Razor-edge #poetry #Earthweal

There’s a razor-edge scraping
the broad blue blood-light of the sky
about to burst into 
all the bright colours of day
but I can’t see it
not today:
I’m stuck in the shadow-side of the mountain
‘Mount What-might-have-been’
wondering
if I made the right cut
would that let the light flood in
and fill me with forgetfulness 
of everything that once has been and
never will again?
But I won’t carve this wicked sadness into me
I’d rather live to fight another day:
To see that light 
and make my peace with
memories of
(sad am I
without) thee.

© Experimentsinfiction 2020, All Rights Reserved

Linking to Earthweal’s Open Link Weekend #50. Dedicated to anyone missing loved ones over this festive season.

30 thoughts on “Razor-edge #poetry #Earthweal

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  1. Lot of strength put into this piece. Very evocative regarding its subject matter of having lost someone and potentially seeing self harm as a solution. Well written, thanks for sharing!

  2. This is really evocative, like another comment said. Truly powerful. I might read it again to get a better understanding of it, but I know that it has ignited a spark.

  3. So poignant, that missing. Likely we are all feeling some degree of that these days. Sigh. I sure did. A beautiful poem and photo. I love the blue-tinged snows of winter.

  4. Gorgeous image you begin with — is that the view from where you live? Regardless, the clarity of edge there is what the heart can’t quite provide. We are not saints … I love the construction of the last line, “… memories of / (sad am I /
    without) thee” — showing the heart’s duplicity through the end. Would that edges be so clean. Well done. – Brendan

  5. You know, even as a metaphor, this is super powerful (the idea of metaphorically cutting, rather than actually cutting sadness into one’s self)

    But I won’t carve this wicked sadness into me

    Well done.

    -David

  6. That is such a powerful image in the opening lines, Ingrid, and I love the paradox of not being able to see it because you’re ‘stuck in the shadow-side of the mountain’. Lines I would have identified with many years ago:
    ‘if I made the right cut
    would that let the light flood in
    and fill me with forgetfulness
    of everything that once has been’.

  7. Ingrid, this poem eloquently expresses the pain so many people experience at the holidays…a time when suicide numbers rise. The poem gives some understanding of possible motivations. Very dramatic photo of an impressive mountain!

    Wishing you and your family a New Year of health, happiness and prosperity! The days are getting longer again. I wish you many sunny days to come! <3

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