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Cleveland

I can't sleep when the moon
is ripe with indecision
but it's Spring in my city
glorious
insatiable Spring
glaring at me
with moonglow and
strange persimmon eyes
charming me into
submission
as if an act of contrition
for the dead of winter
when my city and I
lie buried

and I
like a penitent novice
promise to leave
before
the last trembling
Sycamore leaf
falls
shriveled and sorrowful

and I
like a whore
persistent and patient
needing a
sheltering embrace
in anonymous arms
am bittersweet with
signs and barricades
sifted measures
rocks and stars
early morning dew

Cleveland,
you'll  be
the death of me,
I know nowhere else
to go
to fall in love
again
to rise above
your consuming temptation,
blazing,
inspired
exotic,
utterly crushed.








— Kailashana, May 08, 2009

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Critiques

B

barbsdad2003

17 years 1 month ago

I love ...

the way this runs, the choice(s) of words, its conciseness, its nonmention of LeBron James, its appreciation of the wonderful, its frustration with the intolerable ... Need I go on? Prob'ly should. On my other hand ... You do inspire me. And if I haven't said that recently, I should have. Thanx, Chuck
Kailashana

Kailashana

17 years 1 month ago

Ahhh. To inspire…. that

Ahhh. To inspire.... that is enough.... Thank you. Much love Barb's dad. Still adore you for saying that. Not many men are so beautiful. ~A "The way you make love is the way God will be with you." Rumi
Seren

Seren

17 years 1 month ago

Loved this !

A beautiful write well done .. and I agree with chuck couldnt have said it any better ... Love And light JayC
Kailashana

Kailashana

17 years 1 month ago

Hi Rick, love your woofie.

Hi Rick, love your woofie. My closest friend of many years had nothing but Boston Bulls Terriers. I've had several different breeds, my Italian Greyhound, Miles died on 11/11 at 11 am; he was 11 years old. Eleven has always been an important number... as well as 22, (my birthdate)... I digress, thank you... and thank God that we're not replicas of one another. How boring would that be? lol. ~A Summer's hot in Ohio... I need fans. ;-) "The way you make love is the way God will be with you." Rumi
Kailashana

Kailashana

17 years 1 month ago

There’s a lot one can do

There's a lot one can do with a love-hate relationship, eh? Most of it hurts like hell. Or blisses one out. Much love beki, Anna "The way you make love is the way God will be with you." Rumi
themoonman

themoonman

17 years 1 month ago

Anna...

I truly believe you to be one of the best writers I've ever had the pleasure to read... and it is always with that in mind that I respond/comment on your writes. I find it such a grand experience to be able to get close enough to talk to... rub elbows... wiggle words... with you... and I see I'm not the only one! to the moon and back Richard
Kailashana

Kailashana

17 years 1 month ago

Moonman, I would blush if I

Moonman, I would blush if I were capable of blushing. I leave the moon to do that for me. ;-) Love you. ~A "The way you make love is the way God will be with you." Rumi
Kailashana

Kailashana

17 years 1 month ago

Hehehehe. I’ve never been

Hehehehe. I've never been accused of subtlety. I am a witch you know. ;-) ~A "The way you make love is the way God will be with you." Rumi
CN

Craig Norris

17 years 1 month ago

Excellent stuff Kailashana

I have one thought though, in the first and second stanzas when talking of winter it might possibly run better to put those references into the past tense. i.e. when my city and I lay buried promised to leave... fell shrivelled and sorrowful. Craig
Kailashana

Kailashana

17 years 1 month ago

Thanks for reading and

Thanks for reading and commenting Craig. Yes perhaps it might work better if one were going for sheer linguistics. However, my poems come out as they come... In this case, winter is ever with me... in me.... and so never *past*. Much love, Anna "The way you make love is the way God will be with you." Rumi
Nordic cloud

Nordic cloud

17 years 1 month ago

Home is best?

This may not be appropriate here as its not a place you talk of falling in love with but it maybe applies too? Those who seek fame and profit Little know the peace of the hills. Morning and evening the clear air blows Between heaven and earth my life exists, My lungs expand, my body functions at ease. If I think of other places nowhere attracts, If I think of this place nowhere distracts,            The moon waxes full            The pure winds blow. Kenzan and his tradition. Bernard Leach. "A Potter's Book" Yours from Ann of Norway
Kailashana

Kailashana

17 years 1 month ago

Than you my Ann of Norway,

Than you my Ann of Norway, you have no idea how much your Kenzan?Leach poem means this moment. I am earth-weary a simple vessel I break easily shattered, in lonely desolation between heaven and earth, homeless I yearn to fly with the raw, naked wind, just North of Eden blowing, lifting me above the valley higher and higher wild, wild child of the sky, homeless and scattered shards, broken vessel, am I Bless you. ~A "The way you make love is the way God will be with you." Rumi
Nordic cloud

Nordic cloud

17 years 1 month ago

An Autumn leaf in Spring

If I brought forth this comment, then I have unlocked a special moment in your thoughts that I am glad we could share, here. You are as light as an Autumn leaf in the Spring flying high into the sky, renewed with energy enough to take a second look before descending again to earth and its everydayness. You are a poem Anna yours Ann of Norway
Nordic cloud

Nordic cloud

17 years ago

I shall add this too:-

The jade pipe blows, piercing the pheonix tower; The old palace deep in quiet, the day does not yet dawn Fallen flowers filling the earth, Spring already gone, Green shade vainly occupies the same old moss. By Hsü-t'ang Chih-yü from a comprehensive collection of "The String of Pearls of Ancient Zen case in verse". "Underfundig stemning med disse ord synes jeg."(N) A strangely wonderful atmosphere is achieved with these words I feel and I don't quite know why. I hope Longo will forgive me for quoting him here when he answered my question about "The Book of Tea" by Okakuro Kakutzo, the Japanese writer in USA, his language had the same strange effect, partly due to the words but also to something else????? Do you have any ideas Anna I think you might!? "It is in the "magical realism" of  personification and the hint of some sort of incantation or liturgical power of words and repetition using expressions of a past culture and language: example "fain".   It is a bit surrealistic, like  Alice in Wonderland where things and objects take on a new meaning in a world of fantasy. It works !! " Joseph Bernard John  Longo-Geremia. Takk. Yours again Ann of Norway Its the vessel that gives shape to the water...................Esha Yoshi (Indian)
M

meic

17 years 1 month ago

I don’t know Cleveland,

I don't know Cleveland, though I do know it has at least one irresistible attraction. Some places are like that - they become enmeshed in episodes, incidences in your like and assume a mantle of adopted emotion. It's so much easier when your environs behave themselves and stay as inactive backgrounds ... ... though I doubt you'd let 'em. Marvellous words. Mike "not all matterings of mind equal one violet" ~ e e cummings ~
Cloudthings

Cloudthings

17 years ago

This is exquisite Anna, I

This is exquisite Anna, I was certain I had left comment previously, but can't find trace of it. So here is the short version, it has been said so well here anyway. Wonderful feeling here xxx~ Anni ~~~ "Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving". ~Kahlil Gibran
HD

Heather Dawn

17 years ago

hello

I really enjoy this poem. Thank you for sharing, also.