Alabaster
I am a pink rose petal’s pale glow
black ash tamped in furrows
between the breaths of the living
& the droning of the dead
the dawn’s blush unfurling over sand dunes
& seagulls soaring on thermal spirits
of iodine salt & shellfish
& sometimes scattering in the wind
I can’t find where everything else ends & I begin
Now rising from the morning hush this cloud of me
speaks to the red tail hawk perched on a streetlamp
& tells her I’m fine because I’m still not sure
how to talk about not being fine
I am an instar trying to be
the clearest version of myself to sculpt
a final skin of lucent crystal
so that when you come to see my cinder eyes
glinting diamond dust I will be
the embered dusk bleeding into the sea
& you will know the truth of me
STEPHANIE L. HARPER
“Alabaster,” having first appeared in print in Sixfold magazine, winter 2014, is included in my new chapbook, This Being Done,
available now at Finishing Line Press until April 27, 2018, for pre-publication order. The number of orders received during this period will determine the print-run scheduled for release on June 22, 2018. I’m grateful for your timely orders to help my work take flight! RESERVE YOUR COPY HERE TODAY!
What a feast, these words in the mouth! And I so love “I can’t find where everything else ends & I begin”
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I appreciate your thoughts, Lynne. I wonder if this scattered-ness — this difficulty with differentiating (and protecting!) self from other — might describe the plight of poets, in general? I’m starting to believe that no matter how practiced I become in gathering myself into the appearance of a discrete entity, I’ll always be made of cloud-stuff.
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And star-stuff too! I experience the difficulty differentiating more as an empath than as a plight, and it’s a subject that has long fascinated me.
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💫
Yes, you catch my drift. This empath is trying to choose the experience of inhabiting self over that of plight.
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Echoing, Lynne, this one has great mouthfeel! The assonance and alliteration are to die for!
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Reblogged this on O at the Edges and commented:
This poem! Read it out loud. Feels good, doesn’t it?
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Thank you, Sir Robert, your words make me feel proud! 😊
I’m honored by the reblog, too!
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This one has stayed with me. A favorite!
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This is like a shape waiting to take shape, whatever that may be, before it’s too late.
Enjoyed.
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Thank you, Ken! Yes, it’s about a blob of vulnerability trying to learn to inhabit a form that at least has a skin, however translucent it may be. I think it captures some of the angst involved in putting my work out there in book for the first time. It’s both wonderful and freaking hard…
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Every word of this is worthy a pause … but especially “sometimes scattering in the wind / I can’t find where everything else ends & I begin” – while not exactly a happy-state description, this nevertheless energizes a yen to be so, to scatter in the wind, unsure where I might next settle. Freeing – if scattering, no WAY I’d ever have to tend to all the stuck-in-place stuff!
(Thanks for the virtual lift.)
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I agree that uncertainty can be a great defense against stagnancy — that is, if it doesn’t cause outright paralysis… Lol! Thanks, Jazz, for seeing “this cloud of me” as representative of possibility more so than limitation. I suppose the best we can truly do in this life is strive for the former. 😊💖
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Must agree with the others on the music of this one, the deft warp & weft of sibillants & plosives is very elegant.
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Thanks, Daniel. I’m pleased the sounds sing for you. 😊
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i do enjoy a musical line.
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Reblogged this on Site Title and commented:
Good
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Thanks so much for reblogging! 😊
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Ok
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Loevely poem it is… keep it up.
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Lovely poem. “Now rising from the morning hush this cloud of me . . .” But so many beautiful lines!
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Thanks so much, Elizabeth! ❤️
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I loved it…its very nice
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So kind! Thank you! 😊
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Wc…i will see your other blogs soon…it all looks interesting
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Hello here
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Hi Richard! Thanks for stopping by! I’m not used to all this attention! Lol!
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Beautiful poem!!!
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Thanks, Josiah! I’m glad it resonated for you.
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Lovely! Thanks! (One existential crisis at a time is my favorite new motto.)
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Haha! You should’ve seen the crisis that was required for me to think of it! 💖
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Yup. “How not to be depressed” was my last post. Ugly cries can make for good writing days. Congrats on your chap book!
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Thanks for your kind wishes, Jenny-Lynn. Yeah, I have to dwell in the sweet spot between total ugly-cry collapse and being “not-depressed” to accomplish anything poetic. It’s a hard place to find…
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Thank you for sharing this. Beautifully written.
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I’m glad you liked it, Emily. Thank you! 😊
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Reblogged this on Wanderlust Mind.
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Cloud of me – the in between – beautifully penned – enjoyed
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🌥️
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Beautiful poem! Shared on my Facebook (:
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Merci!
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Loved it😍❤️❤️❤️
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💖
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Nice!!! The first picture, I was mistaken to think it was some pieces of meat, LOL
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Stunning work! Shared on Go Dog Go Cafe – Pay It Forward Thursday.
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Thanks so much, Michele! Your feedback and generosity mean a lot! 😊
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Amazing, looking forward to read more of such masterpieces.
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You are so kind! Thank you!
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From “.pink.rose petals pale glow/ black ash tamped in furrows” onto
“.. cinder eyes/ “glinting diamond dust”
I was enthralled with your shine on Beauty while you tell yr tale .Thanx
g.r.
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So kind! Thank you! ❤️
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