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    Parker Owens
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Disasters, Delights and Other Detours - 26. Burial and Kisses Three

The first has an unusual kind of form. The second is a set in the 'skyscraper' form, written for a very dear friend.

Burial

 

That same blue tie

has seen a somber day or two

when ashes lie

upon an earthen bed, astrew,

where late the blue eyed grasses grew.

 

I wore it new

in bleak December, cold and grey,

as snowflakes flew

and cousins hastened on their way

a hollow eyed farewell to say.

 

But yesterday

the sun shone fair blue silk to greet,

in brief delay

to turn each face to skies so sweet,

as if dull sadness to defeat.

 

The heav’ns conceit

could not with all our sorrows vie;

earth’s incomplete

without your voice or humored eye

remarking on my old blue tie.

 

 

Kisses Three

 

Greeting

 

At the door,

hurried words of greeting;

within, all senses taut, all things new:

muted colors, rich spices, exotic artwork,

and your voice, inviting, suggesting,

caressing as hands might;

or your lips.


 

Exaltation

 

That one kiss

upon my shoulder blade -

one of so many left on my skin

that no part of me can hide from your memory -

your sweet lips brushing on my flesh marked

me deeply, completely,

as your love.


 

Parting

 

Embrace me

once again before I leave,

careless of the travel which awaits,

let me remember the incandescent hours spent

in conversation with your body

by the taste which lingers

from your kiss.

I am invariably grateful for your comments and thoughts. Thank you for reading these.
Copyright © 2017 Parker Owens; All Rights Reserved.
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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  • Site Administrator

Lovely as always, Parker.  :hug: The melancholy of the first one is clear.  I love how you wove the color blue throughout and the reference to the tie.  It reminds me of when my grandfather passed and I went shopping with my mom and grandma for a red cardigan sweater for him to be buried in.  He wore one frequently and his must have been given away when his clothing no longer fit.  

 

The second one is quite passionate, written with your usual flair.  Welcome back :hug:  

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2 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

Lovely as always, Parker.  :hug: The melancholy of the first one is clear.  I love how you wove the color blue throughout and the reference to the tie.  It reminds me of when my grandfather passed and I went shopping with my mom and grandma for a red cardigan sweater for him to be buried in.  He wore one frequently and his must have been given away when his clothing no longer fit.  

 

The second one is quite passionate, written with your usual flair.  Welcome back :hug:  

 

You are so nice to respond to these, and so kindly, too. I hope the first one, a not-really-rubayat, didn’t rub you the wrong way with its form. In such a setting as this, it’s the detail that can frame the whole, as with the cardigan you mentioned. The second set was a different kind of thing altogether. Thank you for reading them. 

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1 hour ago, Headstall said:

I related to both of these, in stark ways. One so sad... yet bittersweet when we can finally look back and smile. And the other, a memory that could have been my own. I know so well the greetings, the exaltation, and the parting. This too, colored me bittersweet as I look back. As always, superbly done, Parker... cheers... Gary....

 

I am glad you found the sweet to go with  the melancholy here, Gary. Both are present, yet I would not visit you with any pain. For that, I am sorry. I am grateful for your kind words - thank you. 

  • Like 4
26 minutes ago, dughlas said:

I have a navy blue funeral suit. I bought it two summers ago when my step-dad died. Last summer I wore it for my father-in-law's service. I really hope I've no occasion to wear it this summer.

 

A bit more spice to liven things up ... saddly I've never had occasion to feel those passions. Still they thrill the blood with hope.

 

I dearly hope you will one day feel those passions. Perhaps this will be that year, in the same year you have no need of the funeral suit. May it be so. Thank you for reading these. 

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"Burial" is touching, but not in a way that has to reach for sentiments. It just observes and tells the story through the object of a tie. It's a beautiful poem. 

 
The three kisses are each breathtaking. I feel there's a new centeredness radiating from these Skyscrapers. You do the form a great honor with poems of this quality. 
 
Thanks for sharing your gift with us :) 
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9 hours ago, Mikiesboy said:

Both are wonderful Parker ... i love the last stanza of the first. Remember his humour xo

 

The second, is full of love and desire, as it should be. May the separation only be temporary, with many more warm hazy afternoons to share.

 

Thank you, tim. That old blue tie is back on its rack again. I will see it there and be reminded of a certain voice, and the innumerable stories it told. I am glad you liked the second. It will warm my heart when the wind blows cold. 

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8 hours ago, AC Benus said:

"Burial" is touching, but not in a way that has to reach for sentiments. It just observes and tells the story through the object of a tie. It's a beautiful poem. 

 
The three kisses are each breathtaking. I feel there's a new centeredness radiating from these Skyscrapers. You do the form a great honor with poems of this quality. 
 
Thanks for sharing your gift with us :) 

 

Thank you so much for your encouraging comments. The geometry of Skyscrapers seem to lend themselves to centering - and these seemed to flow easily. I appreciated your thoughts on the first - speaking about sorrow and remembering through an object is precisely what I was trying to do. You were so good to read these. 

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