Lit eZine Vol 8 | p-8 | POETRY | Lost Poem – Manic Sylph Writes… Poetry & Thoughts by Mona Soorma

SHORT POEM

LOST POEM
by Lizzie Purkis

Woman working on a poem — *Image by tsaloka from Pixabay*

I knelt over it
with ruler and pencil,
marking off, 
mapping out,
piling on 
an imaginary 
word load to test 
its pliancy,
measuring the volume
of its hold.

I spliced each section 
together for the 
smoothest joins,
then planed them to 
silk so the hand could 
travel with 
or against the grain
without displacing 
a single fiber,
and the eye 
could follow 
each natural change 
in tone or shade.

I pored over it 
at all hours. 
My eyes alighted 
there before 
yielding to sleep. 
On tiptoe at dawn 
I surprised it, curious 
to know what 
polishing effects my 
mind had wrought 
overnight. 
Its main 
fabrication I saved 
for daylight, 
when blemishes 
are more easily 
admitted to.

These were its 
mechanics,
ventured with 
a few simple tools. 
But the whimsy 
that breathes life 
into such a craft
cannot be found. 
That went looking 
for another 
vessel to inhabit.

Connect with Lizzie Purkis on Instagram

Lizzie Purkis is a British-born poet, who has made Chicago home. Her work has been published in journals in the UK, Canada, and the US. She is a lifelong linguist, a social worker for humans across the lifespan, and a university educator for fledgling social workers. Through various life stages, she keeps returning to poetry.