a D-poem for Lian Canty’s Alphabet Menagerie
I dare you on an early springtime morn
to ask the daffodil what it remembers
of December. Ask the dragonfly
what it was like to live before the age
of dinosaurs. Go ask the dandelion
how it feels to be despised, and what
it’s like to lose your seeds like wishes—every
single one. Then ask the deer about
the reasons it wore spots when it was young.
The dogwood, ask its blossoms about frost.
The donut, ask it what it knows of holes.
The drum, invite it in for tea to tell
you of the skin it wears and other lives
it’s breathed. Then ask the duck if it recalls
the time the young swan came to live amongst
the ducklings. There is always something more
to every story than we see, yes, something
more than this and that, a hidden door
through which truths pass as silently as lies—
though sometimes truths bounce back like echoes. Ask
the dolphins how that works, how if you sing
the world sings back to you. I dare you, sing
your questions to the world. Perhaps you’ll hear
whatever answers you had wanted, but
more likely you’ll hear answers that will make
your heart break open wider than before—
those are the answers I am hoping for.
beautiful!
Thank you! It¹s part of a longer work (26 poems for 26 letters) that I am doing based on illustrations by Lian Canty it¹s been so much fun to see where the illustrations lead me always a surprise!
From: “comment-reply@wordpress.com” Reply-To: Date: Friday, August 15, 2014 at 9:24 AM To: Rosemerry Trommer Subject: [A Hundred Falling Veils] Comment: “Truth and Dare”
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Daring and devious, in the decision to delve into the disguised stories of these delicate ones. My favorite:
Go ask the dandelion
how it feels to be despised, and what
it’s like to lose your seeds like wishes
My favorite too.