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the book of love

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Dave
Posts: 1991
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:07 am

the book of love

Post by Dave » Sat Jul 27, 2019 11:52 am

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.

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Tracy Mitchell
Posts: 3179
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 3:58 pm

Re: the book of love

Post by Tracy Mitchell » Sat Jul 27, 2019 3:45 pm

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

 

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Colm Roe
Posts: 2697
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 12:45 am

Re: the book of love

Post by Colm Roe » Sat Jul 27, 2019 7:24 pm

Clever and appealing poeming Dave...so much to enjoy here.

indar
Posts: 2908
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 8:00 am

Re: the book of love

Post by indar » Sun Jul 28, 2019 8:12 am

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.
 

poet-e
Posts: 247
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2019 3:10 pm

Re: the book of love

Post by poet-e » Tue Sep 24, 2019 4:13 pm

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?

Dave
Posts: 1991
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:07 am

Re: the book of love

Post by Dave » Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:43 am

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
 

Matty11
Posts: 1585
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2018 7:58 pm

Re: the book of love

Post by Matty11 » Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:23 pm

The ice in your whiskey melts,
becomes an off- colour skin.
great image Dave

Sharon Leigh
Posts: 272
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:07 am
Location: Midwest US

Re: the book of love

Post by Sharon Leigh » Sat Nov 30, 2019 6:52 pm

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
"This creature of the poem may assemble itself into a being with its own centrifugal force."-- Sharon Olds

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