Spirit Punctuation



When I was twelve, my father sent me into the wilderness to meditate, to fast, and to pray. There was no moon and the trees were the shaking antlers of dawn. By midday, my iPod batteries failed and my teeth began to hurt. I was cold, alone, and I wished for my own bed instead of the thin sheets of the frozen leaves. By nightfall, I could not speak. The shadows waved their fingers before me. I closed my eyes. I opened them. I remembered nothing. Then the commas came. There were no words but the commas came. The commas which would stay with me all my life. The commas which would breath with me as I breathed, the commas which would keep me breathing until the end.



________________________
for Troy Lloyd

Comments

Exquisite!
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troylloyd said…
wow! thanx Gary!

some beautiful commas, the lone naked comma at full-left, i saw its tail wiggle a bit in shiver until the antlers came, the extension, the acceptance of naturality & the live growth which realization generated, the conjoined comma, at initial look a unicomma, but then the togetherness, almost a hurricane, an unstoppable force, the truth or just what feels good, reassurance, the warmth of touch, we're all innit together, the tooth, the unthought of tooth, nobody thinks of teeth until a tooth hurts, chew, chew, chew -- the teeth, entryway, essential aid in the breakdown of nutrients, smiles so wide, deeproots & our skeleton exposed, open to the world.

the cold, it causes a severe psychophysiological alteration in me, i have slept amongst the leaves & the moon-shadow can transform, radical change, sometimes neccessary of extremity, the constancy of sunrise, how day is alive, living yet again.
Anonymous said…
Great post and comma art!

Your antler motif reminds me of a dream I had as a teenager about a drawing that I remembered upon waking and sketched out before I would forget it. It seemed like a very archetypal image, of three deer heads with long antlers. I still have that sketch somewhere...
gary barwin said…
Angela,

Thanks for the comment. I had recently read some of your work over at otoliths.

This poem, for example, is fantastic. It builds towards a great ending.

http://the-otolith.blogspot.com/2008/06/angela-genusa-poasis-of-assimilation-my.html


And Troy,

Always glad of your exegesis--your 'eggs a Jesus' as Frank Davey says. Thanks.