Monday, December 26, 2011

Long Time No See

Long Time No See

When was it that
we last saw one
another.

We use our whole
conversation to
uncover when,

picking through
events and dates,
eliminating

the times we did
not meet by
mentioning

and discarding
them, pulling
the peanut

shells with no
peanut inside
from the bag.

It is satisfying
to sort the years
by talking

to each other,
each comparing
our skulled-up

versions of how
we’ve forked
over time.

7 comments

  1. Oh, I love the peanut shell image. Also the surprise of "it is satisfying" after that! What a rich poem.

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  2. Love it. Love thinking about time, about eternity, about how our lives intersect and God is in it, too.

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  3. Everything about this strikes me. I've had conversations like this so many times recently.

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  4. Wonderful poem, Hannah, especially how you link that second stanza with the seventh to emphasize the value of "sort[ing] the years / by talking // to each other".

    The interesting thing, of course, is how the poem raises what we do with time and how time changes our perception of what happened when.

    You also create such a visual with "our skulled-up// versions of how / we've forked / over time".

    Great title, too.

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  5. funny... I was pulling peanut shells apart last night and the poem took me perfectly back to the moment, the scent of it :)

    Beautiful as always Hannah. Oh, and while I'm here you perhaps already have it, but for xmas, my mom bought me this truly beautiful book called "She Walks In Beauty, A Woman's Journey Through Poems" I am devouring each and every page, knowing many, finding new gems.... I think you will approve :)

    Merry Christmas my talented inspiring friend.
    & Many happy warm thoughts...

    thea.
    xx

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  6. People do this very thing all the time, don't they? The peanut shell without a peanut is just so simple but excellent, and "skulled-up" is worth the price of admission all by itself.

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  7. That image is really cool, and like Lisa, I've had several conversations like this in the last few weeks at one social event or another.

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