Author Information
And How Should I Presume
I've never had the yellow fog
From chimneys in the night
Place its back to mine.
I've never had the yellow ash
Bear its teeth within my chest.
Yet I have seen and felt
The shrouding of the soul,
The tearing of the heart.
And the room where women come and go
Never hears Michelangelo reverberated.
And yet there is time, time for me to say
That by all means "I will dare", and "I will dare"
For I have felt the hands
Pulling at the trousers by the curb,
The brink of up, and down
The street, the dim lighted street
I dare to walk.
And in the room where women come and go
Michelangelo asks directions.
In the night covered with the ash
Of the day I dare to show him.
To board his carriage and show him.
And how should I presume?
The streets, abandoned by the sun
Sleep, yet in the carriage lives visions
And revisions passing endlessly its reflection
Of the lad helping with directions,
Taking direction as the jaws of
Cold gray smoke devours youth.
And pulls at the trouser legs
From the curb, the brink of up
And downwardly spiral all the visions
And revisions echo
In the room where women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
And how should I presume?
The eyes have seen through the night
The thick ash covered darkness.
I dissect myself and as I on display
Suspended from the pin exposed
How I did begin, how shall I end?
In that night, that ash coloured darkness
Following thirteen years of sun
Directions were given and taken well
And the trousers fell from the tugs
At the curb, the brink.
And how should I presume?
In the room where women come and go
Speaking of Michelangelo,
And Venus Di Milo.
And how I should presume.
Hey, Micheal, fine work here. The linebreaks are very good, which I don't see at pp very often. The poem is engaging and fresh. Thanks for the read!
Dan
"There is no good writing, only good editing."
It might have taken you 40 years and Eliot's inspiration to say what you did, but indeed you said it well! I stand in awe, hoping that 40 yrs from now I will be able to pen my thoughts just as eloquently. I hope... but 'how should I presume?'
Fabulous! was this poem of yours. Truly!
Always,
- Essie =)
~*~
"`I grow old... I grow old... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.` What does that mean, Mr. Marlowe?"
"Not a bloody thing. It just sounds good."
He smiled. "That is from the `Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.` Here's another one. `In the room women come and go/Talking of Michael Angelo.' Does that suggest anything to you, sir?"
Yeah -- it suggests to me that the guy didn't know very much about women."
"My sentiments exactly, sir. Nonetheless I admire T. S. Eliot very much."
~*~
A lil quote from Raymond Chandler's, 'The Long Goodbye.' Ever read it? It has nothing to do with your poem, but it seemed to draw from the TS poem so many times that I felt I just had to share. Like, Eliot's work, 'The Long Goodbye' is a classic. =)
Wow! Now this is wickedly awesome writing. I have to go back and read it again. Actually as to this comment, I am speechless...but this really is brilliant and I'll have to email you a better comment... when I can find the words. :)