Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Southern Dream Catcher (Poem)

Southern Dream Catcher

The bare broken branches hold up
their bayou lure, the haint blues

and the witch's cobalt ball the traps
of the southern dream catcher.

On a night the moon shuts tight
its quartered eye, white wisps writhe

like snakes inside colored bottles
balanced on welcoming arms.

Morning's shine on the crape myrtle
stills our breath-denying fear.

© 2012 Maureen E. Doallas
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For those interested in bottle trees, go here.

14 comments:

KatieC said...

Your poems are always so beautiful!

Hiyacynthia said...

I love bottle trees!

signed...bkm said...

like snakes inside colored bottles
balanced on welcoming arms.

cobalt too...lovely vision of a Southern night...bkm

Lorna Cahall said...

Amazing. Such rich images. The atmoshperic quality just grew and grew through the poem!

Brian Miller said...

nice...i like the contrast between the closing stanza and the gritty feel of the imagery prior...great piece maureen

Hannah Stephenson said...

I just learned about this recently, from a poet friend, Paula Lambert....she has a poem called "The Bottle Tree."

All the lovely words there are for blue...

I enjoyed this.

Beachanny said...

I'd forgotten about bottle trees. I haven't seen one in years. Thank you for this trip through the deep South, and for the link to all the information..much much I didn't know. The poem itself is beautifully constructed - preserving myth, folklore in such a beautiful wrap.

ayala said...

Nice piece..love this...like snakes inside colored bottles
balanced on welcoming arms.

S. Etole said...

fascinating ... both the poem and the history.

Joan Barrett Roberts said...

Bottled trees in blue ~ super rich images
& I love your words descriptions ~ full
Moving enticing the reader ~ super poetry!

Anonymous said...

good one!

Louise Gallagher said...

A bottle tree!!!! How divine.

Patricia said...

such beautiful imagery... expressed as only you can. Lovely. (Reminded me of the scene from Winn Dixie with Cicely Tyson and her bottle tree.)

emmett wheatfall said...

I love the clever use of alliteration. It makes the piece work nicely. A wonderful composition, Maureen.