The sunset through the lake trees like
a breaking mandolin. Bright shards
thrown off at crazy angles. Its snapped music heard
all at once, not in sequence, not
as melody. Light’s
often like that here. There’s no song to it, just
a long day’s decay.
Trying to remember you —
you played the mandolin, or the guitar;
there was some instrument. Something
shapely. We sat on the dock
and pretended to be hovering
above the water on our own. Trees darkened
across the lake and all the swallows
came out to feed. Night time, final songs,
the last note of the strings banged too roughly
into the case.
Sunset these days, everyday, an instrument
of no music. A sound on the wrong edge of lovely.
A blank look on the lake’s face.
One swallow. One cricket. No moon.
A man who should go down to the water to play
but instead sits on shore,
not moving, tone-deaf and dry.
Dark Matter 
January 19th, 2005 at 4:38 am
Well, I do miss my mandolin…I never should have sold it. (1920 Gibson A…sigh.)
I think it’s more the former, over all. But I’ll leave a lot of the interpretation in this one to the reader. The process wasn’t especially formal — that whole “chaos to form” thing you picked up on was shaped after the borders of the piece were defined. So room for multiple meanings here, all welcome.
January 19th, 2005 at 4:38 am
Well, I do miss my mandolin…I never should have sold it. (1920 Gibson A…sigh.)
I think it’s more the former, over all. But I’ll leave a lot of the interpretation in this one to the reader. The process wasn’t especially formal — that whole “chaos to form” thing you picked up on was shaped after the borders of the piece were defined. So room for multiple meanings here, all welcome.
January 19th, 2005 at 4:38 am
Well, I do miss my mandolin…I never should have sold it. (1920 Gibson A…sigh.)
I think it’s more the former, over all. But I’ll leave a lot of the interpretation in this one to the reader. The process wasn’t especially formal — that whole “chaos to form” thing you picked up on was shaped after the borders of the piece were defined. So room for multiple meanings here, all welcome.
January 19th, 2005 at 4:38 am
Well, I do miss my mandolin…I never should have sold it. (1920 Gibson A…sigh.)
I think it’s more the former, over all. But I’ll leave a lot of the interpretation in this one to the reader. The process wasn’t especially formal — that whole “chaos to form” thing you picked up on was shaped after the borders of the piece were defined. So room for multiple meanings here, all welcome.
January 19th, 2005 at 4:38 am
Well, I do miss my mandolin…I never should have sold it. (1920 Gibson A…sigh.)
I think it’s more the former, over all. But I’ll leave a lot of the interpretation in this one to the reader. The process wasn’t especially formal — that whole “chaos to form” thing you picked up on was shaped after the borders of the piece were defined. So room for multiple meanings here, all welcome.
January 19th, 2005 at 4:38 am
Well, I do miss my mandolin…I never should have sold it. (1920 Gibson A…sigh.)
I think it’s more the former, over all. But I’ll leave a lot of the interpretation in this one to the reader. The process wasn’t especially formal — that whole “chaos to form” thing you picked up on was shaped after the borders of the piece were defined. So room for multiple meanings here, all welcome.
January 19th, 2005 at 4:38 am
Well, I do miss my mandolin…I never should have sold it. (1920 Gibson A…sigh.)
I think it’s more the former, over all. But I’ll leave a lot of the interpretation in this one to the reader. The process wasn’t especially formal — that whole “chaos to form” thing you picked up on was shaped after the borders of the piece were defined. So room for multiple meanings here, all welcome.
January 19th, 2005 at 4:38 am
Well, I do miss my mandolin…I never should have sold it. (1920 Gibson A…sigh.)
I think it’s more the former, over all. But I’ll leave a lot of the interpretation in this one to the reader. The process wasn’t especially formal — that whole “chaos to form” thing you picked up on was shaped after the borders of the piece were defined. So room for multiple meanings here, all welcome.
January 19th, 2005 at 4:33 am
Nope. But then again, Zoloft is the only one of the SSRI group I never took. (Go figure. I feel abandoned.)
January 19th, 2005 at 4:33 am
Nope. But then again, Zoloft is the only one of the SSRI group I never took. (Go figure. I feel abandoned.)
January 19th, 2005 at 4:33 am
Nope. But then again, Zoloft is the only one of the SSRI group I never took. (Go figure. I feel abandoned.)
January 19th, 2005 at 4:33 am
Nope. But then again, Zoloft is the only one of the SSRI group I never took. (Go figure. I feel abandoned.)
January 19th, 2005 at 4:33 am
Nope. But then again, Zoloft is the only one of the SSRI group I never took. (Go figure. I feel abandoned.)
January 19th, 2005 at 4:33 am
Nope. But then again, Zoloft is the only one of the SSRI group I never took. (Go figure. I feel abandoned.)
January 19th, 2005 at 4:33 am
Nope. But then again, Zoloft is the only one of the SSRI group I never took. (Go figure. I feel abandoned.)
January 19th, 2005 at 4:33 am
Nope. But then again, Zoloft is the only one of the SSRI group I never took. (Go figure. I feel abandoned.)
January 18th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
beautiful. I like the contrast of order vs. chaos, the cacophony in the first stanza versus the music remembered in the next stanza. I especially like how you describe the sunset as “a long day’s decay.”
“some instrument. Something/shapely” There is a double meaning here, there is shape (as opposed to disorder) in the music, and the instrument itself is “shapely”. This word also conjures up images of a woman’s figure, beauty.
I see two interpretations: Either there is no music in the absence of love, or perhaps the music is only imagined, and the “true state” of the world, chaos, is seen in love’s absence.
or maybe you just like the mandolin and miss hearing it.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
beautiful. I like the contrast of order vs. chaos, the cacophony in the first stanza versus the music remembered in the next stanza. I especially like how you describe the sunset as “a long day’s decay.”
“some instrument. Something/shapely” There is a double meaning here, there is shape (as opposed to disorder) in the music, and the instrument itself is “shapely”. This word also conjures up images of a woman’s figure, beauty.
I see two interpretations: Either there is no music in the absence of love, or perhaps the music is only imagined, and the “true state” of the world, chaos, is seen in love’s absence.
or maybe you just like the mandolin and miss hearing it.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
beautiful. I like the contrast of order vs. chaos, the cacophony in the first stanza versus the music remembered in the next stanza. I especially like how you describe the sunset as “a long day’s decay.”
“some instrument. Something/shapely” There is a double meaning here, there is shape (as opposed to disorder) in the music, and the instrument itself is “shapely”. This word also conjures up images of a woman’s figure, beauty.
I see two interpretations: Either there is no music in the absence of love, or perhaps the music is only imagined, and the “true state” of the world, chaos, is seen in love’s absence.
or maybe you just like the mandolin and miss hearing it.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
beautiful. I like the contrast of order vs. chaos, the cacophony in the first stanza versus the music remembered in the next stanza. I especially like how you describe the sunset as “a long day’s decay.”
“some instrument. Something/shapely” There is a double meaning here, there is shape (as opposed to disorder) in the music, and the instrument itself is “shapely”. This word also conjures up images of a woman’s figure, beauty.
I see two interpretations: Either there is no music in the absence of love, or perhaps the music is only imagined, and the “true state” of the world, chaos, is seen in love’s absence.
or maybe you just like the mandolin and miss hearing it.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
beautiful. I like the contrast of order vs. chaos, the cacophony in the first stanza versus the music remembered in the next stanza. I especially like how you describe the sunset as “a long day’s decay.”
“some instrument. Something/shapely” There is a double meaning here, there is shape (as opposed to disorder) in the music, and the instrument itself is “shapely”. This word also conjures up images of a woman’s figure, beauty.
I see two interpretations: Either there is no music in the absence of love, or perhaps the music is only imagined, and the “true state” of the world, chaos, is seen in love’s absence.
or maybe you just like the mandolin and miss hearing it.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
beautiful. I like the contrast of order vs. chaos, the cacophony in the first stanza versus the music remembered in the next stanza. I especially like how you describe the sunset as “a long day’s decay.”
“some instrument. Something/shapely” There is a double meaning here, there is shape (as opposed to disorder) in the music, and the instrument itself is “shapely”. This word also conjures up images of a woman’s figure, beauty.
I see two interpretations: Either there is no music in the absence of love, or perhaps the music is only imagined, and the “true state” of the world, chaos, is seen in love’s absence.
or maybe you just like the mandolin and miss hearing it.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
beautiful. I like the contrast of order vs. chaos, the cacophony in the first stanza versus the music remembered in the next stanza. I especially like how you describe the sunset as “a long day’s decay.”
“some instrument. Something/shapely” There is a double meaning here, there is shape (as opposed to disorder) in the music, and the instrument itself is “shapely”. This word also conjures up images of a woman’s figure, beauty.
I see two interpretations: Either there is no music in the absence of love, or perhaps the music is only imagined, and the “true state” of the world, chaos, is seen in love’s absence.
or maybe you just like the mandolin and miss hearing it.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
beautiful. I like the contrast of order vs. chaos, the cacophony in the first stanza versus the music remembered in the next stanza. I especially like how you describe the sunset as “a long day’s decay.”
“some instrument. Something/shapely” There is a double meaning here, there is shape (as opposed to disorder) in the music, and the instrument itself is “shapely”. This word also conjures up images of a woman’s figure, beauty.
I see two interpretations: Either there is no music in the absence of love, or perhaps the music is only imagined, and the “true state” of the world, chaos, is seen in love’s absence.
or maybe you just like the mandolin and miss hearing it.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
Heh. Nice.
At one point, I decided that all the best poetry invoked a sort of artificial synesthesia, but I could never articulate it further.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
Heh. Nice.
At one point, I decided that all the best poetry invoked a sort of artificial synesthesia, but I could never articulate it further.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
Heh. Nice.
At one point, I decided that all the best poetry invoked a sort of artificial synesthesia, but I could never articulate it further.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
Heh. Nice.
At one point, I decided that all the best poetry invoked a sort of artificial synesthesia, but I could never articulate it further.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
Heh. Nice.
At one point, I decided that all the best poetry invoked a sort of artificial synesthesia, but I could never articulate it further.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
Heh. Nice.
At one point, I decided that all the best poetry invoked a sort of artificial synesthesia, but I could never articulate it further.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
Heh. Nice.
At one point, I decided that all the best poetry invoked a sort of artificial synesthesia, but I could never articulate it further.
January 18th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
Heh. Nice.
At one point, I decided that all the best poetry invoked a sort of artificial synesthesia, but I could never articulate it further.
January 18th, 2005 at 10:35 pm
The sunset ‘like a breaking mandolin’? Wow.
“Trying to remember you —
you played the mandolin, or the guitar;
there was some instrument. Something
shapely.”
I love these lines.
January 18th, 2005 at 10:35 pm
The sunset ‘like a breaking mandolin’? Wow.
“Trying to remember you —
you played the mandolin, or the guitar;
there was some instrument. Something
shapely.”
I love these lines.
January 18th, 2005 at 10:35 pm
The sunset ‘like a breaking mandolin’? Wow.
“Trying to remember you —
you played the mandolin, or the guitar;
there was some instrument. Something
shapely.”
I love these lines.
January 18th, 2005 at 10:35 pm
The sunset ‘like a breaking mandolin’? Wow.
“Trying to remember you —
you played the mandolin, or the guitar;
there was some instrument. Something
shapely.”
I love these lines.
January 18th, 2005 at 10:35 pm
The sunset ‘like a breaking mandolin’? Wow.
“Trying to remember you —
you played the mandolin, or the guitar;
there was some instrument. Something
shapely.”
I love these lines.
January 18th, 2005 at 10:35 pm
The sunset ‘like a breaking mandolin’? Wow.
“Trying to remember you —
you played the mandolin, or the guitar;
there was some instrument. Something
shapely.”
I love these lines.
January 18th, 2005 at 10:35 pm
The sunset ‘like a breaking mandolin’? Wow.
“Trying to remember you —
you played the mandolin, or the guitar;
there was some instrument. Something
shapely.”
I love these lines.
January 18th, 2005 at 10:35 pm
The sunset ‘like a breaking mandolin’? Wow.
“Trying to remember you —
you played the mandolin, or the guitar;
there was some instrument. Something
shapely.”
I love these lines.
January 18th, 2005 at 10:14 pm
I like this. I read the word “trees” as a verb:
“trees like a breaking mandolin”
January 18th, 2005 at 10:14 pm
I like this. I read the word “trees” as a verb:
“trees like a breaking mandolin”
January 18th, 2005 at 10:14 pm
I like this. I read the word “trees” as a verb:
“trees like a breaking mandolin”
January 18th, 2005 at 10:14 pm
I like this. I read the word “trees” as a verb:
“trees like a breaking mandolin”
January 18th, 2005 at 10:14 pm
I like this. I read the word “trees” as a verb:
“trees like a breaking mandolin”
January 18th, 2005 at 10:14 pm
I like this. I read the word “trees” as a verb:
“trees like a breaking mandolin”
January 18th, 2005 at 10:14 pm
I like this. I read the word “trees” as a verb:
“trees like a breaking mandolin”
January 18th, 2005 at 10:14 pm
I like this. I read the word “trees” as a verb:
“trees like a breaking mandolin”
January 18th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
This made me very sad. Missing my own mandolin player. Beautiful.
(And on a completely unrelated note, do your meds ever make your feet swell? My new doctor put me on zoloft for the panic attacks I was having last month, and in the last couple of days my feet have started puffing up. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.)
January 18th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
This made me very sad. Missing my own mandolin player. Beautiful.
(And on a completely unrelated note, do your meds ever make your feet swell? My new doctor put me on zoloft for the panic attacks I was having last month, and in the last couple of days my feet have started puffing up. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.)
January 18th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
This made me very sad. Missing my own mandolin player. Beautiful.
(And on a completely unrelated note, do your meds ever make your feet swell? My new doctor put me on zoloft for the panic attacks I was having last month, and in the last couple of days my feet have started puffing up. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.)
January 18th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
This made me very sad. Missing my own mandolin player. Beautiful.
(And on a completely unrelated note, do your meds ever make your feet swell? My new doctor put me on zoloft for the panic attacks I was having last month, and in the last couple of days my feet have started puffing up. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.)
January 18th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
This made me very sad. Missing my own mandolin player. Beautiful.
(And on a completely unrelated note, do your meds ever make your feet swell? My new doctor put me on zoloft for the panic attacks I was having last month, and in the last couple of days my feet have started puffing up. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.)
January 18th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
This made me very sad. Missing my own mandolin player. Beautiful.
(And on a completely unrelated note, do your meds ever make your feet swell? My new doctor put me on zoloft for the panic attacks I was having last month, and in the last couple of days my feet have started puffing up. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.)
January 18th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
This made me very sad. Missing my own mandolin player. Beautiful.
(And on a completely unrelated note, do your meds ever make your feet swell? My new doctor put me on zoloft for the panic attacks I was having last month, and in the last couple of days my feet have started puffing up. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.)
January 18th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
This made me very sad. Missing my own mandolin player. Beautiful.
(And on a completely unrelated note, do your meds ever make your feet swell? My new doctor put me on zoloft for the panic attacks I was having last month, and in the last couple of days my feet have started puffing up. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.)