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Irreparable

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cost is beyond grasp,

this shuddering

before the shattering.

Clarity is devastated

by a single stone

rippling through

time's warped humor.

Forgive the web

and blame the spider

that spun its silk

across jagged branches

of dreams.

No adhesive can hold

the blood seeping

from these wounds,

no suture

can save

this inevitable demise.

Sunlight cannot thaw

this unenviable chill,

nor nurture

a wilting flower

on a bent and broken vine.







 

Author notes









Graphic artist unknown



Don't ask.

You wouldn't like the answer much.





"THE IRREPARABLE"

by Charles Baudelaire

"Can we suppress the old Remorse
Who bends our heart beneath his stroke,
Who feeds, as worms feed on the corse,
Or as the acorn on the oak?
Can we suppress the old Remorse?

Ah, in what philtre, wine, or spell,
May we drown this our ancient foe,
Destructive glutton, gorging well,
Patient as the ants, and slow?
What wine, what philtre, or what spell?

Tell it, enchantress, if you can,
Tell me, with anguish overcast,
Wounded, as a dying man,
Beneath the swift hoofs hurrying past.
Tell it, enchantress, if you can,

To him the wolf already tears
Who sees the carrion pinions wave,
This broken warrior who despairs
To have a cross above his grave--
This wretch the wolf already tears.

Can one illume a leaden sky,
Or tear apart the shadowy veil
Thicker than pitch, no star on high,
Not one funereal glimmer pale
Can one illume a leaden sky?

Hope lit the windows of the Inn,
But now that shining flame is dead;
And how shall martyred pilgrims win
Along the moonless road they tread?
Satan has darkened all the Inn!

Witch, do you love accursèd hearts?
Say, do you know, the reprobate?
Know you Remorse, whose venomed darts
Make souls the targets of their hate?
Witch, do you know accursèd hearts?

The Might-have-been with tooth accursed
Gnaws at the piteous souls of men,
The deep foundations suffer first,
And all the structure crumbles then
Beneath the bitter tooth accursed.

II.

Often, when seated at the play,
And sonorous music lights the stage,
I see the frail hand of a Fay
With magic dawn illume the rage
Of the dark sky. Oft at the play

A being made of gauze and fire
Casts to the earth a Demon great.
And my heart, whence all hopes expire,
Is like a stage where I await,
In vain, the Fay with wings of fire!"



From "The Poems and Prose Poems of Charles Baudelaire"
Edited by James Huneker. New York: Brentano's, 1919.







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Comments

1 - 13 of 13

  • brown paper bag
    May 5

    Edit | Reply
    This is a perfect poem to end my day\night on here.Your words speak volumes to my day.I can't tell you how much I want to forget today. I really relate to this poem. It's strange when one day you feel so loved and the next it's blown apart like an h bomb.You're left recoiling and grasping for something to believe. I have used this site as therapy today but I don't plan on making it a habit. Some people actually get pleasure out of others pain.So in closing dear friend I'm back but not in a consistent way.This poem was haunting and true.this too shall pass.

    love Moon Girl.


  • Rowan gold member
    May 1

    Edit | Reply
    This is gorgeously painful, hon.
    Loved this;
    Forgive the web

    and blame the spider

    that spun its silk

    across jagged branches

    of dreams."

    You are a master.


  • PageTurner
    April 30

    Edit | Reply








    Silver Trophy! Maybe a Silver Lining Too, my Friend.

    ~ Nicky♥


  • Noah20Tymatal
    April 30

    Edit | Reply
    Congratulations on writing a fantastic piece of poetry the award isn't bad either. Oh the vision one sees while in the dark enlightens the being to let things lie where they fall. Ponder we must though what's
    meant to be will be either dark or bright.
    Peace in light and love
    Noah


  • nilav
    April 30

    Edit | Reply
    you drown me in emotions like grief,despair,disillusionment,helplessness ,longing and sometimes ecstasy of love also when i read your poems and i am lost there....very intense with powerful expressions which only you can use..

  • smiley
    April 30

    Edit | Reply

    Touching

    first off congratulations on the silver... this was an intense piece. A great reformation of the original piece.

    Yvonne


  • CarolDesjarlais silver member
    April 30

    Edit | Reply
    this is a dark write...but really has some awesome lines and stanzas...
    "Forgive the web

    and blame the spider

    that spun its silk

    across jagged branches

    of dreams." ...is my favorite....
    and this..
    "a wilting flower

    on a bent and broken vine."

  • transcendental baby gold member
    April 30

    Edit | Reply
    Girl, when you go dark, you scare me to death ... don't you be lettin' that damn spider feed on the butterfly ... you hear!


  • Nicolette gold member
    April 30

    Edit | Reply
    This one aches...with an ache that sticks like a spider's web, Vlindertjie. I won't ask because I know at times one needs to "go deep" and stay there for a while.

    "Shatter" made me think of what I wrote in my poem "grammar of the heart"...."shatter my heart so that a new room can be created".... A dark one, but still written so beautifully.



    ~ Nicolette


  • poet2angels silver member
    April 30

    Edit | Reply
    I dont think I have ever read anything so dark from you, and I think this is golden ...gave me chills...but because it is you, it made me cry...You said dont ask so I wont


    "Forgive the web

    and blame the spider

    that spun its silk

    across jagged branches

    of dreams."



    AMazing as always...

    Lynda


  • marc creamore
    April 29

    Edit | Reply
    This is certainly different for you Swan, but it still holds, captivates the reader as usual . . . it almost makes me ache when I read it . . . a powerful, unexpected nuance from your always clear and poetic voice!
    . . . Marc

  • arafura
    April 29

    Edit | Reply
    "...a wilting flower
    on a bent and broken vine."

    Okay I won't ask... But I got the feeling of someone on the razor's edge. Someone ready to shatter. Great work my talented friend! Good luck in the contest!

1 - 13 of 13