West

by Colm   Dec 15, 2014


West

It was the dust-clouded, sunset-orange
roads that I remember the most -
Potholes and roadkill avenuing
an arrow-like promise through
cactus populated scrub.

And I loved how the gold-rush wind
jigsawed my hair as we drove,
cowboy and cowgirl, past a gas station,
a fifties diner, a grizzled man surveying
the world from his rocking-chair porch.

And as ghosts of gunslingers and heroes duelled
in the dark of the sun's sleep, I looked at you
looking at me in bed light, the reflection of a westerner hiding in your iris,
hiding behind a black and white horizon.

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Latest Comments

  • 9 years ago

    by Britt

    As you know, I love this poem! Comments from judging:

    Hands down, best poem of the group for me. You've got a mixture of romance, of beautiful setting, of the wild, wild west - what more can you ask for? What stole the show for me was the descriptive tone of the entire piece. Love the thought of wind jigsawing hair, thought that was incredibly creative. It could be my love for the west, but I thought this was an incredibly romantic poem, with that last stanza. Maybe a bit troublesome as the west can be, but filled with a huge story nonetheless. Favorite poem of the bunch!

  • 9 years ago

    by Larry Chamberlin

    And thus you have outed yourself as the third judge, Min! And A heartfelt thanks from me for doing so.

    Colm, your contest entries always take the rules of the contest and turn them on their head, inventing a new interpretation that should have been apparent to all but only seen by you. Refreshing and original, very descriptive and truly Western.

  • 9 years ago

    by Meena Krish

    ...and I was wondering hey this looks familiar where did I read this and where is my comment!? I then realized it was in the contest. So will leave the same comment:

    Hmmm..this is something unusual- the scene here is very descriptive for it shows the colors, the mood and an overall atmosphere of a quiet country side where two people are hidden away and one of them taking in the beauty of this solitude time with love. It's inviting with a touch of romance in the end. Kind of like a clip from a movie or a script from a story. A nice read :)

    I really do like this read Colm. It keeps taking me back to a movie scene. In fact a very romantic and sentimental moment.

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