About Jodey Bateman Pablo Neruda Translations by Jodey Bateman Contributors Abuela Musica Jalapeno Peppers Children’s Page Finder Submissions

Deadwood Embers | Poem

DEADWOOD EMBERS

 
                       From deadwood
                       the flame's greatest incandescence
                       burns
                       until the deadwood branches
                       only momentarily
                       hold their shapes
                       Lightness transcends
                       Form remains
                       until too light to stand
                       the deadwood collapses
                       onto the embers already fallen
                       creating scenes and dreams
                       that I recognize
                       and remember

                       It's all there
                       there in the embers' heaped incandescence
                       in the deadwood's afterglow
                       Embers as clouds and rocks
                       reveal the stories
                       the creation of the universe
                       the flying hats
                       the magic bunny
                       the naked tree
                       the mystic vortex
                       black hearts
                       brilliantly glowing caves
                       caverns of shadow and light
                       beckoning
                       inviting
                       revealing the truth of deadwood embers
 

  - Pamela Patrick
 
to Pamela  /  to Moongate