false senses deny what is rightly mine

a samurai's wife is a dead creature
she's fallen on his sword, eviscerated
with her office

her geisha face wiped clean just before
the death mask is placed
carefully enough to be recognized
when
apple blossoms fall,

she is
gently carried down
poetic rivulets of blood

and the nightingale escapes
from cracked ribcages
songs women sing
in other lives

when feet were bound and mouths
were stained red with silence

this is not true today
a husband will always follow behind
her funeral procession

butterflies are free to land on any flower while poems
eulogize
they still shoot horses, don't they

in proper dancing
halls when swords are left behind
in foreign words

— Kailashana, Feb 27, 2010

About This Poem

About the Author

Critiques

Kailashana

16 years 3 months ago

Thanks for reminding me

Thanks for reminding me Annie, I always wanted to get into that series. I'll see what I can do to get the set. Muchos gracias & many hugs, ~A "If parents really would love their children there would no longer be any war." J. Krishnamurti

Seren

16 years 3 months ago

Dear Mum

You make me swoon with your art ... I miss posting but I am writing ... saw you had a new one and couldnt not comment ... do know how hard it is not to vote for you :| ?? surfice to say, me and my right hand are having a bit of a tussle over what to do lol ... I will not vote in deferance to your wishes and because I love you But simply put if its fucking good poetry it deserves the light no matter what any whingers say love and biggest hugs JayCee LOL came back and noticed starssssssssssssssssss had to leave some before I go again .... look up and the first twinkle is me

Cloudthings

16 years 3 months ago

your sentences shine brighter than any shadows & show us the cor

Beautiful Anna... no stars are needed in this world of black dots & lines, your sentences shine brighter than any shadows can taint, & show us the corners of our souls in gentle muted tones that we can finally breathe in truths too frightening to face (we think)... But a good heart can wipe away the illusion that fear is, & the barbed wire that is brutality so that what we are left with is compassion. You made me weep with this amazing poem Anna, stripped me to truth & bones, with the majesty of a symphony with subtle pause, gentle fluttered trills & deep cellist crescendo's. The lines that stabbed me in poignant perfection... she is gently carried down poetic rivulets of blood and the nightingale escapes from cracked ribcages songs women sing in other lives For different reasons I have lived these lines, from both sides & you freed them with such incredible grace Anna... you are a master of poetry... & your comment post poem is a mark of your wisdom, of course I knew this, but there is is. As far as I am concerned, Spotlight should serve to predominantly show example of exceptional poems, effort etc. Encouragement is good, but can be done in comment form... This poem should be widely viewed in my opinion so I am voting despite your comment. With much love & admiration Anni~ xxx "Three passions have governed my life: The longings for love, the search for knowledge, And unbearable pity for the suffering of [humankind]." Bertrand Russell

Orphani

16 years 3 months ago

because you are love you are

Because you are love you are here, because we love your words we are here together. Another brilliant write of things dying, and things reborn. With all love for you, and your amasing talent. Barry ,,,o,, & ~A

RobertKnott

16 years 3 months ago

Ah...

my friend; didn't you know? Whether or not your poems are spotlight considerations or stars is out of your hands... If they are they are. Ask not, fear not, nor dim what you cannot. When something shines it simply does. Enjoy its time

judyanne

16 years 3 months ago

I’m always lost for words

I'm always lost for words when I read your work. I read it all, but rarely comment because I can never think of anything to say that is worthy. Ditto for this one. Judy

Kailashana

16 years 3 months ago

Thank you all for reading.

Thank you all for reading. There was a time when women bound their feet, in order too look daintier, women walked behind their menfolk, in deference to. One of my own favourite poems: The Illuminati Kidnap the Blindfolded Virgin (Virgo): Blind earth holds the gilded Libran scales of poetic justice a feather tips the balance the Arc of the Covenant has been desecrated The Four Horsemen ride backwards on fleeting nightmares of destruction, it is the eve of the Apocalypse Now, pale ghost riders of a burning sky live in the House of Usher willful deceivers enact the rage of God even though ten thousand stories speak truer words angels bear witness to the Light: bare-fisted and blue-blooded mankind flicker and die out like a prayer-lit candle, an eventual horizon awakens in the Mayan Sun begets the first day under a crusading moon, The Blindfolded Virgin is kidnapped by the Illuminati, held without trial, she is locked in the prison of an unsurrendered heart. ...and so it goes. ~A "If parents really would love their children there would no longer be any war." J. Krishnamurti

arja

16 years 3 months ago

>>>APPLAUSE< …love the

>>>APPLAUSE<<< ...love the read! ..i love the imagery of the samurai and his geisha..with the dramatic scenery.. :)