Scarecrow Takes a Holiday
Having neither organs nor neural impulses,
I no longer ask why or how I hear and smell,
taste and see, feel. This morning I woke
to magpie song and onion breeze, in
a body not mine, yet mine, at peace
on Jeju Island, far from my crows, yet
still among friends singing the same
language. I know this: home lives
within, and no matter where we travel,
it rides with us. Like the man who
spoke to me, bald, bearded, a pale
foreigner in this land, comfortable
here, at home. He listened for my reply,
but unfortunately I’d not been given
a mouth, and my words dropped to the
ground and were rolled away by
beetles before he noticed them.
Perhaps I should have written a note,
but he wished to gamble and how
could I refuse? I am hollow, but not
empty, whole, yet not complete,
away but here. He took a coin
from his pocket, flipped it. I saw…
A response to Daniel Paul Marshall’s “Scarecrow Travels (after Robert Okaji)”
This first appeared in May 2017.
This one really spoke to me. What a gift to my morning. Thank you.
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Thank you, Ali. I hope you read Daniel’s poem, which sparked this one. Much fun!
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What fun – just never know when Scarecrow will visit! Always welcome!
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Scarecrow pops up whenever he pleases.
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Scarecrow never fails to leave me pondering. “Hollow, but not empty”–now that’s wisdom. Always room at the inn for who or whatever comes along. (K)
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Always room! Yes!
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I don’t know why I missed this point before, but Scarecrow’s words definitely would be sweeter than what a beetle might roll away. π
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Ha! I guess it’s a matter of perspective. π
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I always welcome reading your scarecrow stories, a pleasant tale for my tired eyes…..
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Thank you, Ivor. I wonder which Leonard Cohen songs he prefers?
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Super!!!
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Thank you, Sarah.
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The beetles are a lovely image
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Beetles don’t get enough credit for their hard work! π
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π
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Y’know… the two of you could keep this going round. In fact I rather wish you would.
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This was enjoyable!
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