Solution to the Face

[jisbell00]

Erasure


They say there is no going backward, that
the lost do not return. And it is true
the flesh gives out that ferried us, the eyes
close for the last time, the heart stops, the breath
comes to a halt. The body dies. But I
still see the lost before me, they are not
trapped in our six-foot cage, they are alert
to the wind’s touch, they feel the sun. I have
no sympathy for death, nor do I find

its verdict final. Out of darkness, light,
they also say; the grain dies and returns
through the black soil. It may be there is no
analogy, the dead are dead. But I
stand by the mind, where they yet walk and breathe –
where there is no erasure to the face,
the hand, the heart – where all they were persists
uninterrupted and complete. I see
my aunt as surely as in life, she is
uncompromised by death or age and smiling.


Edited: where there is no solution to the face,

[Macavity]

Joyful last line John, though initially I misread, and rather liked 'uncompromised by smiling' Yes, folk have speculated endlessly about finality...and thus religion was born. Like your use of 'ferried flesh'.

[jisbell00]

Hi Phil,

Yes, my aunt has passed awayu but I think of her with a light heart. She led a good life for over ninety years.

Religions do have a habit of getting started, don't they? Often I think when death looms its ugly head. Glad you enjoyed the poem!

Cheers,
John

[Mharr2000]

This it’s a beatitful tribute to your aunt John is this a prose?

I only ask as I’m trying to start identifying forms.

Loved the way you explained the soul/spirits vessel to.
Thank you i enjoyed this poem too.

[jisbell00]

Hi Mike,

I'm glad you enjoyed it! yes, my aunt meant a good deal to me. And i do believe our bodies ferry our essence through the years - call it our soul if you like, it is our spark of life.

As for the type of poetry, the meter is the classic iambic pentameter again. It scans like this, with the five beats in each line shown like this: '

They say' there is' no go'ing back'ward, that'
the lost' do not' return'. And it' is true'

So you see, five beats per line, penta-meter. Ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum ti-tum. It's a classic way to generate music on the page, as in almost all of SHakespeare, Wordsworth, Keats etc.

Cheers,
John

[Mharr2000]

Thank you again john your font of knowledge I see now the 5 beats . Note I’ll try to remeber that for future

[jisbell00]

No problem! It's a classic.

Cheers,
John

[ray miller]

Enjoyed the read very much. It's the same theme as that one a few days ago. I just wonder about "solution", whether it's the right word. I'd have gone for something like finality.

[jisbell00]

Glad you enjoyed this, Ray, and yes, it's the exact same theme! I also share your thought about the word solution, but I've not found the right word. I'm not even sure the OED will bail me out here, in definition seven or thereabouts (archaic). I shall need to give that serious thought.

I'm trying out "undoing." That's the idea I'm looking for. Maybe erasure?
CHeers,
John