Gifts

In German,
Gift means poison,
something he may not know.
He brings her gold,
perfume and clothes,
sometimes a diamond,
sometimes a rose,
until she doesn’t even see them
piling up in lonely high security,
the toxic perfection of their mansion.
So she searches on the internet
for something that she cannot get
from him – the comfort that loving words impart
and the gift of someone’s heart.

Kim M. Russell, 2017

(c) Laing Art Gallery; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

Image found on Pinterest

My response to dVerse Poets Pub Tuesday Poetics – Wrap it in Ribbons Please!

This week Lillian has returned to tend the bar and starts by asking us to relax and let our minds wander, and then rein them in to recall a time when we received a gift. She asks whether it was wrapped in holiday paper and did someone deliver it to our door.  Did we turn a corner and run into an old friend we hadn’t seen in years? Did we find out we were going to become parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles? Did we score the winning points in the last seconds of a game? Did we find a scribbled “I luv you” note stuck on the refrigerator? Did we hear a symphony with a dramatic crescendo that sent your heart soaring?

She says that there are so many gifts when we think about it: someone in the family with the gift of the gab or a special power or aptitude. Have we given a charitable gift or presented someone with a gift? Is there a difference between a gift of homemade jam, a gift certificate for $100, or a bracelet from a store? What makes a good gift?

Lillian has shared some inspirational quotations about gifts; my favourite is by Mary Oliver: “Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”

She has also provided a link to a Shaker Song, “Simple Gifts.” Originally written in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett, the Aaron Copeland arrangement is quite well known. This recording, sung by Seattle’s Tudor Choir, was arranged by composer and Professor at Boston Conservatory, Kevin Siegfried.

Today’s prompt:  write a poem that includes the word gift.

48 thoughts on “Gifts”

  15. Really beautiful story. I did not know Gift means poison on German or Swedish as Bjorn pointed out. That’s very interesting indeed. I like how the gifts she receives to her are meaningless. Just things, thins of a ‘poisonous’ nature even though they appear great. I think she hates being stuck in this big house, feels traps and online are her friends, the true gift in her life, what keeps her sane and gives her life authenticity. Great job.

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  16. Of course the giver finds joy in the giving, whether it be love or material goods–but the kicker is when gifts come with conditions & strings, they lose all real value; nice work.

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  19. ToWeRinG Gifts oF GoldeN PoiSoN
    Cars as Lovers
    Homes as God
    BreathE
    oF Love
    SiNks
    STiNk
    sTAnK
    STuNk
    TrumpS.. heHe..
    HuMor thE curE
    oF FEar and HAte
    Tree Stump RiSes
    TWig
    oF
    LioN’s
    Love Crier..
    NoW.. yeP hi
    gHEr.. aGaiN2..;)

    Liked by 1 person

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