This Chair Poem by Susan Lacovara
This Chair
This chair knows how old I am
And how old I have become
Sitting beneath the window sill
That provides a slotted view
Of what will be this season
This chair creaks
Like knuckles, cracked
Its wood once not as dry
And long ago stood sturdier
Much the same as I
This chair lived in my every home
High on a Hamptons hill
And buried in basement boredom
Cushioned and cushioned
To match the melding years
The changing interiors
That took me from there to here
This chair like that of Goldilocks
Fits me just fine
After all I have been perched
Sitting, a sentinal gargoyle
Near a door that leads to come what may
For much more time
Than I thought I had time for
I bless this chair to withstand it's load now that it is getting old! (I have a family chair that has been passed on for 4 generations! Good? ? I might just turn the old boat anchor into firewood!
I have already added THIS CHAIR to my favorites collection because it deftly makes the chair carry the weight of time and change. I love those T-H-I-N-G-S that can effortlessly represent so much more than themselves but still retain their integrity as, well, just things. Rilke did this in his two volumes of NEW POEMS, and he called those poems THING-POEMS, but he was frequently striving for something transcendent whereas your chair is content to be just that. The last stanza is my favorite. You have woven together three figures wonderfully: first, yourself as a SENTINEL GARGOYLE (impressive) , second, the door open to COME WHAT MAY (a whole philosophy of readiness & acceptance is implied) , and third, the biggest surprise is saved for last, you realize that you have sufficient time to live a complete life. What blessings shower us in that last stanza but they are so felicitously expressed we are persuaded before we fully grasp the extent of these blessings. What a poem! !
Sitting in an old chair for longer than thought. Very nice poem. Enjoyed it. How we communicate through poems. They reflect the turmoils of our souls. My favorite lines are the last three. Very good writing.
Without a doubt, one of the best poems i have read all day. I like the description. How you carried the reader along in describing the chair in reference to you and the changing times from when the chair was creaking to when the fabric went out and you had to re-cushion it....gotta say, you captured my mind reading through...
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/26/2024 12:10:33 PM # 1.0.0.1119
Intimacy developed for the chair is beautifully expressed in the poem. Enjoyed the poem. Thank you.