After the Fire
The images of smoke and ash
spread from screen to screen around the globe.
As the loss of an ancient cultural treasure was mourned
by those who had experienced the holiness there
and by those who now would not,
a pair of girls enjoying a sunny recess in Ohio
searched the soccer field
for four-leaf clover,
eventually finding seven lucky clusters.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2019
I love the contrast you've set up here, Mary Lee, and the echo of the rose windows in those four-leaf clovers.
ReplyDeleteWow! I can't believe you could write about such a serious subject, and juxtapose a very dark and very light image, and still "play with poetry." The images of dark and light in this poem are perfect!
ReplyDeleteLove the images here that lead to hope.
ReplyDeleteThose little girls - and their clovers - are such a subtly hopeful shift - grass after a burn, hope after loss. And I love that they're searching for luck.
ReplyDeleteThis is poetry, Mary Lee. Juxtaposition of such opposites, and bringing these two images into our vision. A poem, like both events, I am not likely to forget any time soon. Did you do a random selection of the paint chips or did you choose them? I really admire this poem Mary Lee. Janet Clare F.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, it was very much "flow." I dumped all the chips and started randomly fingering them. I set aside ones that spoke to me. Of course the fire and smoke made me think about Notre-Dame, but I was also remembering those two girls at recess. I decided to go with the contrast to say what I wanted to say about both the fire and the girls.
Deleteoh, my goodness...what a poem...what a convergence of coincidence to see this poem come together in this way. Well done. I wish I had written this.
ReplyDeleteYou were certainly able to weave these words with skill into your poem. I am still getting over the images.
ReplyDeleteSo heartbreaking and so easy to picture.
ReplyDeleteOh, Mary Lee, thanks for mentioning this - I hadn't seen it yet. I love the way you've captured the way reality is - the "lucky" and the "unlucky" going on all at the same time. And your conversation with the little girl about holding science and faith in her head at the same time. Goose bumps.
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