Inner Ear (by Thom World Poet)

Poem 1 of 8 in "Salvaged from Coreys" Volume 3 Issue 1

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INNER EAR

Winter solstice is this Saturday,
The longest night of the year,
And as the weather grows colder
The inner life draws near and whispers in my ear -

"SLEEP IN!
LET YOUR DREAMS WHISPER IN YOUR EAR!
HEAR THEM CLEARLY!"

And I do, till I can no longer distinguish
Between the worlds
Of day dream and the deep dreams of night.

Breathing becomes dreaming,
And the many worlds become one.
AND THIS IS GOOD!

Outside the neutral world muses
on the year just past -
Fast forwards past the headlines.
Each day slides between ice and fire,
Stone and song.
The many woods of forests shiver
And the Song of Winter sleets our windshield,
Even as we snugly hide
From that over which we have no control

Cool chill weather is indoor sport -
Imagine fires burning and eggnog
Warm TV and a cool video.

Silence is interrupted by a crackling fire.
It is darker earlier,
Students have their ends to contemplate
And even if we cannot see it
This year is drawing to a close
So we go back to our family origins
Jump back onto the family tree
And start chopping.
It must be Christmas -
Everyone is living in the Present.

Darkness claims us earlier
Shiver in a double bed
We close the door on the dark.
She cries like a banshee wind.
The outside worlds listen to her.
Trees shiver in sympathy.
We are inside listening
To the curled embryo of our inner ear
As if Stillness were an illness
We innoculate by Good Cheer,
Warm ourselves when the weather
is a traitor to football
as the year draws to a close.

I am waiting for the greeting cards.
I have strung my Christmas Lights.
There are presents under the Christmas Tree.

I am puzzled by these ceremonies:

True, Christmas is not an everyday occurence,
But what prevents us
From being so generous
All the time?

---(Thom World Poet)---

BANSHEE - Female spirit whose wail portends death in a house.

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