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Redamancy Lament
emotions are coursing over gnarled Travertine rocks
surreal
tears are my broken dream’s shards
scattered on a barren soil
as my beloved rests in eternal sleep
I opine
the lizard should have waited with his message
cursed be the chameleon
may his slumbers forever
be haunted
my tears aren’t for those who have broken my heart
forgiveness was not easy
you had told your young mistress
while proclaiming your undying love for her
she has never owned my heart
sitting alone on a bench
your departure was a wrench
dusk often finds me in a reflective mood
you have all my love
my heart still belongs to you*
as a lark
proclaims the new dawn
and where I can now relish a languid afternoon
I no longer flinch at your dear memory
I come into the peace of
wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief
this is the sacred truth everyone should know
death wouldn’t be victorious
though lovers be lost love shan't
death shall have no dominion
as I mourn
redamancy† is not a prerequisite
I carry your heart
I carry it in my heart
INSPIRED BY THE FOLLOWING POEMS:
The Peace of Wild Things, by Wendel Berry
And death shall have no dominion, by Dylan Thomas
‘i carry your heart with me (i carry it in’, e.e. cummings 1952
POET'S NOTES
*An example of a chiasmus phrase.
†redamancy is the act of loving in return; reciprocity at its finest.
I used the 7 stages of mourning in the progression of the poem. ‘Love goes very far beyond the physical person of the beloved. It finds its deepest meaning in the spiritual being, his inner self. Whether or not he is still actually present, whether or not he is still alive at all, ceases somehow to be of importance.’ ~Viktor Frankl (1905–1997), Austrian psychiatrist, philosopher, writer, and Holocaust survivor—from his book, Man’s Search for Meaning.
MYTHOLOGY
According to an African myth, the Old, Old [sic] One instructed the chameleon to go and tell Man that he would be immortal, but en route he fell asleep. Later, the Old, Old One changed his mind and called on the lizard to go and tell Man that he would die. The lizard overtook the chameleon and delivered his message first. From that day forward it was Man’s destiny to die. Both the lizard and the chameleon are hated by the African people: the first for bringing the bad tidings, and the second for being tardy in delivering his message.
Copyright ©
Suzette Richards
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