05 June 2010

Magpie Tales #17...Angel at Heart


she is what
a frozen desert cannot weather
no icy winds can touch her
no whipping sand can smooth her
even years buried cannot mark her
time slips between stone and metal
and even birds avoid her
her lifeless eyes open wide in surprise
mouth agape to catch the ashes of a cigarette
when men lent to light it and stayed
watching her, expecting something
but what, from a cold bust?
something more than shock,
recognition...and a blink
to moisten dead eyes that can see now
I see it now why she looks the way she does
ecstatic and afraid, on the verge of flight and staying put
to see far beyond her gaze, to see the End
she sees it, and she fears it, but she wants it
to be no longer an immovable immortal...statue
but to be
an angel
at last

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

"on the verge of flight and staying put" like it and the want of something angelic.....very nice..bkm

Helen said...

A universal yearning? Good Magpie!

susan m hinckley said...

For some reason I loved the line "and even birds avoid her . . ." Very cool magpie.

Annie Jeffries said...

Beautiful. I hope soon someone hears a bell ringing and knows that she has been reborn - now an angel.

Katherine said...

And an angel she should be!
A great magpie Aoife ... so much can be taken from her expression & it seems that you have captured it all right here... great stuff!

JeffScape said...

You'll have to forgive my predisposition for Greek Myth, but I imagined Medusa when I was reading this...

Made it especially poignant.

Gabriela Abalo said...

... an angel at last!

I love it!

loveNlight
Gabi

Shari said...

I love this. I stopped short at the cigarette line. Did you know she was supposed to be a lighter before Willow explained? Doesn't matter. Good job. I went back to read it several times.

Unknown said...

"even birds avoid her ....." very heavy ....

Kathe W. said...

wow-great Magpie.

Tumblewords: said...

Powerful.

Tess Kincaid said...

I love the notion of her longing to be an angel. Beautiful.

Brian Miller said...

free at last of that which turned her to stone...nice magpie!

spacedlaw said...

Excellent.

CHummelKornell said...

Love it. I'm a big fan of Daphne du Maurier and you have created a feeling of her dark imagery for me. Well done.

Anonymous said...

Any words I would add would seem only to disturb the sacredness I've read here..so I'll just whisper.."this is beauty not seen but heard"

Vicki Lane said...

'Time slips between stone and metal' is a magical line -- as is the whole poem!

steviewren said...

You've expressed some deep thoughts in this piece and given us something to think about.

Helena said...

'mouth agape to catch the ashes of a cigarette when men lent to light it'

What brilliant words.

chiccoreal said...

Dear Aoife.Troxel: Love the line; "ecstatic and afraid, on the verge of flight and staying put". There is this wonderful dictomy in this poem; "Angel at Heart" which is mezmerizing. Very sensitive observations found in deep channel finding the heart of the poet who is unquestionably an angel too! (takes one to know one). Most Excellent as ever!

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

magical ending,
magnificent words.

~T~ said...

Very expressive--lovely wish for a stone!

Suz said...

this one I read 3 times..savoring
I liked it so much
well done