Poems
and Writings of Edie Klyve
Poems
of Human Nature
Eric Remembered
July 2018
Fish Prey
Soliloquy
From The Shelf
Escape Artist
Nostalgia
Dedicated to my brother Gene and inspired by a work of art that showed a creature whose bottom half was a knight in armor and whose top half was a giant fish head.
Behold the fishknight
Driven by some inscrutable instinct
To the moonwater’s edge.
From the shallows
Might he spy a merman,
Casting its steak-baited line
To the shore?
Like the wind you go your way;
I cannot catch you,
Though I would keep you by my side,
You want to fly.
You lite For a moment
Like a butterfly;
I would capture you, enjoy your beauty
But I would bruise your silky wings,
And so for love, I give you liberty.
How eagerly my heart awaits
Your form within the door:
Silver set on soft brown skin,
Ringlets tipped in gold,
Spicy fragrance in the air,
Your voice so bright and bold,
Your witty ways,
Your firm, green gaze.
A longing in me pleads for you to stay.
And though you’ve left the home,
There is within my womb
A spirit cord connecting you to me.
Thought you might wish to sever, it cannot; no not ever;
A part of me is what you’ll always be.
SOLILOQUY FROM THE SHELF (1991)
Half
my life yours.
My
finish is dulling,
But
I was once fine,
My
form, my design,
The
object of your admiration and pride.
You took me down and showed me round,
I
was a conversation piece,
And
you the envy of others
For
my possession.
Dressed
in flowers, their fragrance filling the air,
You
loved me more for it,
Your
life made richer, fuller.
Two years apart.
You are diverted with other distractions.
Seldom do you take me down,
Your fingers to trace my form
In awe of art unique.
No longer do I catch your eye,
Though I could still speak beauty to your life.
I stand alone accumulating dust,
My luster lost,
My voice unheard.
TO CAROLINE ON HER BIRTHDAY (2002)
Daughter of Zion
With spirit so bold
Ever the strong one
Who’ll never say no.
Undaunted, though hindered,
She will never admit
To defeat; it’s not in her;
She’ll never say quit.
Faith has given her vision;
She won’t be denied;
On wings of a promise,
She rises and flies.
Incense of prayer
Ascends to Heavenly places;
Intercession for others
Is one of her graces.
In sowing for others,
She too will reap,
For victory in Jesus
Is ever so sweet.
In praise she will sing
In delight of her soul,
As in a moment of glory,
She’s completely made whole.
ESCAPE ARTIST (2011)
At the end of each day,
He sits in the dark
With only the tv on,
Solitude his mistress,
Whom he courts the whole night long.
Rapt in a box in his brain,
He passes like a shadow,
stealthily silent,
… Not even the floor creaks…
Dreading to have to speak.
Relationship is rough on him,
Too much of a strain to venture
beneath the surface;
Too much of a pain to know my heart
Or share himself.
Lonely?
Could it be
Some memory
Stashed in secret
Deep inside
Seeped out?
A longing, wistful something
For something forced forgotten,
Freed?
I used to write in diaries;
They were not books but friends,
The confidents of my confessions:
No stones unturned,
No secrets undisclosed;
Every word a working
Of the hidden heart of me,
Surreptitiously recorded
in dedicated rituals of dawn and dusk.
He’s sitting in the sunshine
In the early morning dew;
Upon the hill he keeps a watch
For signs of me and you.
He sits just like a statue,
His gaze so firm and steady.
I know what he is thinking,
“Is my breakfast ready?”
The hopeless one cries from sun to sun,
“They have wronged me,
Don’t you see?”
Black words pour forth from his lips;
From his heart, his anger rips.
He needs to be set free.
The perverse tongue spews Hatred,
bitterness, abuse;
The peaceful heart pants,
Pierced and wounded.
Oil and water, they don’t blend;
Peace and anger can’t be friends;
North and south are ever ends.
The wounded one with lips of wrath
Will never tread the lilied path.
Longing for independence
And only yesterday a child,
But blood boils within you;
You run careless, wild.
Carefree dreamer!
You aren’t aware of snares
Set to capture you and cut you,
Even as you dare.
Sowing wild oats?
Oh, but they reap a harvest;
Sometimes you combine a lifetime.
Wisdom takes wings
As Curiosity cunningly sets traps;
Seducing roses prick you,
And you bleed for years.
The hunter hunts the precious life,
But you frolic,
Unaware of his arrow
Aimed straight toward you,
Mindless, as you dare.