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the book of love

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 11:52 am
by Dave
I have lied. More than once.
It is a character flaw, you say.
 

Call it education, or art, I reply.
The first time it was a necessity,
these days a creative process
.
 
The ice in your whiskey melts,
becomes an off- colour skin. You
remain aloof from the inevitability
of dissolution. Call it hope.
 
We both know,
my love for you is an illusion
conjured from a list of synonyms
I keep for evenings like this;
 
evenings in which you hear
absence in my voice.

Re: the book of love

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 3:45 pm
by Tracy Mitchell
Melting ice as metaphor > dissolution.  Trust between them dissolves, ergo, the relationship dissolves.  In the wave of new no-fault divorce laws, a number of US states adopted the phrase "dissolution of marriage". 'Dissolution' works at every level. 

And fortuitously so, as the 3rd stanza is the linchpin of this poem.  The first two stanzas are gorgeous and could be a stand-alone.  The same can be said for the 4th and 5th stanzas.  The trick then [or task] is to bridge them, link them, and I think with a quick stride through a dark forest s.3 does this.  Call it hope, indeed.  

Excellent, Dave.  Thanks for posting.

Cheers.

T

 

Re: the book of love

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 7:24 pm
by Colm Roe
Clever and appealing poeming Dave...so much to enjoy here.

Re: the book of love

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 8:12 am
by indar
Oh Dave,
I've made this comment more than once lately but I'll say it again: your writing is so incredibly honest. I have a friend who returned from a vacation and after raving about the wonders of the experience confessed she didn't seem to enjoy it as much DURING the trip as she did after as she related her experience to others.

I use this less intimate story as an example to illustrate how I read this:
We both know,
my love for you is an illusion
conjured from a list of synonyms
I keep for evenings like this;
 
evenings in which you hear

.absence in my voice

I have been aware of living through some experiences/states-of-being in which I narrate the story to myself in order to make it real. I call it living in a place once removed from being fully present.
 

Re: the book of love

Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2019 4:13 pm
by poet-e
Love lying = "creative process."  Love 3rd stanza imagery.

So speaker's love becomes a lie, but was it always?

Doesn't everyone lie?  Can it be "a character flaw," if we all lie?

Re: the book of love

Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:43 am
by Dave
Hey Poet- 
This is a really really late reply. Everyone lies but not everyone does it consciously, deliberately and as their chosen modus operandi: let's say Boris Johnson or Trump. These are not 'normal' people. And there is a difference between lying in love and lying a love.
Dave
 

Re: the book of love

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:23 pm
by Matty11
The ice in your whiskey melts,
becomes an off- colour skin.
great image Dave

Re: the book of love

Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2019 6:52 pm
by Sharon Leigh
Honest, genuine, and (for me) unfortunately familiar... an excellent write, and I hope it's not lazy to admit I so agree with Tracy's commentary that I'm tempted to point and say "...what he said!" Much enjoyed