A Soft Heart In My Breast

By Solace

They sit at a café by the main street
And when asked they’ll claim
That they’re simply waiting for the dawn
“The dawn of what” I always ask with confusion

“Of something old” they say in unison
In quiet contemplative silent assurance
And I can’t help but feel a little left out
A little slighted in the smallest of ways

What am I waiting for, I wonder softly
A rose garden or a tired weatherboard vessel
Where I can lie my tired feet and sigh
With that contented and relieved exhalation

I’ve visited exotic places, met exotic people
Wandered the edges of sanity in my mind
And suffered pangs of heartache and heartlessness
Yet always I come back here, to these same roads

Sometimes I hate them with impassioned grief
Regret fills me to the brim and overflows
And sometimes I am completed by the simplicity
Of sitting with a soul in my eye and a harp in my heart

“why do you sit and yet you never smile?”

The mere motions beggar me
I’ve bled dry my efforts
Ceased my exultations
Become one with my ghost

If I smile it will all be okay
At least for a moment, on this day
But would the birds change their tune
These drought-ridden flowers of a sudden bloom?

I sit and I never smile,
I give laughter barely a moments thought
And ponder the insignificance
Of all I’ve ever done…

Drenched in self piteous irritation
Monotony breathes through this machine
Cognition like a wet blanket drowns us
And thin our souls – waifs – minute figures on the sunset

You expect a wailing at a funeral like this
Clutching hands and tissues as abundant as cancer
To blow your nose in, to know your place with
Discarded on a favourable breeze and blowing to Tahiti

They’ll mop your deadpan imprint face from the floor
When the tsunami hits on that fateful day
And replace it with an afghan rug
Improving the living space exponentially

I’m waiting for something old
Confronted by something exciting and new
I hold my breath and wait for the wind to change
Hoping my face will remain in this grimace

And they played violins the other day
Soaring through the afternoon air
My wretched hands bloody and battered
Cultivating seedlings in the scorched earth

Force-fed impotent glares
Cadillac smiles and spittle flecked laughter
Pushing at the earth, peddling hope
Expecting something to happen

Something beautiful, inviolate and strange
Like a siren song from a leper
Or a melody ripped from a sandstorm
As if serenity lived on in our eyes

Or maybe, just maybe
Even in our smiles

Unauthorized Copying Is Prohibited. Ask the author first.
© 2006 Solace
Published on Thursday, October 19, 2006.     Filed under: "Poetry"
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Comments on "A Soft Heart In My Breast"

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  • A former member wrote: "I am completed by the simplicity Of sitting with a soul in my eye and a harp in my heart" - Pure magic. Blissful eloquence. Hayden, you embody all that is great in art. Always keep it up.

  • A former member wrote: you breathe in what moves you; and when you exhale, it stirs us beyond...and beyond words.. . there is defintiely something beautiful in these lines, these gentle turns of corners and phrases... gorgeous and gilded.. .the end sublime...ness

  • A former member wrote: "Cognition like a wet blanket drowns us" Every inch, every depth, every whispered breath & scorched description, like seeing the ion-dust on the tip of an atom, is perfection. Is poetry. "And they played violins the other day" burns the soul, beautifully.

  • Anth On Thursday, October 19, 2006, Anth (1133)By person wrote:

    the first two stanzas have overwhelmed me before i can even continue. utter beauty

  • Anth On Thursday, October 19, 2006, Anth (1133)By person wrote:

    god this poem has drowned me, i o love the part lynaes higlighted for the same reasons, and the overall impact of this, id have to say is one of my personal faves of your works

  • TaintedButterfly On Thursday, October 19, 2006, TaintedButterfly (670)By person wrote:

    OMG! This goes beyond expected wisdom! This is moving in a sense that it made me want to hug you. To show you life is good, we breathe a new day, new night. Yet we still have our faith, our smiles.

  • TaintedButterfly On Thursday, October 19, 2006, TaintedButterfly (670)By person wrote:

    The ending was just so perfect. You just don't know how much I took away from this piece. I think you've inspired me. Thank you! Amazing. Julia~

  • Lynaes On Thursday, October 19, 2006, Lynaes (859)By person wrote:

    Yet always I come back here, to these same roads" that verse is so significant to me.. revisiting places from the past.. going here there and everywhere, but always having your heart permanently stamped in a certain place.. you are magnificent. Thank you.

  • Lynaes On Thursday, October 19, 2006, Lynaes (859)By person wrote:

    Ah, your poetry is food for my soul. "I’ve visited exotic places, met exotic people Wandered the edges of sanity in my mind And suffered pangs of heartache and heartlessness..

  • A_Puppet_Show On Thursday, October 19, 2006, A_Puppet_Show (166)By person wrote:

    The ingredient's that make you are toxic, and they cant be satisfied by any one thing. Maybe there is a formula, maybe not ... satisfaction, nostalgia as a life force. You look in others and I look in you, we do here.

  • A_Puppet_Show On Thursday, October 19, 2006, A_Puppet_Show (166)By person wrote:

    You once told me that intelligence pervated my work. Right back at you, and more then work. Your a god Sol. And thats about the worst thing I can say to this, but it makes me smile and I love it. Tiger


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