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Friday 24 March 2023

The Patchwork Quilt

Note : The concrete image version is for laptop readers


this moonless night

casting all shadows away

a shaft of light
  e
    s
      c
        e
          n
            d
              s

I raise a toast to 
                         f
                        r
                      e
                    e
                  d
                o
             m  



if you ask me

she is really adept at layering                   the parlour girl

eye_____________________liner

m      a       s      k      a     r      a

blue       eye      shadow

                                             deepening the darker circles

underneath my dreams






yet                    i                   am                    swathed                    in                       light
         blinded          till                  i                                 fancy              a                cesspool

                        pulling                          me                                                     in






dark                                 dark                darker                                               lightest
                                                                      

          light              light                                   lighter                      darkest 
              
                     dark                                                         darker





darling

                the patchwork quilt

                                                 i fold myself in

                                                                             past

                                                                                     p  r  i  c  k  i  n  g
                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                     present

                                                                                     p a g i n g 


                                                                            past






tell me                            where is the light i bathe in ?


tell me                                                                            where is the darkness i creep in ?



PS: I realized from Jim's comment that smartphone readers will find it difficult to read this poem where I have tried to create concrete images of patchwork with words. So for those who read on smartphone, here it is a "normal" version


this moonless night
casting all shadows away
a shaft of light
descends
I raise a toast to 
freedom                                           
if you ask me
she is really adept at layering                   the parlour girl
eyeliner
maskara     
blue eye shadow
deepening the darker circles
underneath my dreams
yet i  am  swathed in  light
blinded  till  i  fancy  a  cesspool
pulling me in
dark...... light ......dark........light                               
darker......lighter.........darker.........lighter
darkest.........lightest.............
darling                    the patchwork quilt
i fold myself in                    
past  pricking present paging past
tell me                            where is the light i bathe in ?
tell me                            where is the darkness i creep in ?





       

14 comments:

  1. An interesting progression of thought! I love your final questions.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A sad day that we really needn’t have to have. But we only have a small say so. Perhaps the answer to where they go is the same place discarded eMails and comments go sans a dead letter box.
    Your skived and hop form is okay but for my read on this smart phone makes it hard to find where to go next in my reading. It detracts from my focus on the poem’s message.
    Guess I’m being old fashioned, for sure I'm old and cranky. 🙂
    ..
    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks JIm. No, you are not being old fashioned or anything. I realized the effect is lost on smartphone. So I have created two versions now. One for laptop reading and one for smartphone. Thanks for enlightening me.

      Delete
  3. I enjoyed traipsing thru your form / poem. How delightful the journey.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Even though I'm not using a stupidphone, I like the simpler form better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 😃The smiley is for the new coinage stupidphone. Thanks that you could connect to the poem whichever form it is.

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  5. Love the close especially!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Light and darkness. Which do I choose now?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Again it depends in what phase of life or mind you are.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My laptop provided the perfect view. I enjoyed watching the way the words flowed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Rommy. I saw your comment just now. It was good to know that you could make out the way the poem was designed.

      Delete