The poet questions

Published on by Laura Bloomsbury

Does innocence skim oceans, like a Shearwater?
What then of the bleached and bloated drowned
overthrown. overboard, their parched skin dissolving
piecemeal from alabaster bones?

And that taste of salt. A portent? A bloodied cheek?
or rivulets tracking the contours of each face
for all lost souls and every unsought sheep?

Do only blue eyes cry forget me not?
Or is that poetry fishing for the fanciful?

Did Neruda though drop such questions as Spanish koans ?

I want to know where does blame lie when there is no culprit, no perjurer.
Should we not question when truth must stand before the Grand Inquisitor?

Such devices I’ve discovered in uncovered ruins. Exhumed some.
Did I dig too deep at times? Bury my head in the sands
of a bygone age, besides a shattered visage? 1

We earthlings, almost always all at sea, losing hope
even before the flare goes up. Wondering when the ending.
Have poets found an antidote, as existential wanderers
flitting from poser to poser, like blithe butterflies?2

  1. reference to Shelley’s “Ozymandias” ↩︎
  2. poser not poseur: a problem or question that is difficult to solve or answer: – ↩︎

For Grace’s MTB prompt “Poems of Questions” we are invited to write as such, not just as a list but with with some expansions, without resolutions and having the piquancy of literary devices.

33 thoughts on “The poet questions”

  1. Wow, Laura, poetic questions indeed! I love the opening line, and you surprised me with the contrasting ones that followed it, the ‘parched skin dissolving piecemeal from alabaster bones’, and the splash of colour in‘do only blue eyes cry forget me not?’

      1. You’re most welcome, Laura. Sometimes the rabbit hole yields the best poems, Lewis Carrol would confer.

  2. I would love to think so in response to the last one. Also I would question too if no one is to blame. Love your thought provoking questions specially this part:

    And that taste of salt. A portent? A bloodied cheek?or rivulets tracking the contours of each facefor all lost souls and every unsought sheep?

    Thanks Laura!

  3. “or rivulets tracking the contours of each face
    for all lost souls and every unsought sheep?”

    I’d like to think the world would be a much better place if there was so much empathy.

  4. Great write! I love your voice throughout. “We earthlings, almost always all at sea, losing hope
    even before the flare goes up. Wondering when the ending.
    Have poets found an antidote, as existential wanderers
    flitting from poser to poser, like blithe butterflies?”

    Killer ending…perfect!

  6. I like the thought of questions wandering, or sailing maybe, in an endless quest, one that has no need of an ending. Just the act of asking is enough sometimes. (K)

  8. The buck stops here! Is this an oat of a bygone age, never to be uttered again by the good man? Really, where does blame lie when there is no culprit, and we hear repeatedly “it’s not your fault…” Someone needs to own up. Oh gosh, your poem made me do it. Perhaps I need to include that question in my poem.

    I loved reading your poem, Laura. Thanks.

  10. I will always be grateful to you for introducing me to Neruda’s Book of Questions in a previous prompt, Laura, and I have folded his style and questioning into my practice, as clearly, so have you…

    1. Thank you Andrew – I liked your choice of ‘folded’ it reminds me both of cake making and/or memorabilia tucked between two pages. I think Neruda would want that!

  12. I heard a podcast this morning where a lyricist posited that innocence is comparable to ignorance. An interesting take on the idea.I love the idea of “existential wanderers”. Nicely written Laura 👏

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