Wednesday 21 April 2010

Dealing With The Past

I was just going through things on another of my blogs when I found this - and searching through past posts I found I had never posted it here before, so . . .


*

Tentatively

I scrape away at the surface.

Little by little the top layer is removed

exposing the rich, brown soil.

Hidden from the light, it has been concealed,

moist, damp, dark and fertile.



I make a hollow

and feel the crumbly earth

packed under my fingernails,

as I start to dig.



Bare hands

excavating,

deeper, deeper

as a hole is pulled

from inside myself

and transplanted in the ground

beneath my dirty hands.



This deep dark cavern is potent,

receptive and waiting

as I drop my past into the bottom,

and feel it spread and ooze

down into the expectant earth.



From deep within me

I release my unspent tears,

they surge upward, irrigating me

loosening the tiny rocks

and pebbles

of hurt



Gushing out and into the hole,

shiny and wet against the black earth.

Washed clean



I feel bubbles of joy rising from my core,

I drop to my knees as I begin to smile

and then with my body shaking

I laugh into that deep dark hole.



From out of my mouth

like shining stars,

seeds S C A T T E R

on the newly fertilised soil

and begin to germinate as soon

as they touch the ground.



The joy thunders through my body

as I gently cup the mounded soil

and begin to fill the hole.


*


- Susannah Bec 2010

12 comments:

Suz said...

I know this intense emotion
and you have written a wonderful powerful poem here...getting it just right
so descriptive
lasting images
lingering message

Susannah said...

Thanks Suz, I really appreciate your comment. x

Anonymous said...

Hello, I'm new to blogging so I've no intent to offend, is it polite to ask?...what is being planted? What are the seeds going to grow?

I think I understand the image of cleansing the soul of sorrow but if we plant the sorrow and water with our tears, what grows?

Susannah said...

Hi Onion - The ground is fertilised with the tears and sorrow, not planted. Shit, blood, bone, tears and sorrow are all fertilisers - all will feed the earth and make it rich so that whatever we plant in it will grow. Seeds = potential, new life, joy. Thanks for your comment :-)

Sam said...

This poem really drew me in from the very beginning. I feel like the imagery really makes it stick out in my mind and makes it resonate. I can tell I'm going to remember it way after reading it.




http://samsmanifestos.blogspot.com/

Susannah said...

Thanks Sam. :-)

Eqlektik said...

Palpable emotions and awesome metaphors.....The imagery was absolutely spot on. I felt each and every syllable.

Susannah said...

Hello Eglectic, so glad you felt it. :-) Thanks for the comment, much appreciated.

Paul Andrew Russell said...

This is a very intense piece of writing, Susannah. I liked it very much. The imagery is wonderful.

Susannah said...

Hi Paul, I am glad you have found your way here, I hope you will visit again. :-)

Thanks very much for your comment, it is appreciated.

Nithin RS said...

Impressive.You simply excavated the past with amazing imagination.

Susannah said...

Thanks Nithin, your comment is appreciated. :-)

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