SurVision Magazine
An
international online magazine that
publishes Surrealist poetry
in English.
Issue Six
CANDICE JAMES
A Distant Moaning
A distant moaning:
a silent song, a wordless rhyme,
drums whispering a broken lullaby beat.
The dead dance to their own music.
They dance to the songs only they can hear.
A string of pearls.
A chain of golden silver.
A pendant of burnt amber.
A candle of sage and sienna.
These are the things
that remind me of the dead.
These are the things I will take to the dance
when I hear the distant moaning
and move slowly across
Time's river of tears
toward the dance of the dead.
A Dream in a Dream
I have laughed like water
and cried like dust.
I am least what I seem
in this dying dream:
an iron maiden turning to rust.
There are songs I will never play
and words I will never write;
music I will never hear
until angels appear
and slay this cold hard night.
Life's just a dream, in a dream,
softly sighing and crying.
an altar for smiles and tears.
a platform for joys and fears.
Just a dream in a dream that's dying.
I Tumble Like Wine
As I walk across the afternoons
into the evening of my life
I carry in my bones the scent and essence
of all my yesterdays
frail and delicate,
harsh and abrasive.
And then there are the echoes and sounds
that chase me into these evening shadows:
the whispers and sighs
of numbers and letters
scribbled on pages in notes and words;
the ambiance and mood
of music on vinyl, tape and metal
and the living cells of voices
permeating all of it; all of me.
taking me further into the evening of my life
with such tenderness; irresistible.
I must succumb.
I tumble like wine
from the glass of life
into the throat of eternity
giving up all my memories
to the angels that lie in wait,
waiting to analyze the story of all my afternoons:
until there is nothing left to explain
until there is only my spirit
laid naked and exposed
glanced by the needle of truth
waiting to be stitched with the weave of wisdom.
Set and ready to be reborn,
I tumble like wine
from the glass of eternity
into the throat of life.
Candice James is from Canada. She has published fifteen collections of her poems, the latest two being The Water Poems (Ekstasis Edition, 2017) and Rithimus Aeternam (Silver Bow Publishing, 2019). She is also a singer-songwriter and a visual artist. She was appointed Poet Laureate Emerita of New Westminster, British Columbia after finishing two 3 year terms at Poet Laureate 2010-2016.
