Saturday 26 November 2011

Wilderness

The tide turns:
this wilderness is my domain,
transcending images
to ascertain
a single truth
amidst the lies;

there are no lies,
only whens and whys;

We don't belong
this family of I's,
We live to die
in peace and strife,
Our tragic lives
are alibis.

We fear to seek
the deeper still,
in case we fall
and falling fail,
to fulfil the telling
of our tale.

© Shaista Tayabali, 2011
for dverse poetry prompt 'wild';
Matisse, 1916, The Piano Lesson (Time intersects in this composition; in the open living-room window of Matisse’s house at Issy-les-Moulineaux, outside Paris, his son Pierre practices the piano. A candle sits on the instrument, illuminating a triangle of lawn. In the bottom left corner is a representation of one of Matisse’s sculptures, Decorative Figure (1908), while the severe “teacher” in the opposite corner is actually a representation of the painting Woman on a High Stool (1914). Precise geometry and elusive illusion!)

13 comments:

Brian Miller said...

dang fine word play through out...love the dance in your words and some of the contradictions as well, but that is life...our tragic lives are alibis....that is an awesome line among a few others...

Cloudia said...

workmanlike effort!




Aloha from Waikiki

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Zoe said...

Hmmm.... this is tragically, achingly beautifully contradictory. I love how your words shift and echo, which to me, leads me deeper than the words to the ebb and flow of the sadness beyond it.

The Unknowngnome said...

Your last stanza is just incredible!

Cathy Feaster said...

"we don't belong..this family of I's"
I absolutely love that line :)

Claudia said...

great flow to this...and great thoughts..the lives are alibis..so tragic but sometimes so true as we're afraid to really live them..and in the end there's not much left

Anonymous said...

...our lives are a little like the wilderness... nice twist to the theme

Dave King said...

Captivating.
Our tragic lives are alibis - That went home.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

A wonderfully deep poem, Shaista. Happy Sunday across the pond!

ds said...

Yes our lives are alibis. I love the depth of this. Thank you (and thank you for explaining Matisse's painting; I'd have missed most of that).

RNSANE said...

I need to go back and read this when I am not in a rush to finish packing and head to India. It is an incredible work and deserves my undivided attention. You are so gifted, Shaista.

Hope you are doing well.

Kitty Moore said...

Hi - I've missed your beautiful words. Hope you're happy and healthy x

A said...

Your words are always so beautiful.

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