Listening to Cicadas, I See Charlottesville (Ghazal)
Shedding one coat, you live in the red, apart
from the rest. Never together, forever apart.
In this sun-drenched field, the cracks drill deeper,
wider, dribbling soil and small lives, expanding, apart.
What falls truer than any words released from this man?
Once divided, never again to touch, always apart.
The electric shrill fluctuates pitch, in unison. Hundreds
of tymbals, shredding dusk, now together, then apart.
You narrow your eye to a slit, but still see the entire
spectrum. Wing clicks, stridulation. Whole yet apart.
Shearing syllables, I learn the language of half-truth.
What is my name? I reach for that fragment. It falls apart.
O at the Edges 
Quietly powerful. Wonderful.
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Thanks, Leslie. Those cicadas can be pretty powerful inspiration!
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Strong – sets my brain into a spin! Can be read at least two ways … poet observing metaphor … but also: what if “this man” is capable of observing his own falling, his own “always apart”? Would he be capable of changing his pattern, halting his “electric shrill”? (Something to ponder as I struggle with understanding you-can-guess-who.)
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Thanks, Jazz. I’m not certain that it is possible to understand that person.
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My inner optimist keeps looking for a trace of virtue … “what if” is as close as I can get (thus far) … my inner observer keeps tracking ample evidence of virtue void …
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It seems to be a virtue black hole!
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Lovely, made all the more so by the waves of cicada song swelling and receding outside my window.
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Thank you, Jennifer.
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I love this, Robert. The metaphor of the cicada song–yes, it does seem this country is forever apart. I really admire how you did this as a ghazal. (And weirdly, I was thinking about ghazals about a week ago.) 🙂
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Thanks, Merril. I hadn’t attempted ghazals in quite a while, but a month or so ago I started writing them again. I didn’t manage to include all of the conventions in this one, but somehow that’s the way the poem flows.
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Thank you for tackling this topic that must be addressed in however cunning or creative form possible. I admire this piece and your courage to speak with the poetic voice.
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Thanks, Steph. I like to believe that addressing this sort of issue from an oblique position leads me to better understanding, and that perhaps others might follow the same track.
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I love that you use the kigo (cicada) as part of a meditation on race as much as a haiku word form. ii desu yo!
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They’re active here, and something about their sound rising and falling and abruptly ending, combined with the way they separate themselves, squeezing out of and shedding their external bodies, suggested the sense of “apartness.” Dunno. Probably a stretch, but it’s the way my mind works. 🙂
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Their association with summer and Japan and the psyche and my personal history with Japan and memory and… I could go on and on…
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Robert, this is wonderful. Using Ghazal and the metaphor to write about the racial division that splitting this country apart.
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Thank you. It seemed a good form to emphasize that split.
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Beautiful. As I read this I can even hear them in my mind.
Meno<3
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Thank you, Meno!
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Reblogged this on theherdlesswitch and commented:
Wonderful poem by Robert Okaji!
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And thanks for reblogging!
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My pleasure!
Meno<3
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The shrilling sounds and parting ways of Cicadas resonate powerfully all the way through.
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They’ve been rather insistent lately, but tonight they’re quiet. Interesting.
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How do you do it? This is brilliant Robert!
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Thank you, Fiza. Oh, I dunno. I sit in my shack every day, start writing, and hope for the best. Sometimes it works out. 🙂
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Beautiful! “Apart” pretty much sums up what is happening to our country right now.
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Thank you, Karolina. It certainly seems that way.
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Excellently, topically, expressed
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Thank you, Derrick. And thank you, cicadas!
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Indeed. Falling and falling. (K)
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Let’s hope that most of it remains intact.
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Yes.
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From “apart” to “apart.” Nice.
Recent events show us that divide is not only between races, but also between those who will accept differences and those who will not.
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Yes, and so many people refuse to see the common ground. I find that difficult to understand.
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