Today is the day Elizabeth encourages us to revisit an old post. I enjoy reading poetry and shared this poem before on my old blog. I hope you will visit Elizabeth's Blog to see what other people have chosen to share again.
LOST WORD
Jean Burden
I do not believe in a God
who bothers Himself in the trivia
of this planet, but
Lord, could you find me this word?
I know it as well as my name,
but it is running backwards into darkness
as I lurch after it.
It stands for the small mammal
that ate raspberry parfait
at the back door in Big Sur; the huge one
that climbed through Eric's window,
and clawed at his cats:
the old one that made a shambles of his kitchen.
I say possum, skunk,
porcupine, knowing it is not any of these.
The word, Lord! You are supposed to be good
at words. Remember the Word? It is midnight
and I yearn for the elusive thing. I sleep
and waken. It is coming closer. It skitters by
avoiding my eyes. I scurry from attic to cellar
of my mind. It is not there.
Weasel, squirrel, badger, rat.
I am not asking to see the dark side of the moon, God.
Only one word. Will you give it to me with Your light?
I roll to one side. The beast
turns its black triangle of a face
full on me. Ah, raccoon.
I know I should remember this, Darla, but I don't. It reminds me of a dilemma I had last week. I couldn't remember one of my very best friends. I knew her daughter's name, her parents name, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember her name. It was frustrating because I wondered if I was starting to develop dementia. Like the subject in this poem, I finally remembered it when I had stopped thinking so hard about what her name was. This poem hit a bit close to home, but I am simply thrilled you shared it with us as your second look this month, dear friend.
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention how much I LOVE that drawing you created of the raccoon.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really lovely poem Darla. It's nice to read poetry every now and again, and I like how this poem speaks of animals too. Happy October.
ReplyDelete