Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Catalyst



The catalyst’s eye
Forges a burning cleft
As the raptor feeds
On carrion lies

The crystalline gaze
Breaks placid serenity
Sinking through the battlegrounds
And blood stained festering scars

It falls

And falls

And falls

And lands

Smack into the middle of everything

The dam cannot keep the crows back

Rippling
From the center
Gentle waves become a tsunami
Forging rivers
In the long dried
Ancient cracks
That lie
Beneath the stone

24 comments:

Geraldine said...

Breathtaking photo and evocative words. Excellent work Cat. Glad I stopped in.

Hugs, G

Catherine Vibert said...

Hi Geraldine! I'm glad you stopped by too, and thanks for your words. Hugs back! And Marlow says hello to Mitzi and Mr. Cheddar. Actually, he is wondering if he's related.

Karen said...

It falls
And falls
And falls
And lands
Smack into the middle of everything

I love that! The whole poem is a powerful description of the tsunami that comes.

Opaque said...

Excellent!!! Loved your description!!!

Noelle Dunn.... A Poet in Progress said...

lovely, vivid imagery.

qualcosa di bello said...

excellent merging of photo, words & structure!! your words remind me of the way things build & build while i ignore & ignore until...splat!!! it must be reckoned with. they contain that perfect urgency

Catherine Vibert said...

Karen-Thank you. I'm so glad that it was effective!

BrosR & Noelle-Thank you!

QDB- That's pretty much what I was trying to communicate, I'm glad you can relate! :-) And nothing like the clear light of truth to illuminate that splat. Thank you so much.

Khaled KEM said...

I can relate this one Cat with what's built and accumulated inside us over the years, those mixed feelings, confused thoughts and unanswered questions and how we try to avoid thinking about them until they burst.

I guess we have to think about the catalyst in our lives as well.

I always enjoy the way you structure your poem to give its meaning.

RachelW said...

Cat, I can see the similarities in our poems, though yours addresses the subject more abstractly than mine and I didn't pick up the connection when I first read it yesterday. Wow. It sheds a whole new light on the poem, knowing the context.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful poem! Also, your words on my blog...well they were heartfelt and needed. Glad to know others out there have similar struggles. Sometimes it feels so lonely...but many of us share similar journeys. You asked about Meyers Briggs. Gosh, it's been forever since I took that I think I am an ESFP...

Calli said...

This is great, Cat! I love the picture your words paint, so vivid and with such intensity!

Karen said...

After reading your comment to Rachel, I had to come back for another read. OMG! I missed that entirely, but I see it now! I felt the rising tension, the menace, but I guess we filter things through our own lenses, don't we? That's really a good thing about art -- that we can read it in so many different ways.

I'm so glad your out of that tsunami now. :-)

Catherine Vibert said...

Khaled, I am so glad that is how you see it. No matter what inspires my poem, I strive to make it universal so that whomever reads it, gets a message that is just for them only, because of their own experience. I am glad to know it is affecting you that way.

Rachel-Welcome to the puzzleland. As I said to Khaled, I make it abstract on purpose for sure, that makes it accessible to each person. Although I am dearly glad you know the inner secret. :-)

Zeninyou-I am so glad that you came by. I was really touched by your post today, your vulnerability. If you are ESFP than you should be a natural at getting your beautiful work into galleries and published. I encourage you to give it a go!

Calli-Thank you!

Karen-Yup! I thank you so much for coming back and seeing it a whole new way. :-) It means much to me.

christopher said...

Cat, thanks for your work. Having read several and also over with Rachel, I felt like writing this one but I didn't know what it was going to say until I finished. I had "you" lying there and the image of the wave to start.

This Ache In My Heart

How you lie there still
after the wave has passed by,
after the heat fades,
and I wander off
to pray for the day's return,
kneeling in the grove
beside our campsite
out of your sight on purpose
because I fear love.

Anonymous said...

beguiling..... loved it!

Rajeswari said...

I just loved the words! Great Piece!!

Catherine Vibert said...

Christopher, thank you for this. It made me cry a little, in a good way. I appreciate your words and thoughts very much.

Paul and Scrawler- Thank you so much. :-)

jaz said...

Cat, you never cease to amaze me with the way you use words to ellicit powerful responses--connections--with your readers. The photo is haunting and I stared at it for a long time before I read this. I think we bring our own experiences to the words, but also to the art and photos, and it is an incredible experience.

Sarah Hina said...

Those cracks are a part of you, and always will be. It's what you've built on top of them that says who you are now. And you're a great builder, Cat. Of words, friendship, meanings. Your rivers flow into you, and your cracks, but they also spread out more compassionately to others. You're willing to show your scars so that others might see, and heal. What better and more human act can we commit as writers and artists?

We all sink and surrender from time to time. It's holding onto the somewhat nebulous knowledge that the reaction is temporary, which is perhaps the lifeline. To eventually feel the truth of time's sweet (and terrible) solace, and see the distance we've traveled, in spite of the steps back. I guess that's the only hope for damming those rivers. To not expect perfection, but to work for progress. And I think you are.

Catherine Vibert said...

Jennifer-Thank you so much, your words mean a great deal to me. You know that photo is from a cave in Nepal. I took it just before slipping and spraining my wrist. That was almost 2 years ago. Now I look at that photo and I see many things, Mary, yoni, piercing light in the darkness. It has more meaning to me as black and white then it did with its limited color. I'm glad I dragged it out of my computer. Somehow it just seemed to be the one that fit the words best (within my collection of course).

Oh, Sarah Sarah, did you know that your words have the effect of silk and velvet, so soothing for raw nerves. I really really thank you for these things, they are eagle eye clarity where things get so muddy for me. Hugs.

Anonymous said...

The imagery is beautiful, even in the face of the harsh, cold power. But catalysts can be embraced too, not just engines pushing us. I feel that hope in the depths of your poem.

Really well done.

Catherine Vibert said...

Jason-Thank you, there is much hope in clear vision and truth. It is an odd role and often discomforting to be a catalyst and know that your very presence is causing a wake of some kind as you stand there being yourself. Especially when that wake is causing pain in others. It is not always pain however, and is often very joyful. Important to remember that both are true so as to embrace it fully as a whole. Once again, I thank you for your role in this little psychodrama of mine. It was very helpful, I think mountains were moved actually.

Anonymous said...

This is such a powerful poem. I love the form. I feel as if I'm falling as I read it. No kidding! I love "carrion lies." What a great twist. The picture is awesome, too.

Catherine Vibert said...

Thank you Julie. There is something so satisfying about raptors and crows in poetry. It just gets right to the flesh of the matter.

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