on hearing the news
Poetry — By Kirsten Penner Krymusa on February 22, 2010 at 12:00 pmbrenda is dying
janey is throwing tantrums
laura is barren and molly peed her pants
and angela is lonelyandjakeishungryandhaiti
isdrowningandbutterfliesaredancingand
i
can’t
breathe.
crying is redundant
complaining is indulgent
so i stare at the embers of campfires
and ignorance
longing for a moment
infused with
nothing
no choices
or voices
of angels with tangerine wings
fluttering down the hill
leaving me flailing between despair and delight
all those giggles and scrapes
in the face of all that
darkness
starkness
certainties smashed
too many cracks for light to seep through
but hope is a nightlight in the hall
a whisper that won’t be ignored
permission to strap on wiry angel wings
and
breathe.
6 Comments
I love the line “but hope is a nightlight in the hall”
i
can’t
breathe.
really evocative. i felt i couldn’t breathe either.
Beautiful rhythm.
Kirsten,
I really liked how the tempo in the beginning was building faster and faster to the point of explosion. And then the line which struck ME was “crying is redundant”. I loved it!! Keep writing.
I love how you play with spacing, and that your line breaks are purposeful and that there aren’t many enjambments. ‘Tangerine wings’ is a wonderful, wonderful phrase that I will be saying out loud all day. This poem is good. Damn good.
I don’t know how I missed this when it came out. This is gorgeous.