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Saturday, September 11, 2010

NINE YEARS


Superimposition of Dealey Plaza on Dallas Skyline

NOVEMBER   1972
Freezes
Fades colors gray under a cast iron sky.
Reflects light in dull water washed
And blown cold silence.

This year
Cruel far more
Than sun split April;
Worn, worn and rubbed down.
Lulling outlines into nulled objects.

Dull days
All steel blue
No dusk, no dawn, no ember glow in
Dallas’ lines perpendicular and parallel.
Lifeless lines that intersect a pallid sky.

No season this.
No glassy brilliance revealed.
No reflections on metal cars or lofty towers.

The days turn my mind as the random stone
Blown over and exposed as bland as its other side.
A month spilled like this morning’s milk
Left to dry and overfilm my realm.

NOVEMBER   1963
Felt like this
While autumn’s lights and brilliant colors
Belied the lamentation.


© Gay Reiser Cannon. All Rights Reserved

34 comments:

  1. Of the highest example Gay u capture feeling & emotion that once read, the reader is so move in reflection it is difficult too post comment. In other words speechless.

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  2. Thank you Phil. I appreciate you so much. Thank you for reading and telling me that. This has lain in a folder for years.

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  3. "And blown cold silence." I actually love the image this forms in my mind. Well done.

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  4. You have managed to mirror the superimposition with your words - layers upon layers as the reader catches glimpses of time, thought and emotion. Bl**dy brilliant!
    "Dull days
    All Steel blue"

    Then to treat the reader to

    "The days turn my mind as the random stone
    Blown over and exposed as bland as its other side.
    A month spilled like this morning’s milk
    Left to dry and overfilm my realm."

    I am in awe of your writing :)

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  5. I am thunderstruck at your comments. And so pleased. I think it takes a while to take stock of something so horrific and this was written at a time later when I was able to weigh the effects. Thank you.

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  6. Blown over and exposed as bland as its other side.
    A month spilled like this morning’s milk
    Left to dry

    my fav bits in it :-) where the heck is the thumbs up icon? :-( ... very well written i enjoyed the image

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  7. both of these days i remember from moment to moment and the days that followed...they define us and our generation...both days where as if time stopped and the heart did not beat or breathe....bkm

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  8. wow. blown away...both of these are great writes. the end of the first...the turned stone spilled milk...love it. great one shot!

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  9. AMAZING Bea! extremely powerful read! you took me there, back with lots of images in my head..:) lovely one shot!

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  10. Enjoyed your thoughtful reflection.

    I was just out of high school, my first job in radio broadcasting...I was on the air when it happened, and was one of those who broke the news..

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  11. Thank you guys. I was in Dallas just after college and we heard the rumors before they got on the air. My roommate's brother had just been killed in an auto accident. He was a good friend. It seemed like everything had sifted through our fingers and innocence was lost. Appreciate your comments. I thought the time from the event somewhat mirrors the times since 9/11.

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  12. "worn, worn, and rubbed down"

    I liked that. The words and the meaning a nice harmony.

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  13. Gay....
    It brought me back.
    I was in 8th grade.

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  14. The tragedies and mourning are expressed in your poem with care and artistry. Reading through the comments, I'm so glad to find that you rediscovered this piece of writing. Wonder what it was like for you to read it again after so long.

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  15. This poem transports me back to both events, both eras, both sorrows. Really fine.

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  16. Thank you Glynn, G-Man, and LL for your remarks. Shocks as great as these make you take stock of things in a way you never did before. Adam, if hadn't been for this forum, I would never have made a "blog". It seemed all I could keep up with --Twitter, Facebook. But after I made this one I made the one on wordpress and pulled out all the Texas poems. That's why you're seeing me also signed in as hollyheir. When putting it together I stumbled upon Nine Years and decided it was the correct one to post this week. I'm glad it's been meaningful!

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  17. So beautifully written...the greyness depicted just matches brilliantly the shock of the events...the layering giving a ghostly effect...

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  18. Give yourself a pat on the back (even if it is about forty years late)... Great write. Thanks for sharing. Love and Light, Sender

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  19. I echo the other comments, wrought with a refined hand dipped into the inkwell of emotion and fervor. I love the alliteration throughout as well. A powerful reflection.

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  20. I've always found autumn to have a melancholy feel - so beautiful, yet it's a kind of death.

    I've never been to Dallas, but I'm sure I would feel the same way in the shadows of those tall building, regardless of the season.

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  21. Eric - I wonder if the feeling of autumn always carried a sense of death or impending doom because of the fears and understanding of how much death a cruel winter can bring. Perhaps though for us now, the events of 11/22/63 and 9/11/01 are a reminder of such shocking deaths that the associations are made stronger

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  22. Loveandlight and Collective Epiphenies (why don't I know your names???) Thank you for the comments. Better to get a work read sometime than later. It's good to have a supportive community. I thank all of you for coming and reading. I enjoy your works as well. Gay

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  23. I remember this event so clearly even though I was just 4years old........and as for 9 years ago...tis just the same....imprinted forever

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  24. Reflective memory of a major turn point Thanks for reading and commenting on my poem. Hope your week goes well.

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  25. To Whitesnake and John. Thank you for coming by. I enjoyed both of your entries this week. You are both profound writers. Appreciate your coming by and commenting. We have grown so much larger this week. I've not read even half yet.

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  26. wisdom is gained through these changes,
    vivid words.
    beautiful imagery.

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  27. We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.
    John F. Kennedy, October 26, 1963

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  28. I was in Africa when it happened but saw it all unfold on the news and TV channels and you reflected it well. What a sorrowful day that was.

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  29. a very beautiful heartfelt write...i could understand this so much.... tragedy touches us all at some time in our life....despite its age you were right to to revisit this remarkable poem..cheers pete

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  30. Ian - I never heard that quote before. To think it was said so near the end of his life. That strikes me as so profound. Thank you for sharing that with me! Gay

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  31. Wild Rose (are you a wild Irish rose?:)
    I think those events are so indelibly inscribed on our consciousness that we remember every detail of the day. What makes it differ from the kind of grief that is personal is the communion of the event. Seeing men in downtown Dallas, sitting on curbs, head buried in crossed arms. Unforgettable images. Thanks for coming by and commenting!

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  32. Pete, I always value what you have to say and appreciate so much your reading and commenting. It occurred to me to put it up for OSW as I had dug it out to put with the Texas poems chapbook. The co-incidence of the "nine year" period between both events struck me as a good reason to enter it. Thank you as always. Gay

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  33. I wasn't even born then.. but the title could only remind me of 9/11.. :( I was in India then, at my first ever job as a techie, working late into the night.. that's when we heard.. and TV screens didn't make any sense to me, cuz all I could see was black smoke... Even thousands of miles, we felt it. And now, being in the City, it felt extremely horrible to witness the 2 laser beams touching the sky, from where stood the 2 towers... 9 years indeed!

    Your poem was very very moving, Gay...
    5 years in Dallas, and now my first Autumn after moving to NYC... this poem was just too special!

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