The RetroLounge Daily Poem Thread (Thu 2/28/2008)

[RetroLounge]

Rembrandt's Raising of Lazarus, 1642

Of course he'd be coming
from the ground. Follow
Christ's eyebeam to find
the resurrected man,

somebody's brother,
somebody's lover, look
where Christ tells him
to come out.

And suddenly
he is with us again,
mostly just a face
is what we see, i.e.,

an identity.
This was Lazarus.
This man died
until he heard a voice

denying his understanding
up to now of his dark condition.
The voice said to do something,
come, come out

of where you think you are.
The face of Lazarus
peels off the ground.
Already he begins to tell

the story he'll be telling year after year
interpreting, maybe finally even
understanding the way he was,
the place he was, the thing

that happened to him and then
the thing that happened to that.
I was dead and then was not—
who else can say that but me?

We're tired of hearing your story
but we love your face.

Robert Kelly

*************************

:hi:

RL

[zingaro]

1. resurrection.

Such a broad topic. We all have new faces, right, from time to time? And tell the story of how we peeled them from the inside of ourselves over and over until our loved ones want to die a death of their own lol

I dig (ooh sorry, no pun intended) this one. It's a cool spin on an old topic. We are many selves, dependent on interpretation.

Here's the painting, btw:

[NMDemDist2]

2. this is a good one for me today RL

sixteen years after my resurrection back to a life worth living

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=336x3981

[xchrom]

3. the moral of this story -- you can re-invent yourself -- but your friends will be unimpressed.

actually -- i love this -- it's why i see a shrink -- and the story of lazarus is one of my fav stories period.

[hisownpetard]

4. Thanks for posting, RL.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. My dear Retro...

How moving, such a different look at this old story...

I really enjoy having my mind stretched by your poems!

Thank you...

:hi:

[Gonzo Gardener]

6. Mind stretching...

Is that a form of mental yoga? ;)

Hi, Peggy!