check your navel for unexpected strength, maybe

Posted on by claudia
my daughter's little rabbit

my daughter’s little rabbit

.

when i wake,
there’s a dog &
a brown rabbit next to me,

“hey–“ i smile,
“good morning,
didn’t see you yesterday–” &

as i peel from the shade,
catch my reflection in their eyes

the open bible next to me
is a bit crumpled,

i read in the book of Job last night,
think about the Behemoth
as i get dressed,
(would love to see one, one day),

press my forehead, rest-sleep warm
against the pane’s cool face,
crisp air streaming through my lungs,

in a minute, i’ll be on a foggy highway
with hundred cars that flash
morse code restlessly

& try to picture him,
tail swaying like a cedar,
limbs as strong as copper, iron-stable bones &
the beasts of the field playing around him,
happily– i’m

changing lanes, check the rearview
for familiar faces, smiling
as a puff of breath ascends

from frozen nostrils

.

just a few hours left until Joe swings open the dVerse Poets pub doors for OpenLinkNight… i may bring the little rabbit..smiles

81 responses to “check your navel for unexpected strength, maybe”

  1. what an interesting interpretation of the Behemoth and the strength in the navel…really well done , a connection of the mythical and common and where we can find that in our faith. thank you.

  4. Sounds like a cold day, in a way, but the sun can shine with all around you too. First dirty hands and now nostrils from you..lol..at least it is frozen so nothing else goes on those diirty hands haha

  6. Cute rabbit 🙂 Daniel has a rabbit that he loves…in these lines…press my forehead, rest-sleep warm
    against the pane’s cool face,
    crisp air streaming through my lungs…sounds like you are trying to embrace the moment before you go on the foggy highway..nice capture, Claudia 🙂

  11. I wonder if this rabbit belongs to your daughter who is now in Australia. If so, it is good that you are taking care of it in her absence…..as I am sure it must be lonely for her at times too. I liked the mention of cars blinking morse code. Ha, I do wonder if the younger generation even knows of morse code any more. Another dinosaur in the age of more advanced communication methods, I fear.

  13. so much feeling under the surface of this one claudia…i feel tiredness in the resting of the head on the window….and the cold lips at the end…look for those friendly faces you know…smiles.

  18. “changing lanes, check the rearview
    for familiar faces, smiling
    as a puff of breath ascends

    from frozen nostrils”

    That perfectly describes my mornings of late. I love the visual essence of the piece. Nicely done! 🙂

  20. Aw… such a cute rabbit! I love how they were there as you woke, watching you move. I can visualize breath in the cold air… it’s one of those things I always loved to watch. Not sure why… haha.

  21. I plead guilty. First of all, I always, yes ALWAYS steer well clear of anything remotely connected to religion. But I also plead guilty to not knowing what the word behemoth actually means. So I found out and that then lead me to read the piece in full. Then it started to make sense.
    Another journey poem today. I used to hate that 10 minute drive into work, same road, same people, same houses. Now, I would give almost anything to make that journey again.
    Take care of that wabbit, hold him and everything else is just gravy.
    I have now fulfilled my ‘Learn something new each day’ so a big thanks for that.

  22. i just love the way you make simple moments shine with magic in your poetry..it feels i even begin to see colors brighter after reading you 🙂

  24. I specially like the reference to driving the foggy highway, flashing morse codes and changing lanes, feeling the cold breath ~ Sounds and images I can relate as I drive the freeway everyday ~ Have a lovely day / night ~

  28. Well, let me tell you that book is the first one I read in the Bible…and that was not a very fun way to start my walk of faith. Ha! Yet there was great wisdom in that even still, and I wouldn’t mind seeing the Behemoth …but love the way this wound much imagery up in my head !

  29. I do find comfort in the story of Job. Things are never quite as bad as he had it 🙂 I do love how what I imagine your personality to be (strong, dreamy, peaceful, fanciful, brave) always comes through your words. I don’t know that I’d ever want to see a behemoth though — unless it was from a great distance, lol.

  30. This is a great, fanciful tale. I like the image of looking in rear view window for friendly faces. The image of steam coming from your nostrils juxtaposed with the Behemoth – lovely!

  33. I’d love to awake to a bunny rabbit, how gorgeous… there’s a nice melancholy to this, and the looking in the rear view mirror for familiar faces, strong image. Nice write!

  35. Lovely to share your hypnogogic moments with us, with the dream imagery still lingering on your sleepy lids. The Behemoth, like any of us, can be heroic, or beastly, secondary to stimulation & circumstance. I see him in my own mirror much too often.

  36. press my forehead, rest-sleep warm
    against the pane’s cool face,
    crisp air streaming through my lungs,

    in a minute, i’ll be on a foggy highway
    with hundred cars that flash
    morse code restlessly

    These are my two favorite stanzas because I can actually feel the cool glass. And I love the idea of cars flashing morse code in the fog. Great imagry.

  39. I too admire that trait in your poetry of how it switches from that idea to another…just the way my mind works sometimes… Love that cute bunny photo too.

  41. I love that little rabbit! And pressing my warm face against cool glass–that is wonderful as your description of the drive. Enjoyed the ride 🙂

  43. I always feel a little sad when I know I have to get out of bed. You captured that feeling well here and the ending was strong. I like the structured story feel (I’m a big fan of story telling heh)

    • I Laos wanted to say that I love the book of Job. I feel such a sense of gratitude when I think of everything he went through. I read 24 chapters aloud one night and got a bit depressed – I usually stick with the Psalms 🙂

  49. You always make me see it, and feel like I’m right there with you. All creatures great and small… And love is the thread that holds us all.

  51. loved your early morning reflections & wouldn’t have been half surprised if looking in your rearview mirror you’d caught a behemoth winking at you 😉 – and i agree, the title is perfect

  54. this reminds me of ren and stimpy “wash the lint, mow the lint, dry the lint”
    well navels are pretty powerful bits of tech when we start out
    are these arterial roads our replacement =)

  56. nicely painted moments Claudia. Really a great job with this style, which is really the Claudia style in my book as no one paints a moment/observation/reflection all in one like you do. Although, the behemoth, nope, don’t think I care to see that, I think it’s like one of the devils head demons or something like that, can’t remember for sure though. Cute rabbit, was planning on buying the nieces a rabbit doll each for easter.

  57. press my forehead, rest-sleep warm
    against the pane’s cool face,
    crisp air streaming through my lungs,

    This one of the passages that brought it all to life for me. Fine writing.

  59. As a dog and rabbit are to you, so is the behemoth to God! I love the traffic as behemoth, your narrator’s nostrils as the air passages.

  60. “when i wake,
    there’s a dog &
    a brown rabbit next to me,

    “hey–“ i smile,
    “good morning,
    didn’t see you yesterday–” &

    as i peel from the shade,
    catch my reflection in their eyes…”

    Hi! Claudia…

    • …Thanks, for sharing moments after you wake:

      As you protect your daughter’s rabbit, catch your reflection, read from the book of Job and think about the Behemoth…

      …Soon on the highway changing lanes as you check your rear-view mirror for familiar…faces.
      Thanks, for sharing the photograph…too!

  61. …Claudia… your heart shines in this…what a beautiful poem to encourage though full of missing… i especially like your many wonderful descriptions here… smiles…

  67. It’s amazing to see where the skein of thread from a stream of consciousness leads. And here, as always, there’s more than the surface of the poem might imply, with the interconnectedness of navels, children’s toys, and the generations, and the Biblical allusions. Well crafted.

  73. Much room for interpretation here. My mind is rushing to capture at least some of it. The search, desire for faith, the rest in a common day, the breath that ascends among friendly faces. You are proof that imagination is endless, and talent – well, unfortunately only some get it deeply, inherently engraved in their minds.

  74. Yeah, oh so whimsical! I’ve said that before and it remains true. I’m taking the behomith as a giant elephant, correct? Pardon my dumbness, ha ha. So the nostril with cold air … I like that, it catches us and wakes us up. Coffee!