Wednesday, February 18, 2009

storm

lightning strikes at night
trees against a white sky

the bolts leave me
breathless, blinded

i turn to my dashboard
and the car drives itself

because i am no longer
part of it

i look into the
blackness
waiting

15 comments:

Noah the Great said...

I lose myself like this, often.

Anonymous said...

Love the waiting at the end.....it makes the poem carry on.

Anonymous said...

This is scary. It reminds me of those dreams when I'm driving, but really the car is driving me. Very powerful images, Holly.

Crafty Green Poet said...

the first stanza is very striking...

Cynthia said...

haunting.

Cynthia said...

haunting.

holly said...

Didn't mean to scare anyone. hehe...It's actually a relaxing feeling for me.

Anonymous said...

very nice indeed sweet holly. I always like to hear lightning

Mother Medusa said...

Oops. Scary to lose onself whilst driving.

Ayesha said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ayesha said...

This poem makes me think of flashes in the dark, pauses, and inertia...

Also the calmness between action and reaction, before fear.

I love it.

Beryl Singleton Bissell said...

I don't know if this applies to you Holly, but Persimmon is an online zine for women over 60 and they are hosting a poetry competition. Here is the info I received. Spread the word. It's a great zine.

We hope you've seen the exciting winter issue by now. If not, it's at http://www.persimmontree.org. You'll find fiction by Susan Yankowitz and Faith Jackson; a fascinating conversation between E.M. Broner and Mary Gordon; poetry by Lucille Clifton; and art by Henrietta Mantooth.

AND we're really pleased to announce the upcoming poetry contest for women over sixty in the Southern U.S. region. (States include AZ, NM, TX, OK, AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, FL, TN, KY, WV, VA, DC, NC, SC, MD.) Submissions will be accepted May 1 - June 15, 2009, only at poetryentry@comcast.net; Jill Breckenridge is the guest poetry editor for this contest. The selected poems will appear in the September 2009 issue. See the "Submissions" link on the website (you have to log on first) for necessary further details.

Anonymous said...

I like the movement from the white sky to blackness. Well done Holly.

Deb said...

I love this poem; it gets right to the heart of some important stuff. And like Christine said, happens so often. I wasn't frightened. It felt just right to me.

Anonymous said...

It's just me over here reading again. Dang, this one is powerful. I have those car driving dreams, too. What's that all about? I'm guessing lack of control...ha!

But I do love this poem. The ending is excellent, too. I know what you mean about a relaxing feeling that a storm brings. Awesome poem.