Tuesday 1 January 2008

Desert Remembers Forest

Before cattle ate me bare
I remember dark wooden pillars
hung with damp banners of green.
Coloured jewels flew beneath the pillars,
soft, fluffy things scuffled beneath.

And the noise –
whistles and chirrs
and something called words
from the ones who carried arrows.

Now the sun beats endlessly down
on land parched to both horizons,
dust settles on dead wood and arrowheads
in silence.



Previously published in issue 141 of Orbis magazine.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. This is so powerful.

polona said...

powerful indeed.
and the sad thing is, it's painfully close to reality.

happy new year!

Janice Thomson said...

Wow the imagery in this is wonderful Juliet. What an impact this makes.
Beautiful!

Linda Jacobs said...

I never thought of deserts this way! Love your eye!

Linda Jacobs said...

I never thought of deserts this way! Love your eye!

Linda Jacobs said...

Hmmm. Not sure I how did that! Sorry about the duplicate messages.

SandyCarlson said...

I feel this one. "[W]ords/from the ones who carried arrows" is a way of life around here. Thanks for this insight. God bless.

Clare said...

Hi Crafty! Happy New Year to you. And thank you so much for this incredible and haunting poem -- it touched and woke up something deep in my soul. Your imagery is absolutely stunning and evokes many layers of emotion. Bravo!

x said...

Strong imagery and message I believe in.

Anonymous said...

I love this poem. It makes me realize even more the impact that raising livestock for consumption has on our environment.

But the main reason why I like the poem is the personification of the forest, existing in the present in the poet's mind.

...eatsbugs said...

I like this. The voice of the desert. Its something I'll have to try myself.

SzélsőFa said...

Very tragic vision, I liked this poem.

Anonymous said...

This is very beautiful but very sad. To exist, barren and dry where once there was trees - how painful.

Happy New Year.

Threadspider said...

I loved this poem-so strong.

Pearl said...

congrats on the poem placement and happy new years.

primdollie said...

Beautiful poem dear!!! hope your holidays were wonderful and a Very Happy New Year!!! Hugs Linda

sister AE said...

This give me chills and makes me sad. Excellent work.

sister AE
at
Having Writ

Mad Kane said...

That was lovely!
Mad Kane