Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Sailing Ships

Rising up

From fallen buildings
And stripped skylines
From dark spaces
Brick lined rooms
In basements of white houses
Where there is everything
In the mass of destruction
And like many men
We emerge with
Our hands raised
And callused
Raised
And on fire
Crossing waters and oceans and seas
Delivering our native soil,
Which is just dirt
And burning buildings
And broken windows
And empty eyes
Across waters and oceans and seas,
We leave pieces of ourselves
Just to find home
Yet still
People on fire
People in pieces
Sailing ships across waters
Across oceans
Across seas
Seeing only black and white beneath bows
Red,
Beneath their boots
And the weight of searching
Of finding home
Someday,
When the winds have stopped
And the night has been washed clean with light
When we have lowered our skulls
And our crossbones
Our campaign will end
It is then that we will stand still
In calm water
Hands on fire
We will fuse our pieces into places
Where they are not so small
Where they are not so broken
Where they are
Children
Mothers
And Fathers
Not angry men
Plowing ships into shores
No
When the wind stops
We will find our place
Among the pieces
Beneath the shadows of our sails
We will find color
Through clear water
Through common ground
Slipping fingers into fingers
We will find home
With hands open
And hearts on fire





This poem was written for an ekphrasis event held at Hot Shops in Omaha,Ne.  The piece I chose to write about (picture) was created by Ron Manabat and is entitled "Coral". I urge you to check out both Hot Shops and Ron Manabat.

This Poem is has been linked to dVerse-poets pub "Open Link Night"

12 comments:

  1. ekphrasis - wow, you did a magnificent job. The drama in this was quite moving and suspenseful. native soil - "just dirt" I like that. Also, there is great hope in one day coming to shore peacefully as children, mothers, and fathers, and not as angry men.

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  2. nice...what did they think of your piece? writing for them that is most important...

    some really nice imagery...the red under bow...i felt conquest...adventure...trials...nice piece...

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  3. You did a really fine job of writing to this glass piece. I looked it over good before reading and really appreciate your finding a language for this unusual piece. And the poem by itself is outstanding. Thank you.

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  4. Great job with this piece, love the story like feel to it and such vivid imagery.

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  5. i just love your style of writing dustin..never leave here disappointed - always wrapped in your words...great poem for a great artwork - fav lines...because they just hit me and spoke to me very personally..

    Across waters and oceans and seas,
    We leave pieces of ourselves
    Just to find home

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  6. What more can be said! I fell into your words, and sailed straight to their wonderful end, smooth write, wonderful image, a fantastic visit!

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  7. I saw this as a potent anti-war rallying cry but it's morning so I apologize if I've 'missed the boat'. The language and iterations were hypnotic and engaging, well done.

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  8. Migration...by land or sea...leaving pieces of ourself to find home....thoughts abound here...bkm

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  9. This is just brilliant. I love your use of repetition to drill in the points you want to make. And that sculpture is so good. Thanks for sharing this at dVerse.

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  10. It's been awhile since I've been by here, and I don't know why after reading this. I've missed reading here :)

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