It’s Open Link Night at #dVerse. This piece was inspired by the title of a Matthew Mayfield song.
Wandering
long stark white hallways
of the maze in my mind
that I have rendered featureless
sterile
scrubbed clean
with sand
until it sparkles
until it bleeds
I have inhaled all the memory
all the chaos
the pain
deeply into my lungs
in an effort to purify it
bronchi of sage and charcoal
I breathe out in black
a thick cloud of smoke
that floats in the air
leaving me empty
momentarily pure
weightless
© 2017 Christine Elizabeth Ray – All rights Reserved
Brave & Reckless 
Stunning imagery
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Thank you Devereaux!
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you’re welcome
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🙂
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I concur!
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Thank you!
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I love his music. Thanks for inspiring me to look him up and see new albums I didn’t know existed.
Devereaux Frazier said exactly what I was thinking, phenomenal imagery.
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I think that Matthew Mayfield is an amazing poet and his music seriously gets under my skin
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One of my go-to’s when I am feeling the need to be contemplative or need to get in touch with emotions.
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Indeed! History, Desire and God’s Fault almost always get me n the right state of mind to write.
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I could really feel this one… holding my breath while reading and then a big exhale at the end… I felt lighter. Beautifully written!
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Wow– it is very cool to hear that it was so evocative for you
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I like the thought behind this one, and the monochrome. Either black or white.
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I liked the feel of contrast and sharpness
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It works very well.
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Thank you!
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The imagery of breathing smoke like that sounds either like an act of cleaning or something very painful… love it as a metaphor.
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Little of both I think. . .
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This triumphant of poetic captured me:
I breathe out in black
a thick cloud of smoke
that floats in the air
leaving me empty
I can see it visually…the black smoke coming out of our mouths and making humans feel empty inside. You are such a remarkable poet with a beautiful gift. 🙂
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Wow! Thank you.
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Your very welcome. 🙂 I miss reading you and SD. Hope I didn’t miss much. How have you been?
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Been a pretty crazy couple of weeks with work and SD and my blog exploding but things are calming down and I am starting to write again. Feels good.
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Cool. Cool. I’m glad things are up to speed and your getting some writing done. 🙂
How many poets so far have joined SD?
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I love these lines/sections:
“that I have rendered featureless
sterile
scrubbed clean”
“bronchi of sage and charcoal”
“leaving me empty
momentarily pure
weightless”
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I’m so glad they spoke to you.
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I never thought about smoking making one lighter before, but I totally get it; seeing the “bad thing” expelled, even if it was put there just to be expelled, can feel like a victory. Like, “Come here, dragon! Come kidnap me so I can vanquish you!”
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Hadn’t thought about it quite like that. . .
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Nice imagery…enjoyed it.
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Thank you
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I love the imagery. Sage as purifier. Beautiful.
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Thank you!
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You’re very welcome. I can’t wait to read more of your writings.
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I am honored.
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Words which paint a graphic image. Well done.
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Thank you very much
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Like film noir in words. Nicely penned.
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Thank you!
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Reblogged this on Secret First Draft: Member of the Sudden Denouement Literary Collective and commented:
Christine Ray/Brave and Reckless
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