Friday, 15 January 2010

A Woodland Burial

The day before the big snow
Out in the cold new woods
Her casket softened with feathers
She dropped under the forest floor.

Among the anonymous trees
(And, later there will be bluebells)
I tried hard to think of the dead
Instead of my freezing toes.

But now she comes back to me
Night by night, flake by flake,
Tumbling boldly into my eyes
Stung open by the brilliance of her-

Well, she was a trapeze artist,
Death dealt her a serious magic.
Now, in its slow reveal,
Here is the full wonder of her.

4 comments:

firmament said...

L.4 what about under the trees?saplings? or have the cold new forest (l.2) and under the woods (l.4) - just a suggestion

I really like the last verse. it seems to complete the poem
Small question
Is death masculine? I always think of it as feminine, just because it is in French, but could it be neutral- its slow reveal.

charmian said...

thanks, I did think about the cold new forest...but then realized it sounded like The New Forest in Hampshire!

charmian said...

'under the forest' I hoped conveyed the enormity of the life above the ground she was buried in, the weight of nature.

charmian said...

yes I think neutral death, will play around with it.!

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