Here I Am, Lord
The ribbed black of the umbrella
is an argument for the existence of God,
that little shelter
we carry with us
and may forget
beside a chair
in a committee meeting
we did not especially want to attend.
What a beautiful word, umbrella.
A shade to be opened.
Like a bat’s wing, scalloped.
It shivers.
A drum head
beaten by the silver sticks
of rain
and I do not have mine
and so the rain showers me.
13 comments:
Sumptuous banner photo--very New Orleans, it seems. Does Savannah remind you at least somewhat of N.O.?
The stones with grass are rich in their way, too.
I like the Chitwood poem. I think the last line is ambiguous. It seems to be bad because he's abandoned his umbrella-"god," but are we to think of the rain--"showering me" as a bad thing, an enemy of "god"?
Love that metaphor, "silver sticks/of rain." Could be painful, but also beautiful, so still more ambiguity.
ferns, not grass. Still rich in color and pattern.
I lived on Savannah for a short time, a time when crime was at an all time high and my son was quite young. Also when SCAD was just beginning. I loved seeing the students walking to their classes along the streets, it seemed like an idyllic situation to have a ready made campus composed of neighboring buildings in the city; I don't know what the campus is like now. What I remember most is that Savannah was steeped in history, in town and in the outlying area with all its forts. I recognized the park in Forrest Gump right away, too. We visited there often.
Paula, I think that the stone steps bordered with small ferns reflect the old humid South. Lovely photo.
The rough-hewn stones are beautiful and I love how the ferns are growing between them! Beautiful and hopeful.
This poem is about me. I keep running into words I need to hear today
Nice visual "a bat’s wing, scalloped" yes, beautiful. I have a tendency to see poems and construe meaning from them later.
Ferns...lush....so dry here
Question: In the banner...do you know if that plant produces bananas or is purely ornamental?
Those steps make a simply beautiful photo. I find the poem a little mystifying as to it's "message" but that's fine -- poems are meant to make us think. As always, I have enjoyed your Sunday post.
beautiful . . . poem and photo
The fence in your banner is wonderful. Weathered but still there. And that little gate is lovely.
The roughness of the stones and the smoothness of the marble stairs makes for great contrast and of course the ferns add a little softness to all that hardscape.
I'm still chewing on the poem, but it contains lovely images.
Nice poem...I have moved this weekend and in packing I came across so many poetry books...didn't realize I had so many....now to reread them....
How come my banana plants don't look like that?
Amazing wall! Great find, Paula.
Love the header by the way.
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