was it the sunrise or the sunset
i can’t tell from the painting
yet, now i dwell on reframing
in the rearview, by the sea
i was played … completely
their game began without me
but i caught a ray in this love set
time tears open a mouth-like sky
blue emptiness pours into blue
the maze unspools – no end in view
our silence in our arbor stroll
if that’s the color of your soul
then let mine come to bruise no more
in your sacrifice, why was i the one to die
in the moon that blotted out the light
you said i stripped them of their agency
but did you ask them? please speak plainly
time has proved i wasn’t playing
in sick or health was never a saying
before seven years of plenty came seven years of praying
you play the victim as you’re sitting down to fight
i always treated you as my rose
and still, you sold me for a penny
yes, sparrows are indeed so many
wings in motion, just like any
they break the dark in search of light
they drive ahead through the night
now appearing with the crows, you fake some bright eyes for white nose
i’ve considered my worth, obviously
easy come, easy go – was that what you meant?
maybe i wasn’t worth a cent
i paid your groceries – not your rent
how could you claim i chose convenience
when all i gave was dignified lenience
but maybe it meant nothing, honestly
but as i tear through my own mind
and lose this self inside of time
i’m scared there’s nothing left of mine
i wish you’d wake me from a dream –
“dear, you made a sound in sleep,
may i hold you close, my heart i keep?”
truly, i would believe you’re kind
and maybe you’d believe me too
and we would lie forever, in this dream
as the noon one day each year in Syene
when solstice light falls straight, serene
flooding into what’s below
the water glistening in the glow
the loving light comes driving through
Insights:
This poem takes the format of seven, 7-line stanzas. In the rhyme scheme (A-B-B-C-C-C-A), the A’s can be read by themselves working to be reflective echoes, giving each stanza an emotional “frame.”
- “love set” – a set in tennis won without loss of a game. In this relationship, I didn’t know I was taking part in a game. I was only aware of the radiance I saw in my partner.
- “maze” and “maize” are homophones. The words “blue” and “maize” could also refer to thread colors of a university.
- “the moon that blotted out the light” – I’m using an eclipse as a metaphor for the end of the relationship, where the moon stopped reflecting any light and revealed the darkness that had always been present.
- “in sick or health” – a deliberate alteration of the phrase “in sickness and in health” (Matthew 19:5-6).
- “before seven years of plenty came seven years of praying” – a deliberate alteration, alluding to the biblical story of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream (Genesis 41:29-30). Joseph foresaw seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. This metaphor highlights cycles of abundance and scarcity in life, particularly in the context of emotional or relational experiences.
- “sparrows are indeed so many” – Matthew 10:29-31. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.”
- “the crows” – crows often symbolize death, misfortune, or forewarning. They are juxtaposed with sparrows (typically symbols of hope or light).
- “Syene” – Syene (modern-day Aswan, Egypt) was once referenced by Eratosthenes to calculate the Earth’s size, due to its alignment with the sun at noon during the summer solstice. Here, it symbolizes the upright rays of love and truth in a relationship, reflecting the “ray” referenced in the first stanza.
Image credit: The Pozzo di San Patrizio, Orvieto (9 April 2006), Bob Tubbs. A Latin inscription on the well states QUOD NATURA MUNIMENTO INVIDERAT INDUSTRIA ADIECIT ‘what nature has begrudged, industry has supplied’. To paraphrase: “Nature didn’t give us water here, so we dug deep and made our own way”.
Primitive Joe 
