The Memory Of Ice

Inspired by Robert Macfarlane’s Word Of The Day tweets – Thrift (9Sep2019) + Roches Moutonnée (12Sep2019)

The roches moutonnée of her body
carry the scars and wounds
love etched across her curves
year after year
a living tattoo endlessly redrawn -
ink stained skin
blood soiled flesh
pain chiseled bone
charcoal burnt heart
belly drawn in fear
dead air sub-scribed into lung’s expanse..

Love, pushes and pulls continuously -
frail sediment forced to callous rock
stretching emotion toward eternity
patience pounded into pebbles
stray pieces to trip and falter.

Stoss remembers climbing
feet slipping over loose fragments
eyes searching desperately
for a summit in the ever-changing horizon.

Lee recalls treacherous falls from high places
the tumbling and stumbling of wingless flight
as love threw her blind
into the downpour of electric lust
desire scrambling for air
as the ground slipped away beneath..

A woodland of steady shadows
provides some shelter -
a darkness she can cling to
something to lean on momentarily.
Cool oasis where the charmed wagtail
flutters, whistling an enchanted tune -
beguiling guide. She follows his trail
faithfully into the open meadow
where, exposed to sun’s harsh glare,
her will melts into fragility.
Sleep sirens sing haunting lullabies
tender temptations to tarry awhile
but she must push on and on and on
down a nasal cliff
up to a sting of lashes.

Rock face holds the secrets
of deep embodied senses
places of insight second to none
of famished taste buds, bittersweet
nostalgia’s aroma on feedback loop
the memory of ice
and silence
falling
clumsily
amidst the buzz and hum
drifting across thrift
sinking into salt-water
those tangy edges
where luna rules all
and the body yields
undone.

In these places
her heart calls out
through calciferous layers
multitudinous epochs,
aches for kind containment
sings aloud a song of sorrow
for what was once and now no more can be.
She remembers rivers that once flowed freely -
a course of cool passion through gushing veins,
streams that fed her unquenchable thirst
quelling each florid flame, just enough,
joyful waterfalls cascading eminence
luminous drops of contented desire
endless ripples proclaiming an innocence
skimming the surface in unfettered delight.

But these are dreams that can no longer be
for love will not let her rest casually.

A Farewell To Arms

Spinning around the liminal spaces
pushed towards an edge
she finds herself outside herself

watching
listening intently
as her lips - her own lips transferred onto this other -
open
in slow
distorted
motion -

See
you
soon

The words tumble out precariously
as the world holds collective breath ..

And it feels as though these words
might never before have been uttered 
never before in this world ..

A silver-spangled brand-new phrase -
this collection of letters and sounds
flown in by cosmic forces
at this precise moment
to be extracted for the very first time
from human lung and throat
uttered for the very first time
by human mouth
this delicate triptych, for the very first time 
is heard by human ear
laid gently, insistently, for the very first time
upon human mind and heart

The tone sounds familiar and nostalgic
recollections spin like dancing plates
hurled at break-neck speed
down the staircase, across the hall

But each word is a novel occurrence
tied together with silver string
gilded with stardust
as though they alighted here from some distant galaxy
sending soothing signals
out into the great unknown

An utterance of such simultaneous profundity
sits alongside an air of nonchalance
perfectly juxtaposed for higher definition audio

Three words

They fall upon us both
shroud my mouth
cloak your ears
in hopeful, strange delight
sprinkled with a smatter of tense anticipation

You drink in the surprising nectar
swill each syllable inside your heart
before cautiously allowing the echo
reverberating inside your chest
to spin upwards to your throat
as your mouth on autopilot
repeats
the same
three
words

See
you
soon

A slow
drawn out
poignant yet forgettable disengagement
of bodies first
then arms, wrists,
hands, until finally
just two fingers remain intact
clutching tightly

ramparts guarding resolutely against the passing of time

But time will not be stopped

Let go Let go

Just for now
until we meet again..