I

Lucy

I, memory,
I, a membrane and ghost
meronym to memory
and free—

I am the thorn
of flowers in your mouth,
and the foot of the leaf
between the limbs of
a small tree halved
like quarters,

and still dying,

I, memory,
I, a membrane and ghost
meronym to memory
and free—

Ancestress of loss
of the root and tree
that tried to die.

© 2020 lucysworks.com All Rights Reserved.

I wrote this for the dverse prompt: “We are writing to the First Person Narrative, using  “I am” as part of our poem. The voice, and the specific point of view is you, the poet.”

I am not quite sure what I thought of when writing this. I always like to reference in some form or another an ideology of grief, nature and change. For this poem, perhaps being freed of oneself truly constitutes who they now are.

I would classify this as a stream of consciousness as well. I do hope you enjoyed the read. Thank you!

Published by Lucy

"Poetess of darkness"–dVerse community; cat hoarder, guitarist, keyboardist, psych major.

119 Comments

  3. I dig stream-of-consciousness poetics; they take you to unexpected places, and poke you while hugging you while thrilling you. This one is a sweet ride.

    Liked by 5 people

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    1. They definitely do take you on a ride, and I’m glad you enjoyed this one. Thank you for your thoughts and I’m glad you enjoyed the poem!

      Like

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  4. This is my fave pick, so Powerful–one of those “wish I’d written it” phrases: “I am the thorn

    of flowers in your mouth” ❤

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. Aww, I’m just smiling wide right now. No one has ever said that to me before, the “wish I’d written it” phrase. I have had a lot of those myself when reading poetry, and I am beyond humbled and flattered you had that reaction to mine. It truly warms my heart. Thank you for your lovely comments and feedback. ❤ ❤

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      1. I’m happy to make your day, Lucy–and my comments are always 100% sincere! After rolling your poetic phrase in my mind for awhile, I was trying to figure out how I could tweak it just barely–to avoid “plagiarizing”!! 🙂 I just love it that much! But being an honorable woman/poet, you can be sure I wouldn’t steal someone’s creative work ❤

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Oh, wow, Rhen. I have no words. I thank you dearly for your lovely words and support.

        Also, I have no problem with you using that line or tweaking it. You have my permission to use it, my friend, if that’s what you’d like. ❤

        Like

      3. Really??!! Wowza–I would give you FULL credit and add your link, if I come up with something worthy. You are very generous!! Thanks, and sending much love ❤

        Liked by 2 people

  5. oo. i like, particularly “the thorn of the flower in your mouth”
    it reminds me of a verse from one of my fav poets Saul Williams,
    in his verse “She”

    The repetition works in this, like a chorus,
    and i learned a new word, meronym…

    i am always up for some math fun too,
    so halved like quarters made me smile.

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

    1. So glad you enjoyed the poem, Brian. It’s an absolute honor to hear that from you!

      I now have a poem to check out shortly. Will be reading that one soon.

      Thank you so very much for your thoughts; I enjoyed reading them, and am as well glad you liked the imagery and repetition in this poem. It means a lot.

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      1. She is actually a poem that takes up an entire book… So let me narrow it a bit for you…

        “I presented
        My feminine side
        With flowers
        She cut the stems
        And placed them gently
        Down my throat
        And these tulips
        Might soon eclipse
        Your brightest hopes”

        Really the whole poem is far ranging but all centered… So…

        Liked by 2 people

  6. For me too, this breathes freedom.

    I admire the outcome of your stream of consciousness writing. This is my favorite part because of its symbolism:

    I am the thorn
    of flowers in your mouth,

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much!

      I’d be more than happy to clarify. Those lines are truly my favorite because of the aspect of freedom. I originally thought of something more evocative to loss, perhaps losing a part of yourself, but as the poem came together, it seemed more like losing the part that was holding you back, so you can have freedom. In personal freedom, to me, there are aspects of renewal and death (poetically and emotionally, I mean) that evolve the person over time. We become new people, we grow and try to become better and to not be held back, either by others or ourselves.

      So glad you enjoyed the read, and thank you again for your lovely feedback.

      Liked by 4 people

      Reply

    1. I’m actually quite surprised many really like that line! That makes me happy. I thank you for your feedback and analysis as well, Ivor. Always appreciated.

      I also had a few things in mind with that line. I thought of a simple red rose and the thorns; and how in its symbolism, one no longer needs to be held back by others. Hence, the thorns of a rose would slightly hurt when grasped.

      It is subjective. My own interpretation may be similar or dissimilar, but honestly, it’s up to the reader to decide what it means to them. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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  18. A wonderful stream of consciousness poem, Lucy, and I agree that it addresses the idea of being free to be oneself in the now. I like how the poem builds up from ‘I, memory’ and ‘I, a membrane and ghost’, almost as if it is gaining momentum, running down a hill, picking up the thorny flowers, leaf and small tree on the way. I’m glad the tree didn’t die, even though it tried to.

    Liked by 4 people

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  19. Hello there, I want to ask you if you really read my posts before you like then or if you just like them because they have a certain tag?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    2. I follow the poetry tag and I read writing that goes under there. Sometimes, I don’t check the blog out but in retrospect I probably should have.

      There was no need to call me out as you said. You could have brought it up on one of my posts originally and I would have answered you. I was actually curious to what you were referring to so I decided to look at your blog.

      “Just fuck off and question your life choices or something. Well, fake followers are also fucking annoying, but at least they only show up once when they follow and not every single fucking time I publish a new post…”

      Give people a little more credit. Not everyone has the time all day to read everything you post. They might like a post because it seemed interesting at a glance and wanted to check it out entirely later. That is something I do at times.

      None offense taken. I thought it was actually kind of hilarious because it’s just futile in some ways, even pointing this out. 😂 Some people do actually do that and what more can I say? Welcome to the blogosphere, my friend.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. I’m aware of that, not new to it 🤣 And I also know it’s futile, but since I don’t know who does what, I’ll just put it out there and hope those who do read it and feel that it’s wrong will tell me so! And to those who it really does apply to will go away 😂 Anyway, you seem cool!

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Actually, I take it back, I don’t think it’s futile at all! XD Because every action and intend does have an effect, whether you believe it or not.

        Also,

        “Give people a little more credit. Not everyone has the time all day to read everything you post. They might like a post because it seemed interesting at a glance and wanted to check it out entirely later. That is something I do at times.”

        I don’t expect everyone to read all my posts all the time, I just want people to only like them if they’ve really read them! That’s why I also don’t really like this fucking system, because yes, sometimes people just like them to save them to read them later, but I think it would be better if WordPress had something like a bookmark option for that XD. For the rest, I’d like to remove the fucking like button and force people to comment if they care enough lol. Not possible on WP.com yet, but maybe in the future XD

        Liked by 2 people

      6. I’m the same! I usually follow all that seems interesting but don’t have time to read every blog. I usually set time aside a few days a week and go down my reader list of who I follow and read most posts there! I read most conversations as well and try to engage in someway. We got to support each other and lift each other up.

        Liked by 1 person

  23. I know where you got meronym from, Lucy! I’ve caught you!
    I’m jesting. If I’m the origin of your knowledge of the word, I’m happy to be. It’s such a pretty word with such an acute meaning, I find. There’s a plethora of linguistics terms I learn in University and would like to use.
    Regardless, I’m a big fan on this one, but unlike most, I care not for the thorns. The “membrane and ghost, meronym to memory,” really summons that amarulence of being but an echo to oneself. I’m familiar with the feeling, and I think you’ve built around it with great poise.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Ah, you caught me! I found it an interesting word and thought with the flow of memory and meronym, it would be rhythmic; and I’m always in need to expand my vocabulary anyway. I thank you for it! 😀

      I’m with you on that line. I do like the thorn line I wrote, sure, but the beginning lines are just evocative to me, especially with feeling like a ghost or an echo. Or being in an echo chamber, something to that effect.

      Anyway, thank you for your lovely comments. I always enjoy reading them and discussing.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  26. Poets — OK, all creators — have to somehow identify and distance from the I which takes such jealous possession of everything the name is ascribed to, when in essence it’s only human nature talking back to a nature which is sometimes human. This seems like a conversation with the Jimenez poem Grace used in her prompt — an old fave of mine — locating here the I in a ghost land of memory so faintly “mine” that it’s hard to say just who is speaking here — a trope, a love or a tree. The meronym “I” partakes of all. The fun part is the dance … loved it … Brendan

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Thank you for your thoughts! I enjoyed reading them. With this poem, I was writing from the standpoint of memory, not exactly an object (how I align it with my personal interpretation; poetry is always subjective to the reader). The tree, nature, represents what tried to be buried or left behind, but ultimately persevered. The gain is now freedom, either from oneself or another.

      So glad you enjoyed this, Brendan. That makes me very happy to hear! Thank you again for your feedback.

      Like

      Reply

  28. I heard wherever you go,
    There you are,
    True of place
    Perhaps, but when
    Sun moved the shadows
    I looked around
    And I was gone,
    Not sure if I
    Changed or if I had just
    Traveled too far.

    Love this tribute to memory, a membrane, a ghost, never living fully with us, biased by present circumstance and need,
    circling,
    until it
    diminishes
    or is freed.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  31. Pingback: I am the thorn of flowers in your mouth*… — A Prolific Potpourri… – Lucy's Works

  41. I came by to see what else I might find here, since you’ve blown my mind twice already. This:

    I, memory,
    I, a membrane and ghost
    meronym to memory
    and free—

    is just some fine writing. Plus, now I know what “meronym” means. Weirdly, I just posted a poem yesterday about “Membrane Boy.” Synchronicity? Curiouser and curiouser, I say.

    Liked by 1 person

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