Thursday, May 8, 2008

Rebel Girl's Poetry Corner: The lawn is full of breathing statues


Some poetry. It helps.

from Elizabeth Spires:

The Faces of Children
Meeting old friends after a long time, we see
with surprise how they have changed, and must imagine,
despite the mirror's lies, that change is upon us, too.

Once, in our twenties, we thought we would never die.
Now, as one thoughtlessly shuffles a deck of cards,
we have run through half our lives.


The afternoon has vanished, the evening changing
us into four shadows mildly talking on a porch.
And as we talk, we listen to the children play
the games that we played once. In joy and terror,
they cry out in surprise as the seeker finds the one in hiding,
or in fairytale tableau, each one is tapped and turned

to stone. The lawn is full of breathing statues who wait
to be changed back again, and we can do nothing but stand
to one side of our children's games, our children's lives.


We are the conjurors who take away all pain,
and we are the ones who cannot take away the pain at all.
They do not ask, as lately we have asked ourselves,

Who was I then? And what must I become?
Like newly minted coins, their faces catch
the evening's radiance. They are so sure of us,

more sure than we are of ourselves. Our children:
who gently push us toward the end of our own lives.
The future beckons brightly. They trust us to lead them there.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the pictures of the The Boy.

Leightongirl said...

Beautiful. Thinking of you.

Anonymous said...

. . . and how perfect that the toys are called "Transformers." Hi Buzz!

Anonymous said...

Actually, 10:32, I think those are Planet Hero toys. Transformers are awfully violent. But, then, so is getting old.

Jonathan K. Cohen said...

When is Limber Lou going to get a non-bowl haircut? Time is passing, and he may soon reach the age when Prince Valiant is no longer cool. (Then again, kids these days probably have no idea who Prince Valiant is.)

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