Gratitude
is a
kind of ash
that
blows in volcano wind,
falling opal
featherscales hissed
off by firesnakes that coil
their islands in the sea,
all we have left perhaps
of rocky
miles of ore and gold
stacked heavy in earth's shadowbox
melting
in pressured flux
spit out
to lift a mountain
from the core.
~November
2012
Revisiting the sentiment for Thanksgiving 2013
55
serpent feathers for the g-man
Happy
Thanksgiving to All
Header
Image: Mayon Volcano, Philippines, by Alan Flowers, on flick'r
Shared under
a creative commons license
Footer
Image: rendering of Yaxchilan Feathered Serpent Diety, byEl Commandante
public
domain, via wikimedia commons
well then i will roll in the ash pile of my gratitude for you joy...
ReplyDeletesmiles. hey volcanos make nice islands in the very larger ocean
dense poem, in a good way---i tend to like what is left
after the world drains everything it values out of them
True--what's left is usually the prime stuff. Happy hols, bri--avoid that cranberry pudding, though.
DeleteHappy Thanksgiving, Joy!
ReplyDeleteSame to you, girl! And to Bosco the Wonder Dog.
Deleteall we have left perhaps
ReplyDeleteindeed ~
You always make me look at things differently- thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteWonderful poem. Thankful for you. Hope you had a great day. k.
ReplyDeleteBack at ya.
DeleteWonderful imagery. :-) And this perspective of gratitude sounds good.
ReplyDelete-HA
Beautiful, hedgewitch. As always, I am rapt when reading your writing. Hope your Thanksgiving has been as beautiful as your poetry.
ReplyDeleteYour writing amazes me. I never thought if it like that...hope you had a good T-day though Joy.
ReplyDeleteNatures heartburn!!
ReplyDeleteYou would have made a GREAT radio play writer with your gift of descriptive imagery.
Loved your ash spewing 55
Thanks for playing, your support is very much appreciated, and have a Kick Ass Week-End
I like this: the volcano lifting the mountain from its core. Happy belated Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteThis would have worked in the recent D'Verse Thursday challenge on conceits, where disparate elements are joined to create an oddly truthful metaphor. When you think about it (and you did), gratitude is an equalizer, a balancer, giving credit where it's due (and we hardly every are its sole source) -- lava spouts through a mountain's mouth, lifts and hurls earth, spreads it to the four corners with ash that becomes a different rising, the next mountain. One gives so another can breathe: remembering that order is how gratitude works. So is this why virgins get booted into volcanoes? - Brendan
ReplyDeleteProbably, though I doubt they are particularly grateful--though the Aztec/Mayan variety at least were too stoned to even know, I think, as a courtesy to the gods---"see here is purity, sacrifice, but we were nice to her so she doesn't come to you all scared and freaked out--just comatose! " ;_) Thanks, B. It is definitely all about what comes up and spreads from the fire of giving.
DeleteGratitude, the bounty of the intangible. Yes, it is like ash. It covers the ground and sprinkles down from the air, but you can't build with ash. And the fire mountain is not where we want to live.
ReplyDelete