Can You Dig This?
A poem is a family of words that are all related, either directly (rhymes, assonance, alliteration) or remotely. Dominant sounds fade-out and re-emerge like ancestors passing on traits. One word is born from the other. Colleen ~ From Muses Like Moonlight
The following poem – which I wrote 6 years ago and dug up again yesterday – was published in this year’s WeMoon journal (under the title of “Irrigation”). An excerpt also appeared in the WeMoon Wall Calendar.
A Biographical Dig
I love poems infused with history
worked into the present day topic
Like rocks overturned we return to our worms
unearth our wounds for good irrigation
Burrowed in journals are rich story castings
lineage lines that link generations
Like mineral veins of precious inheritance
I’m mining the evidence of my ancestral descent
Leaving my fingerprints on poems written down
like roots taking hold in a plot thickened
I’m turning the pages like turning the soil
to know what is growing in me
June 27th, 2005 9:16 am
I especially like the line, “like mineral veins of precious inheritance” for some reason–either the way it sounds, the rhythm, or just the picture it paints. nice!
June 27th, 2005 9:21 am
I can’t believe Sean said that – he took my line! The rhythm of that line is wonderful, and it evokes a great picture in my mind.
June 27th, 2005 11:34 am
precious veins coursing what’s infused in the blood of colleen.
the dna of you codes rhymes
reads meanings
unearths what’s growing
yet veils still
some essence your
longing to discover
June 28th, 2005 1:10 am
I found that I needed to read it out loud to really feel it.
June 28th, 2005 7:41 am
Sean and Judy both said exactly what I wanted to say about this! I hate when that happens. Still, that is a precious line.