I have a shadow inside
like bottled-up smoke
and this– husks of grapes,
eleven summers, oaked–
can conjure it up–
a caution. By the lake
today the crows were
swarming, the last
of the maple leaves afloat
on the lawn, like scarlet junks,
and at China Harbor,
an empty banquet room
backlit by bay windows,
with a hundred empty chairs–
negative capability,
like Keats said, to receive
the world, concavity,
the capacity for being
contained in the empty room,
the glass-green eye
of a cat sunning itself
on the stucco overhang,
or the low winter sun stuck
in puddles of pooled mercury–
and to see and to think only
of the hand that scripted,
the mouth that dictated
the cursive name
of the last boat
on the dock, wondering
at how resignation shadows hope,
or prefaces it, depending on
the way the light falls, the way
we imbue a word, concentrating it–
Ab Initio,
and for as long as you can, after
OPTIONAL POETRY 
This is exceptionally beautiful.
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Thank you, Lauren!
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Oftentimes a poem of yours brings clarity to an entire week for me.
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Glad to hear one of us found clarity… kidding aside, thank you, and I’m glad to hear it
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That’s part of the value of our writing, isn’t it? Dragging the clouds around may bring clarity to the reader…
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Pingback: “the way the light falls” | Emergency Kittens
This brought to mind a Paul Klee quote: ‘The eye follows the paths that have been laid down for it in the work.’ I feel like I’ve been on a journey reading it.
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Thanks, Alexander! That is a great quote, thank you for sharing it
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This is a fantastic poem—rhythm, imagery, nods to Keats and Mircea Eliade. I love it! What’s best is that it just flows as one utterance, one complete moment.
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Thank you! It was composed on one long walk, I’m pleased to hear it retained the sense of movement
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It did!!
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absolutely beautiful ❤ when do you usually write your poetry? I usually write in a dark room with an acoustic instrumental in the background with hot chocolate. my favourite line is "husks of grapes….eleven summers.."
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Thank you! And honestly, whenever I can get a moment
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