TheBanyanTree: APPARITIONS

[Mike Pingleton]

Sharon, these are wonderful.   You've tapped deep into things personal
and emotional.
-Mike

On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 9:08 AM,  <smack58 at nycap.rr.com> wrote:
> APPARITIONS
>
> #1
>
> Apparitions of a daylight kind
> Stand among the flames
> In the kitchen
> Casting spells
> Of dizziness
> With strokes
> Of bluish
> Whispers.
>
> The sense of it
> I cannot make out
> For nothing burns.
> The destruction and ash
> Are only in my
> Heart and soul,
> Now held in
> Willowy hands,
> Squeezed,
> For the sake
> Of memories,
>
> And when none are found
> The hands disappear
> And the flames
> Grow dim.
>
> My heart is given
> Back to me
> On a burlap pillow,
> My soul
> On a broken china plate…
>
> …and with that
> The sun disappears
> And the night songs begin.
>
>
>
> APPARITIONS
>
> #2
>
> He was against the wall
> A see-through vision
> Tall and bulky
> And green—
> The green of a not
> Completely ripened pear.
>
> He lifted his hands and his eyes
> As though calling upon the heavens
> —or hell,
> The waters of the sea roared in
> Covering and filling the floor,
> The bathtub, the sink, the room,
> Yet my feet remained dry
> My footing
> Sure and strong.
>
> He breathed a deeper breath
> Than wind itself,
> And reached for me.
>
> Weightless,
> He set me upon the moon,
> The light behind his eyes
> Stars In the black/brown hole
> Of his face.
>
> Slowly he began to disappear
> With the mist of the clouds;
> And the coming of the dawn.
>
> His withered hands
>  Held me then
> For just a moment.
> Then let me drift
> to the waters below
> Now rippling slowly,
> Letting me bathe
> In the deep green water
> of the sea.
>
>
>
>
>
> APPARITIONS
>
> #3
>
> In the gray pink light
> Of dawn
> I saw them in my dreams
> Then again
> In my half-sleep.
>
> They danced small
> Upon my pillows,
> Pulling my sheets
> And blankets
> To the floor,
> Hiding in the ruffles.
>
> I awakened all the way
> And plucked one
> From the bedpost,
> Only to have it dissolve
> In my hand,
> And appear against the wall
> Where he clapped his wings
> And motioned the others
> Away into the wind
> Beyond my bedroom window.
>
>
> APPARITIONS
>
> #4
>
> It is with great lucidity
> That I tell you
> I saw the mist
> Descend among the trees
> And a figure
> Much resembling
> My mother
> Step forward
> To shake her
> Finger at
> The illusion of my love,
> Who stood with his face to the wind,
> To let me know
> She did not
> Approve of him!
>
>
> APPARITIONS
>
> #5
>
> In the snows
> Of Germany,
> My father held a gun
> Dressed in the uniform
> Of a soldier
> With men at his feet
> And men at his rear.
>
> He called to me
> To come and see
> That which he killed
> In the name of the living.
>