The prophet in my heart bleeds rusty sermons
while flowers push through cracked cement
tickling my soul’s long walk, softening it,
until sun’s filtered light exposes
scores of melted scars
feeding on my tender flesh.
Before morning, I exist as I am.
Torment crawls under darkness,
my life swept aside. Sometimes
when the moon is new, I hum.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Process Notes:
In burnt confession, I took on the persona of someone with visible burn scars. For inspiration, I imagined the main character of the young adult book, Firegirl, grown-up. For further inspiration, I used the wordle words from The Sunday Whirl. Visit the whirl for more pieces using the word’s in the wordle below:
undercaws 
Wonderful, imaginative poem, Brenda. The last line is fantastic. I love the idea of someone taking comfort in darkness.
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A powerful poem, Brenda, made even more so by the explanation in your process notes. I’ve never heard of “Firegirl”; I’ll have to check it out sometime soon.
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You had me at, “tickling my soul’s long walk.” You handled a difficult theme with a delicate touch.
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I too saw emotional and spiritual scarring and how at night, alone, sometimes we are free to just be whatever we have become in the whole process of living our lives. Your process notes were gems of understanding, you took physical existence and experience and lifted it into the realm of the Universal. Wonderful write and these wordle words seem almost created for exactly what you did with them.
Elizabeth
http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/
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WOW! Brilliant images in this very powerful piece!
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Loved the way you used the wordle words to carve the imagery in the poem!!
“while flowers push through cracked cement
tickling my soul’s long walk, softening it,”
my favorite lines here today!!
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Lovely, deep thought process, Full of vivid imagery and simply a lovely write~!
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Brenda, I often write under the influence of a character too. And humming is just a great response. That line is tangible:
sun’s filtered light exposes
scores of melted scars
feeding on my tender flesh.
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I love . . .
“Sometimes
when the moon is new, I hum.”
Strong imagery in this intriguing write, I enjoyed reading.
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Beautifully written, Brenda. Thanks for the process notes. I also came up with an interpretation like Mary’s.
Pamela
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love the imagery
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Just the best!
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“scores of melted scars
feeding on my tender flesh”
That is incredibly powerful.
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Interesting poem, Brenda. If you had not written your notes, I would have interpreted it as having been written from a persona coming to terms with discomforting thoughts (scars being emotional rather than physical) But during the night the feelings of ‘torment’ dissipate, and alas the person is able to hum by the light of the moon, accepting who he/she is.
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I like your interpretation, Mary, and can relate that to the character Jessica (Firegirl). The narrator only hums under a new moon, though, when darkness covers the sky….well perhaps she would hum on cloudy nights, too. In the book Jessica’s scars are emotional and physical. She may never feel normal with other people again. The author shows us how people respond to her. It is awkward at best.
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