Sunday, July 27, 2008

One Single Impression: Faces


This week's prompt for One Single Impression was "faces." A hodge-podge today. Eight haiku, two tankas (my first ever). . . and an old poem that I posted back in April. I tried to make a nice collage of faces - and I did - but then I was worried that I didn't have people's permission to show their wonderfulness and I couldn't figure out a way to disguise them without making it just ugly, so... no decoration today, just words... except for Memling, down at the bottom.


How did I not see
The ugliness in your face
When I still loved you


~~~


How did I not see
The sweet kindness of your face
Until I knew you


~~~


Faceless in the grave
I wonder what your life was
Centuries ago


~~~


Why won’t you face me
Why not say what it’s about
So I can have peace

~~~


Faceless demons taunt
Their hateful words spewed at me
From inside my mind

~~~

My sister’s children
In your faces I see hers
And know she lives on


~~~


It’s not the features
That make a face beautiful
It’s the soul inside

~~~

I want to make peace
With the face in my mirror
Why does she mock me?

~~~

Face it, he intoned
You'll never amount to much
Like he'd cast a spell
I believed that lie for years
Until one day I woke up

~~~

Just seeing your face
Tells me miracles are real
I'm not your mother
But I love you like I was
Deep inside my cells and bones


I'm going to add one more. I've posted this before - back in April - but it is truly about a face, so I thought I'd share it again here, with the accompanying art that inspired it. If you are interested in the story behind it, you can check back here.


MEMLING'S PORTRAIT OF A MAN

I see your face
Staring across centuries of canvas
And I am drawn through time by your magnetism
I know I loved you once, or would have,
You look so much a part of me
With that quiet fanaticism
Maybe we were lovers in another incarnation
And it was so fine that neither of us has forgotten
In the five hundred years since you were you
And I, whoever I was then.


36 comments:

Anonymous said...

..what does a face seek after all~love,freedom,peace,truth_and chronicled on the face is this journey..many thanks for sharing..

Anonymous said...

Beautiful haikus, like a scattering of little gems!

storyteller said...

Amazing all … the first stopped me in my tracks and made me wonder why I’d never had this thought, but should have. The second allowed me breathe again. You’ve captured and shared so many rich ideas that ‘resonate’ in my mind … conjuring up faces from my past. Like you, I started and abandoned a collage for the same reasons and ended up with two totally different ideas for this week’s theme.
Hugs and blessings,

SandyCarlson said...

Storyteller speaks for me, too, Raven. These are strong. Our faces do tell stories. I will be thinking of "face it" as a strange admonition from now on. Whose face? Whose truth? What effect?

Anonymous said...

great haikus and I really like your Memling poem, strange to think one could have live another life before this and boy did it your poem make me think

Anonymous said...

"face it" as a strange admonition_
Not As A Poet....a poet is a ' poet Sans Frontières'-no narrow boundaries for him-he is everybody's poet,for everyone~
'who's truth'-'what effect'~sandy carlson we cannot lose u to these confinements~till u r a poet ie..(forgive
the interruption,couldn't help it)_

Lisa at Greenbow said...

These are all such good poems Raven. They are so like the many faces that show up in our lives.

Anonymous said...

Your words are very inspiring. Beautiful poetry!

San said...

"Face"--such an evocative theme. And Raven, you took it and ran with it!

As in your wordzzles, you have a knack for tapping into psychological depth with just the right details.

Anonymous said...

LOVE your haikus!

Anonymous said...

..fool that i am-always facing problems of comprehension_re-read sandy carlson's cmnt "face it" in the third person and got it on the second bounce!..

Raven said...

Well, I don't usually write responses because - I don't know I'm just grateful to be read and everyone is so kind, but...

san - you compliments (on several posts added to this one) are so cool that they make my head explode (in a good way).

zoya gautam - you are anything but a fool.

Well, then I have to say to storyteller, that stopping someone in their tracks is a pretty cool compliment too... and then I feel like this is unfair to others because "a scattering of gems" is pretty cool too and then I'm leaving out other people who also were incredibly kind and I am profoundly grateful to you all.

And this is why I don't like responding to comments because I either just want to say thank you and if I make specific responses to some I feel like I'm not being respectful to others.

And now I feel like I have made a total fool of myself...

This all started out because I wanted to say that zoya g is not a fool in any way.

Whew.

Roswila said...

"Face it, he intoned
You'll never amount to much
Like he'd cast a spell
I believed that lie for years
Until one day I woke up"

This really supports my own struggle to stay awake. BTW, you seem to be staying very conscious, if these these intense and moving poems are any evidence.

Carletta said...

I started with the first one and went "Oh" and continued for each and every one until I came to the last one and it blew me away! I just love it - I really do!

Robert said...

The one about your sister really was touching.

Edward S Gault said...

Great haikus, and even better philosophy!
Thank You for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Your poems explored all the different "faces" we use in this culture. Very nice.

Anonymous said...

You showed us the different aspect of faces. Very interesting and thoughtful.

weed it out

Anonymous said...

And when we face our fears and failings, we can wake up and breathe again.

maryt/theteach said...

Your marvelous words about emotions and faces thrill me, Katherine!

Yes I blew it again and sent everybody to my other blog...I've fixed it! :)

me ann my camera said...

All wonderful! And although a collage of faces would have been an appropriate accompaniment, I prefer your post as it is for you have touched on so many faces that I know too.

They would have looked differently and I would not have recognized them as well with the photos of others.
ann

spacedlaw said...

Too many too different to really comment in an ordinate manner.
I can relate to a lot of this.

sgreerpitt said...

Without the photos, it gives me an opportunity to imagine the faces.

Tumblewords: said...

Powerful haiku abounding with aha's and truth!

Quiet Paths said...

Well, you've done it again. I've read these more than once and they all stand solidly alone and together as a whole. That last one is a stunner.

barbs.haiku said...

Your poetry seems to be rattling the skeletons of your mind and heart, Raven. I also have re-read them. They're all quite marvelous!

Anonymous said...

I can identify with every one of these! Wonderful work, Raven

Anonymous said...

raven, these are some deep heart-felt kuz that took my breath away... thru a range of emotions i cannot begin to understand... just simply beautiful.. thank you for posting all of them... and yr tankas were just as powerful...

Anonymous said...

Raven, all the words pull a chord in my heart... Beautiful.

Anonymous said...

I particularly enjoyed the first two. A thought provoking contradiction of truths.

Anonymous said...

"It's the soul inside" is my choice for a favorite line. Your poetry always enlightens me. Without seeing a collage, I put all these together in thought, and envisioned one. Tremendous work!

Anonymous said...

What a great collection. The first two work beautifully as a pair. The first tanka is very powerful, and I too love the Memling picture; your response to it is great.

Kathie Brown said...

"It's not the face,...it's the soul." That says it all. You covered all the bases. I really like the portrait and the last poem best.

Geraldine said...

Your talent is really shining in this collection of works Raven! Well done. Touching and beautiful to read.

www.mypoeticpath.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

Gosh, each one is so beautiful I wanted to keep reading even when they were done. So I went back and enjoyed them all again. Beautiful.

Joyce said...

So many beautiful and true things here, Raven.

I'm thankful you no longer believe the "You'll never amount to anything" lie. What strange cruelty prompts such an utterance?

I wonder if you like time-travel books as much as I do? I'm thinking of your last poem. :)