Inverted horizon, pearl-green sky
I look up and see a shape, a human form
a white silhouette falling from the upside-down moon
streaking silently across the sky
but motionless—like a feather frozen in ice
falling for eons, or maybe only seconds
and then landing without a sound, miles away
beyond the curve of the world
I take one step and suddenly I am ripped away
transported, now standing above him
he is curled up in a ball, slender and pale and glowing
plain brown hair touched with a hint of fire
perfectly still, like a fawn sleeping in a bed of flowers
I watch as his eyes slowly open and instantly
I am not me anymore—I am him, on my back looking up
There is a black silhouette towering above me
and it begins to bend over, dripping down like ink
and I begin to panic, but I feel something soft
like a feather brushing against my cheek
or kiss landing gently on my forehead
and slowly the features begin to resolve
a chin, a forehead, the hair dangling off her brow
a set of eyes, a nose, a faint look of confusion
And now I am floating above us and I wonder
what conspiracy of forces, natural or divine
has designed this strange arrival.
Author’s Notes:
Ok. Well this is one of the weirder, more surreal poems I’ve done. I like the ambient feeling it creates and the mysterious, unresolved story, but I do wonder if it’s one of the poems I’ve done for the project that is more likely to fall flat for some people. Frankly, I wanted it to be something else, but it ended up this.
I like how the poem starts off-balance right away, and how jumping between perspectives makes it difficult to get your footing (that is probably the weakness of the poem too).
Overall, I personally like a lot of things about it—particularly the feeling of uncertainty and anticipation it creates—but I’ve felt better about the punchier, more concise poems I’ve written (last week’s, for instance, was a favorite of mine). I think part of it is when a poem is short, I feel like I can be more daring, without as much risk of losing the reader’s focus.
Favorite Line:
but motionless—like a feather frozen in ice
Most Odd Line:
beyond the curve of the world
(the reason this line is odd is that ‘beyond the curve of the earth’ is clearly more natural sounding to me, but given the nature of the poem, I didn’t want to be locked into it being Earth)