Welcome To Frenzy’s Flash Feature!
Your fortnightly Poetry/Photo Combo with Greg Mackie
Poet, dreamer, self-confessed idiot. Addicted to chocolate and crisps, he regrets having cancelled his last two dental appointments. Attempts to write stuff.
http://frenzyofflies.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/FrenzyOfFlies
We hope you enjoy this ‘Frenzy’s Flash Feature’ entry. Greg will be be back with another great combination on Thursday 9th May 2013
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ACCIDENTAL WILDERNESS
(Drowning in the Ozarks)
by Greg Mackie
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First, were destroyed
the homes
and the factories
and the churches –
then the railways,
ripped up,
and the trees,
torn down.
>>>
Damned –
the river rose
and broke its banks
and flooded the fields
and drowned the valley –
and my memories, too,
were mixed into the mud.
>>>
How many times
did I stand
on the edge of my mind,
watching my childhood
shining pristine –
in a man-made Atlantis
of necessary nostalgia?
>>>
How many times
did I drown
in that lake of memories –
so thick,
so quick,
to drag me down?
>>>
Stubborn,
as the wild flowers
and the weeds
and the long grasses
and the persevering plants –
I have become
an accidental wilderness,
of unfinished stories
and shifting sentiments
and dislocated desires.
>>>
And though wild animals
may wander, carelessly,
through my long grasses –
and though they may drink,
greedily,
from my purest waters –
I too am wild,
and as the wildest of accidents –
I will prevail.
>
>>>
Nice one Greg! 🙂
Thanks Nisha! Always appreciated! 🙂
Such vivid imagery – beautifully written! 🙂
Thanks Laura, that means a lot to me! 🙂
I love that stubborness, standing strong against the odds, inspiring words… nice poem. My favourite bit…
I have become
an accidental wilderness,
of unfinished stories
and shifting sentiments
and dislocated desires.
Thanks Dianne 🙂 I spent longer than usual on this one, trying to find the right words, and if these words are true for me, then I guess they might be true for a lot of people. Although I could, of course, just be a complete freak… 😉 I’m glad you liked it, and your comment really made my day! 🙂
Sometimes you have a driving rhythm that is coupled with your raw emotion, and vivid imagery, which just creates poetry that is so exciting and alive, even if it conveys sadness, it gives that sadness a feeling of exhilaration equalled to and often felt in happiness. This is truly great.
Thank you! I am pretty sure you can feel me blushing from here 😉 You are very generous, and your comment is very, very, very much appreciated, as always! 🙂
Really love this Greg – have wondered how it must have felt to see your family’s history flooded – never to be seen again. My nephew wouldn’t swim in Table Rock after he heard tales of cemetaries not moved before the lake was filled – thought it was too creepy! This is a very moody poem – heartfelt. K
Thanks Kathleen, I just saw your lovely commentary 🙂 Yes, it must be a strange thing indeed, seeing your childhood haunts disappear for ever. I read tales of fisherman looking down from their boat and seeing an old church steeple, just out of reach. True or not, I found the idea amazing! You live in a wonderful place 🙂 Thanks again! G