward a corned begonia.
—Yusef Komunyakka
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Westegg
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Thu Jun-26-08 03:58 PM
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1. Wow. This is powerful and wonderful. |
BlueIris
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Thu Jun-26-08 05:00 PM
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2. Westegg! How I have missed you. |
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Yes, I thought this one was quite good.
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Westegg
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Thu Jun-26-08 06:17 PM
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5. I was in Napa Valley for a week... |
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...watching the fires burn and not drinking wine.
Actually, that's a good opening for a poem, isn't it?
I was in the Napa Valley last week Watching the fires burn the hillside and not drinking wine. A wedding I couldn't get out of. Not my own. I couldn't get out of that one either.
When you get to the hotels in Napa Valley they tell you there's a wine tasting In fifteen minutes. They don't mention the fires.
I wanted to taste the wine, but I couldn't. A bet I made with myself: If you drink wine, you lose. This is a sure bet. I have lost it before.
It was a wedding in wine country. Wine was everywhere. Vines were crawling through the windows of the hotel. I don't blame the grapes. They had no idea of their ultimate fate.
The fires started on the hill across from the vineyard during the ceremony.
My gaze shifted from the bride and groom to the plumes of smoke throughout the words of commitment. I sought some symbolism, but there wasn't any. Here, two people are wed; there, a hill is on fire. The flames were at least 20 miles way. Nothing in my world is ever threatened by real flame. I have always created my own fire A wet,angry fire fuled by wine.
I watched the nuptials the way I watched the flames consume those hills. I didn't care about any of it. I had my reasons. There was a time when I would have drunk all the wine, And I would have cared so much About the fire and the death and the hope.
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BlueIris
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Thu Jun-26-08 09:46 PM
Response to Reply #5 |
6. "I don't blame the grapes." |
CaliforniaPeggy
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Thu Jun-26-08 05:06 PM
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Oh, this is lovely!
Great imagery...
I like it!
Thank you...
:hug:
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BlueIris
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Thu Jun-26-08 05:57 PM
Response to Reply #3 |
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Yes, this is one of Mr. Komunyakaa's best.
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Thu May 02nd 2024, 07:15 PM
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