Undone
Today I climb with crows,
their silhouettes flickering
in sunlight like16mm movies.
I rise to where gypsy clocks
reign – where regret’s stitched
coffin rests, to when we parted;
when love, pain, and evil danced —
to your lithe, lifeless form, now mist
glissades as you kiss the rocks;
your right broken femur a macabre
shillelagh my weariness rests upon
as I walk these undone trails.
Shay is the host of Shay’s Word Garden Word List. Shay says:
Today our list is taken from the poems of Joan Colby, and specifically from her collection Joyriding to Nightfall.
What we do here is simple: use at least 3 of the 20 words on the list in a poem of any length or style. Then link up and visit others. The prompt stays “live” through Friday.
anesthetized
breakfast
casseroles
climb
clocks
coffin
deaf
feral
glissade
gypsy
jeans
kissed
radio
ribbon
scorn
skull
shillelagh
starlings
stitched
tempted
Tao Talk 
Ruh roh. Someone fall off a cliff or were they pushed perhaps? he was her man but he done her wrong. Thanks so much for supporting my word list!
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I wanted something that captured the play between good and evil, and love is just a willing participant in poetry about them. My pleasure on the word lists. They are wonderful jumping off platforms.
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Regret could be in a coffin but it somehow has many lives
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Well-said, Larry. Unfortunately too true.
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Yup – I found regret coming back from the dead in my poem too
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“Today I climb with crows” and “I rise to where gypsy clocks reign” – awesome!
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Q, you being pleased makes me happy. Thank you.
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Crows are always in the middle of every transition. (K)
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I haven’t used crows much in my writing and not for any particular reason. Maybe it’s time for some transition. I used a crow here because I saw starling and decided to upgrade 🙂
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Starlings have their own charms.
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Kerfe, I think of you as the patron saint of birds in art.
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I don’t mind that assignment.
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❤
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I barely managed to use three of Shay’s words kudos to you for using eight! Joan’s book cover reflects a spooky kind good/evil and ‘regret’s stitched coffins’ speak volumes.
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Helen, I am loving the word lists. They make it easy to season the imagination. I loved yours too about Prairie Home Companion and Sunday breakfast, yum!
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Hey Li, this is brilliant! ❤ you have such a talent for writing great poems! Well done!
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Carol anne, the word list sure helps season them. Thank you 🙂
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You’re very welcome Lisa 🥰🥰
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Great last line. 🙂
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Thank you very much.
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What a evocative poem Li.
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Thank you 🙂
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My pleasure
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This is really excellent. I agonized over using shillelagh, and ended up not, but you have turned it into the perfect weapon of words here, and good, love/evol, all get their shot, perhaps literally, in this atmospheric piece. I especially like those first three perfect lines that lead us into the maze.
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Joy, thank you! I only used it when I looked up what it was and the pictures looked like broken femurs! Very happy you are pleased by the poem and always appreciate your feedback.
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“Regret’s stitched coffin”….one of many glorious lines Lisa! I truly love this poem. It is one of my favorites of yours!
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Carrie, I appreciate your reaction and glad it clicked with you. Thank you 🙂
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“Today I climb with crows”, “I rise to where gypsy clocks / reign – where regret’s stitched / coffin rests, to when we parted;” – so many awesome lines here.
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Thank you very much, glad you connected with it.
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“Where regret’s stitched coffin rests” is such a great line. A wonderful use of the words you selected.
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Sherry, thank you very much.
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this felt like a conversation of sorts, between the soul and body, as the soul was leaving, kind of a farewell to pain, and to anything and everything that plagues the body. a dark poem. very well written, enjoyed the read
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I appreciate your sharing what you see in this one. It gives me pause for thought. Thank you, Phillip.
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