Three Rabbits
The orange moon
Smolders in curly white smoke,
As large as Chagall would paint it-
Wearing so many kind faces
I feel I must know them
they are here for me
across time
To repay some favor, maybe
made in some other lifetime
Three rabbits stand in the empty lot
Two are preparing their ritual dance
The third is a sentry, and taking it seriously
One jumps high on the air
to find the secret staircase
which reaches the moon’s doorjamb
Birth life death
Mind body soul
Three rabbits appear
Swiftly, swiftly,
New Beginnings appear
It’s not the first time
that three rabbits have caught my attention
punctuating the air with silent raucous purpose
just as someone
who smiles and laughter
have been near
from my earliest youth
has unwound nearly all of their golden thread.
12 thoughts on "Three Rabbits"
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A rabbit jumping to reach 0the moon’s door jamb” is such a strong use of language and imagery!
Thank you Katrina! That and the Chagall reference are the two parts I’m most proud of!
This is a beautiful poem, lush, compelling, mysterious. It reminds me of a Yeats line in A Vision where he compares the phases of the moon to a symbol he keeps turning over and over again in his mind, presumably still unwinding all of its golden thread (great line, symbol, image, et al, by the way). Punctuating the air with silent raucous purpose seems to concretely describe my maybe idealized state of being. New beginnings appear//It’s not the first time, great juxtaposition. The opening verse is sterling, really sets the stage and the mood. There’s so much good to comment on, I feel like I’m reeling illegibly here… Great poem. Love it.
Thank you, Goldie. I love your feedback. You always point out things I didn’t see (maybe only felt) which makes these publications so much more fulfilling! I also love hearing the line to which you relate on a deeper level. There is a slight edit I should have made, which may have made my point clearer, which was the feeling that 3 rabbits marks the end of someone’s life… what I meant to refer to with the golden thread. However, I also believe that in poems we speak often of many different things at once. Truth is, I’m trying to unravel what it means when I see three rabbits. The only thing I really know is that it seems to occur before the death of someone close to me.
Great storytelling + everything Goldie said. Wonderful.
Thank you Coleman! I especially love that you felt carried along!
Beautifully done. Love that entire last stanza
Thank you Shaun!
I really appreciate your feedback!
The rise of that waxy orange light in the first verse is so big! I have read these 6-7 times this morning. It unwinds each time so quietly. Even your rabbit’s jump is strong but hushed. Love this poem!
It means so much to me to hear that you have read and re read it! I love your description of strong and hushed. I definitely felt this too. I wrote this one four times. Each one a very different poem but with the same experience and sentiment. Weirdly, one I was nearly finished with and really into disappeared as I was writing it into the app (something I ought to know better about by now) so I wrote this one somewhat frustrated at all I had lost. I told myself that maybe it needed to happen so I could write this one. From all the comments, perhaps that was the case! Thank you so much!
I can see and feel this. I love its surrealism and how naturally it reads, as if this is an everyday occurrence. Feels completely original to me.
A very high compliment, Linda! Thank you so very much for taking the time to write such a thoughtful response. I like the poem so much more knowing it made you feel this way.