Lush
Publication in the May 2013 issue of
Publication in the May 2013 issue of
Red River Review
Life buds before me
while cricket sounds debut
the coming out of flowered faces
pirouetting with the wind.
Salt glazed to the lash,
shoulders shrug.
Our first porch wooden. A fence
to dance the boundary lines clean.
I keep at keeping up the lush,
wetting the ground beading tears.
Lungs starve for air,
chest raises.
The parched twig a part of me.
My canvased field brushed crimson.
I keep the green growing,
busy my hands bustling dirt.
Curved beneath cotton,
fingers clinch.
It was she I couldn’t keep.
Or she wouldn’t have,
She wouldn’t have used a gun that day,
She wouldn't have left the lush.
Emily Murphy – June 27th 2011
Oh, Elizabeth, I'm so sad for you! What a tragic way to lose your sister. My younger brother (and only sibling) died 10 years ago today, and I find myself missing him not less, but more as the years go by, wishing he was here to share this life with me. Praying for you sweet sister in Christ!
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful Emily! I love how you incorporated your photography, nature, and your words to express your heart about Hailey and life.
ReplyDeleteyall are still in our daily prayers. love you, your writing, your pictures, your family.
ReplyDeletelove amanda skelton yocum
Such beautiful use of language and light to describe such sadness! I continue to mourn with you and pray for you as you "keep the green growing"! Blessings, friend.
ReplyDeleteYour words always touch my heart Emily. Remembering sweet Hailey and thinking of and praying for you. Xoxo, Cat
ReplyDeleteAbout LUSH,
ReplyDeleteOh Emma, how beautifully you expressed your emotions of losing your little sister. Hard as it was to read through the tears, your words rang true, they touched me, and in reading it, I realized that the lushest lush right now could not take away my deep sadness. We all have lost a beautiful flower. It faded too fast, it wilted to early. Oh, why did she have to go? Why did God need her more than I, more than us?
I love you my Emma,
Mommi
how beautiful Emma. tears fell from my face as I read such deep emotional sorrow and I hope to see more writings like this as you continue to grieve, as you continue to cry out to God and battle this pain that is deep within. i love you friend.
ReplyDeleteThere is much to admire here. The first two stanzas are especially strong. But I found myself coming back to a relatively simple thought:
ReplyDeleteSad doesn’t express the half of
how I sit.
Those little lines don't have a concrete image, but I appreciated the contrast betweent the playfulness of the language and the mournfulness of the subject.
Thank you for sharing your poetry with Books and Culture.
Agreeing with Marcus Goodyear, Senior Editor of The High Calling online Magazine and the author of a book of poetry called, 'Barbies at Communion'; I chose to make some changes. I hope it paints a more vivid picture for you through my poem. ~ Emily
ReplyDelete