Maybe The Word I’m Looking For Is Cleaving
I joke with a friend that I need someone
who’ll love me in the same way I do
the palisades that hug the Kentucky River–
distant and with a certain kind of care
that feels as selfish as a stone.
Mountain, man, midden, whatever I am become,
is a river rock something ever closed off solid?
Even the palisades seep groundwater,
natural springs. Rock still crumbles with time,
time and a certain kind of pressing.
31 thoughts on "Maybe The Word I’m Looking For Is Cleaving"
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I love the message of this poem, and that question in the second stanza was an excellent decision. Always great to read your work!
Thanks so much, Philip!
This is a really intriguing poem. I’m going to take the last sentence with me to ponder a while!
Thank you, Nancy! It’s sort of a different poem for me!
Beautiful natural world images — I hear the river rushing around the rocks. Lovely title.
Thanks so much, Jennifer. I got the title idea from Cleaver Magazine, a litmag I love, because it’s a Janus word.
Love:
a certain kind of care
that feels as selfish as a stone.
Rock still crumbles with time,
time and a certain kind of pressing.
Thank you, Pam!
Like Phillip, I think that question is crucial here. And I read a caesura just before pressing. Well done.
Thanks so much, Jon!
Absolutely beautiful
Thank you so much, Stefan!
The metaphor is as grand as the Palisades!
Thank you, Gregory!!!
The wording here is interesting and elusive in a way that makes me want to read this again and again. The last two lines of both stanzas are particular favorites. Well done!
Thank you so much, Maira! I really appreciate your kind words.
Love your imagery, the title, and the question posed. A poem that pulls you in, kind of haunts you, and makes you read it again. Very effective ending.
Thank you, Karen. It’s a little different from what I’ve shared before. I’m glad you enjoyed it and thought it was effective!
Wow, Shaun. Fantastic poem!
Thanks so much, Bill!
Love that is distant and with a certain kind of care/ that feels as selfish as a stone — just beautiful!!
Thanks so much, Liz!
This poem feels so poignant to me. The last stanza reads like the speaker’s push-pull between being closed and/or open to love.
Thank you, Ellen! I’m still figuring it out a little bit too
I like everything about this.
Thank you, Taunja!
Very nice. Love like water. Palisades like lover. All seeping and time crumbling.
Thank you, Alissa!
So much to love about this poem–
“distant and with a certain kind of care
that feels as selfish as a stone.”
The metaphor is so well-crafted throughout.
Thank you, Roberta!
There’s so much movement here, together and apart — love the way the metaphor plays out in rock and water.