Poem: Common Epitaph

[tugger]

COMMON EPITAPH

No footprints. On
Windblown sand they
Danced,

These ghosts. Led
By loneliness and
Rain

A mystery made
Them turn the
Knife.

Perhaps lacking, or
Misunderstanding they
Just

Went along; said
The rain was
Cool

When to them,
It was brutally
Cold.

— tugger

 

[third man girl]

I don't understand this one. It is much grimmer than your other poems and it gives me a cold shiver. Are the ghosts alone together; misunderstanding each other?

It gives me an incredible visual image of two wraiths gliding and bobbing along the sand, swirling around each other, making eye contact, but mute, unable to communicate. Icy, penetrating, driving rain.

Brrrrrr. Have I got this entirely wrong?

Third Man Girl

 

[tugger]

Have I got this entirely wrong?

Thanks for responding. I was really anxious to see what you thought of this one. I think I want, however, to not throw out any explanations just yet. I'd like to see what responses others might have to the poem.

But, yeah, it not a nice poem.

Do you know that there are fifteen Ss in this poem and one C that sounds like an S?

 

[Wabbit]

Really liked it a lot tugger. Beautiful

I will be interested to find out what it all means. I think poetry is the most subjective of all artforms. For me: The poems is speaking of beauty and passion that was not really felt and more importantly not even understood. That's just me though. I'm kinda strange lol



Keep up the great work!

Regards
SillyWabbit

 

[third man girl]

Do you know that there are fifteen Ss in this poem and one C that sounds like an S?

Are you trying to go all mathematical and alliterative on me?

Poems: words - emotions - visions.

Wraiths, running, wrangling, railing, writhing, rolling, wracking, rushing, wreaking havoc on the sand . . .

I refuse to be tamed. Rant over

Third Man Girl

 

[piedro]

very good work tugger
it was eerie and a bit emotional.
what i interpreted it to be was two souls deceiving each other. of course i might be completely wrong
can you explain why the word arrangement was such?and also what the S's had to do?

 

[Ashlea]

Ghost who feel cold? All very intriguing. Was puzzled by this stanza:

A mystery made
Them turn the
Knife.

What mystery, what knife, can ghosts move knives, are they really ghosts?

Otherwise, a magnificent addition to the Tugger collection.

 

[tugger]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and respond to the poem. I'm sorry I'm just now getting around to discussing it. I had a very busy weekend with tennis, a music gig, and Easter dinner with family, and was only on the computer long enough to post a couple of other poems. So, I was indeed as Raven has called me, a "hit and run artist."

Anyway, about the poem. When I wrote it, I was not paying much attention to meaning. I was more interested in the way the words sounded and the form of the poem (I'd just finished reading some William Carlos Williams, as you might have guessed). The words just came out and I tried not to censor them. I just wrote them down. Only after finishing the poem did I go back and try to make some meaning of it. I made a just a couple of tweaks to make the words of the poem more consistant, but otherwise decided I liked the ambiguity of the poem. I think the meaning, therefore, is up to the reader to deduce. The poem simply provides some images that forces the reader to use their own imagination. So, you see, you are all correct in your interpretations of the poem. I hope this pleases you rather than disappoints.

 

[Sitaram]

Cenotaph is an interesting word. It means empty tomb. Sometimes, cenotaphs are erected as memorials for decease who leave no bodily remains.

Just a thought....