Inspiration for the Spirit

A lovely place to wander for poetry and inspiration to soothe the soul

  • Home
  • About
  • Poetry
  • Essays
  • Inspiration
  • Quotes
  • Reflections
  • Guestbook
  • Archives
Home / Susan Dane Setin / Taffeta Torn Through

Taffeta Torn Through

by Susan Dane Setin

click to enlarge

We look for strong arms
to carry us. None forthcoming.
Or they come and go and
leave us more depleted in the going.
We look to find ourselves in the other,
always turning ’round the other
in pink taffeta, little girl pirouettes,
all grown up and still
twirling for him, as if some coyness
could suffice the long road.

We are built with space inside,
but confuse the space for emptiness,
then mad that no one, no thing,
can fill it for us,
we stomp away. If the other can’t be all,
we’ll be all ourselves, we say.
Come up empty once again.
Then banging around, high on hype,
insisting the world be round
the way we have been promised.
One day we finally stop.
Stem and petal bruised.

The grace of time is in its always
coming. Each moment undefined,
but now becoming. Pounding
pavements in the driving rain,
alone, a new mercy takes shape:
Life neither round nor square, love sought
neither here nor there, but every blossom
of its own unfolding. Here sun does not
eclipse the moon, nor being with one’s self
dismiss the other. Intimacy of a new order
untangles the pronouns.
In the clear blue we are no longer different.
Which is not to say
we are the same.

Copyright © 2000 Susan Dane Setin • All rights reserved.
Selection from GOOD-BYE TO WHITE KNIGHTS and other moving vehicles—IV. Unwrapping the Night.

You might also like

A Woman Who Can Tell
Who I Am
Pretty
Cloud Nine

Filed under being female.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

The Poetry Pages

My Poems
Classic Poets
Selected Poems
Classic Love Poems
Zen Poetry, Haiku, and Wisdom
Sitem♥p
book and blue flowers

Guest Poets

  • Oriah Mountain Dreamer
  • Terry Stephen Driscoll
  • Dennis Janke
  • Christine Magee
  • Carrie Ryman
  • Tom Schmidt
  • Susan Dane Setin

"What makes you a poet is a gift for language, an ability to see into the heart of things"—Erica Jong

Featured Poem

pensive ballerinas

Taffeta Torn Through

By Susan Dane Setin

We look for strong arms
to carry us. None forthcoming.
Or they come and go and
leave us more depleted in the going.
We look to find ourselves in the other,
always turning ’round the other
in pink taffeta, little girl pirouettes,
all grown up and still
twirling for him, as if some coyness
could suffice the long road … Read more
tea party on a cupcake
lamplight on snowy night
carousel
Venice

Explore and Enjoy

aging art autumn being female children compassion courage death divorce encouragement family father flowers forgiveness friendship grief & sadness happiness hope inner peace inspiring life living loneliness love love lost loving yourself marriage mindful living mother mountains music Native American people places positive attitude poverty quotes relationships sex & sexuality simple pleasures solitude spirit spring winter writing

Inspiration for the Spirit EST 2002 • Copyright © 2022 Patricia Petro • LOGIN

»
«