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Friday 8 July 2011

Twigbones


Brambles coiled and knotted
carpets threadbare rucked
and dangerous on paths
between smooth limbless trees,
tall, rhythmically spaced
and bathed in greenish light -

Until the eye is drawn
towards a skeletal
construction stripped of flesh,
of walls my mind provides
for it. Rough limbs embrace
a scene, arch over it,

both shield and cradle it
(in gesture only now),
direct my eyes and feet
towards it, and by those
same gestures, point my eyes
towards the floor. Dust lies

like snow and in the dust
are laid to rest remains.
Twigbones, my name for them.
What tragedy was here?
They look like bones - reason
has them twigs and branches

of the guardian trees.
They lie remembering
the form they had when sealed
in flesh, set one to each
as they were then, outlines
of a Dream Time's creatures.

14 comments:

Shadow said...

twigbones... not only do you make me aware of things so easily missed, you also describe them so well, the name is quite perfect!

Isabel Doyle said...

I can hear you stepping tentatively through that wood/cemetary
beautiful poem

Rachel Green said...

Fabulous description, Dave. I read recently a rand against the use of 'bones' in poetry, but you do it so well here.

Brian Miller said...

nice...agree with shadow...we pass these often without a thought of whence they came...

Carl said...

Twig bones. the guardians of trees I love it. we all need to spend more time being bathed in the greenish light of the woods. it does wonders for the mind and soul.

CiCi said...

Twigbones. At first I thought of Twiggy the oh too thin model. But now I feel sorry for what is left of branches. I will never look at twigs the same again. At least twigs are useful to start a campfire, for roasting hot dogs, to write in the sand, to use as stakes to hold up my tomato plants.

Hannah Stephenson said...

My favorite lines of this one: "They lie remembering
the form they had when sealed
in flesh, set one to each
as they were then..."

Not a lament, exactly...a meditation. Beautiful.

jabblog said...

I shall never see twigs again without thinking of them as 'twigbones'. We have many green arched tracks to walk through and it's always pure joy.

Jinksy said...

Your Twigbones have a real, archeological feel - clever you for spotting them.

Rachna Chhabria said...

You have such a wonderful eye for detail, Dave. I just loved this poem. Its full of vivid details. I can visualize the twigs spread on the ground.

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

The form they had ...when sealed in flesh! How true, how close I feel to this.
My memory doesn't work well in this period of time but I am sure I wrote something that could really "converse" with this. Now I try to think about it quietly and if I find it I'll put it immediately in the blog.
And I loved Van Gogh's poem, Van Gogh... a source of neverending blazing inspiration!

Windsmoke. said...

I like the flesh being substituted for bark as they both serve the same purpose :-).

Anonymous said...

I found this a very spirited post with all kidding aside. The sounds of cracking sticks and rustling leaves are sounds that frames terror.

Dave King said...

Shadow
Thanks for that really encouraging response. Appreciated.

Isabel
You are spot on - that is exactly how I went!

Leatherdykeuk
Interesting - Is it generally available?

Brian
Me culpa also.

Carl
I sure agree with that last bit!

TechnoBabe
I find twigs eternally fascinating. Not sure why, but it goes back a long way. (But then everything to do with trees holds the same fascination for me!)

Hannah
Wonderful! They were the lines that most satisfied me, too. Thanks for saying.

jabblog
Unfortunately, I couldn't get far enough from them to clearly show the animal-like forms they were making on the ground. Fascinating - and not a little eerie!

Jinksy
Thanks for that Jinksy. They did have a real archeological feel. Like I'd stumbled on a dig.

Rachna
Hi. Welcome indeed. Many thanks for leaving a comment - and for the nice compliment.

Tommaso
Muh appreciate the thoughts behind both comments. I totally agree with the van Gogh remarks.

Windsmoke
Yes, indeed. A useful comment.l Thanks.

Honest Abe
A warm welcome to you and my thanks for your visit and comments. Such feed back is always valuable.