Pieces No. 13, paper collage, 2022
and in the end, there is only this mysterious absence fitful as a question-mark: an apple core, a fishing wire—a note to myself all that you love is waiting on the other side of paradise a form in the mirror the wheels have turned cold a symphony outran itself the peacock feather tattooed on my arm is a meditation on the nature of daylight i open a drawer, and i weep over the first signs of spring: it has come to this and only this i am alive and my body is as naked as a bed sheet a poem ripples over the landscape a face more beautiful than air and that’s when i notice the pine tree someone, somewhere ceases to be a hawk ascending like the Nile a dandelion full of solipsism a pencil dangling by its neck
The Used Life 
8 responses to “It Has Come to This”
Love the collage. I often use a combination of women and flowers in my artwork.
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Thank you! I do, too. It’s a very gratifying combination…even healing, in a way.
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Thats True. A nice combination.
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Thanks!
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This is wonderful. I especially like:
mysterious absence
fitful as a question-mark:
and
a hawk ascending like the Nile
a dandelion full of solipsism
a pencil
dangling by its neck
Well done!!
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Thank you so much, Bob!
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This poem is good…a lot of gorgeous lines..today, the line “and that’s when i notice the pine tree
someone, somewhere ceases to be” really spoke to me. A friend of mine recently lost their son, and it always amazes me that in the midst of your own pain and heartache, there is another experiencing the world in a beautiful way..like “a poem ripples over the landscape
a face more beautiful than air”..well done
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You’re right. It’s sometimes difficult to realize that, even in the midst of grief and heartache (or whatever obstacles we may be facing), we are still very much a part of the rhythms of life. Someone somewhere is dying. Someone somewhere is being born. Relationships are beginning and ending. Someone is bringing new art, music, and poetry into being. I’m happy you enjoyed the poem, my friend. Thank you, as always, for the thoughtful feedback.
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