Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The Locksmith......



Rusty, unused
padlocked

let me lay
my hands on
your atrophied joy

let me oil it
with my spirit
pouring myself over you

let me heat you to a
ball of hot flame

licking up
exploding forth

primal, unchained, unlocked
naked and howling

Broken wide open



32 comments:

Marisa Birns said...

The locksmith I hired once only opened my front door...

Powerful and sensual depiction of a cold heart brought to a burst of feeling. Love it!

Unknown said...

Rock on :D

Laura Eno said...

Blogger ate my comment? Or was it the locksmith who took it? Or maybe Karen's jealous alien...poor thing.

It must have been my mention of the...well, never mind.

Karen from Mentor said...

ROFL...yes Laura, it was your mention of the ...well, nevermind. Locksmiths are VERY shy about their "neverminds."

You're such a hoot.

[hugs you]

Karen from Mentor said...

Merrilee---I have my lighter in the air and I'm swaying with the flame.

:0)

Karen from Mentor said...

Love love love what you said Marisa!
You have such a wonderful way with words.
:0)<--that's a big grin

judy said...

Beautiful! The last three lines are stunning.

Karen from Mentor said...

Oh thanks so much Judy. I knew you'd like it.

I once read this line somewhere:

"If your heart must break, let it break wide open"

And it was such a beautiful idea, that I've kept it at the forefront of my mind ever since.

hugs and love to you darlin!
:0)

Laurita said...

Who knew rusty locks could be so...rooowwwr! My, my, Karen. You do have a talent for poetry. :) Your word choice was flawless.

Anonymous said...

Good that you mentioned a locksmith in the title, otherwise I might have thought of something entirely different while reading...
Although, I did think of something entirely different anyway :)

Beautiful poem, Karen! I also loved your choice of words, how they flow.

Alan W. Davidson said...

Wow, methinks I am in the wrong line of work...

annie q. syed said...

love the edgy graphic word choice to invoke the senses attached to an emotion. we are all the gatekeepers and the locked chambers at once.

Karen from Mentor said...

Annie,
oh, what a lovely thought! Being the gatekeepers and the locked chambers at once.

I'm going to let that roll around in my head the rest of the evening.
Karen :0)

Karen from Mentor said...

Thanks Estrella,
Glad you liked it.
And you know that as far as I'm concerned you have my full permission to visualize whatever your pretty little heart desires.
[grins at you]

Karen from Mentor said...

Laurita?
I'm just going to print out your comment and read it over and over.

*happy sigh*

I'm really loving National Poetry Month--can you tell?

Karen from Mentor said...

So, Alan,
You're basically saying that you need a more "hands on" kind of job?

[inquiring minds and all that]

Alan W. Davidson said...

*sighs, loudly*

You've found me out, Karen...something unsatisfying about staring at my monitor, fingers dancing across my keyboard all day...

Helen Ginger said...

Quite moving and definitely sensual. Great job.

Helen
Straight From Hel

Karen from Mentor said...

Thanks Helen,
I Loved the story you told yesterday about training baby pigs to swim. The icing on the cake was that you were training them to swim in the same pool where you made your living by being a mermaid.

You've led such an interesting life.
:0)

Karen from Mentor said...

*sighs back* poor Alan. I had three fairly ribald suggestions in answer to your statement of being unsatisfied by "fingers dancing across my keyboard all day..."
but since they would all make my daughter's eyes bleed, I'm restraining myself.

:0)

Cathy Olliffe-Webster said...

Sexy stuff, Karen... and I'm talking about the comments! Poem was beautiful.

Michael Solender said...

very flirty and fun. nice.

Kris said...

"Let me lay my hands on your atrophied joy"?!? Now there's a phrase I haven't heard much since my bar-hopping days.

Karen from Mentor said...

Little unclear here Kris....was that you saying the line or the guy?

[there may be things I don't want to know about Kris]

Karen from Mentor said...

@ Cathy,
Alan is fun to play with in the sandbox.
:0)

Karen from Mentor said...

Glad you liked it Michael, thanks for stopping in.
:0)

Cynthia Schuerr said...

...Let me heat you to a ball of hot flame...ooooh, Baby!
I agree with everything in all previous comments.

Yamabuki said...

The Locksmith is perfect
I would only caution you
The gods are jealous of perfection
They reserve it for themselves

(Perfection is a problem
I've never had to worry about)

It's traditional in some cultures
To put in a slight imperfection
Out of respect for the gods.

Just sayin

Yamabuki

Karen from Mentor said...

Hi 佩昭彥怡,
My "translate this" page tells me that you said:

"Life may rest low, ambition when the noble and pure"

My translate page is apparently slightly out of practice, so I'll use my Karen to English dictionary from here and decide that you were saying that the poem pleased you.

Thanks for stopping in and taking the time to comment. :0)

Karen from Mentor said...

@Yamabuki,
I love the idea that you think that this piece is perfect. Thank you.

I know about the rugs that are woven with an imperfection. I always thought that was a beautiful gesture.

Next time I'll put in a typo. Just for you.
:0)

Karen from Mentor said...

@ Cynthia,
Haven't you ever used a blow torch on a rusty padlock? It's just like a hot knife through butter. [grins at you]

Karen from Mentor said...

I found out yesterday afternoon that this piece is going to be included in the Art Around the World project.

The project is a collaboration between visual artists and poets that will culminate in a book that will be sold to generate money for Greenpeace.

I'm just thrilled to be included.