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Melancholy Skies

Bring Out Your Dead

By Caroline JanePublished about a year ago Updated 12 months ago 1 min read
Top Story - February 2023
41
Photo by Vikki Taberer: A Mill Pond in Weir, near Bacup, Lancashire. 7th Feb 2023.

You arrived as a kiss with copper on your breath

to rouse a community from their everyday dead.

Spinning sugar across dour concrete skies,

you blaze honey trails where the crows fly.

Sultry and syrupy, you sashay over this land;

whispering wonderment from a pout of peachy lip.

Glossing weathered cars stood tired in rows,

adding jewels like rubies to pot-holed roads,

regaling stony tenements with gilded panes,

schmoozing into mill ponds with heart-winning flames.

***

Slack-jawed, we bleed out from our back-to-back lives

to make honeysuckle media from your tides of ruddy skies.

Filtering out the inky thumb of the hand caught up our skirts.

Silkening its shadow, softening where it hurt.

Drenching collective memory in sepia's forgiving glow.

Opportunity's hard knocks tonight will not be put on show.

***

This is our golden half-hour

in a winter of discontent.

A fireside hug

in a room of wet cement.

We will rake over our coals

and forget what they meant.

Peel away our layers and

ease our souls with sighs.

We shall decompose the rigour

of our hard-working lives

as we swaddle together

beneath your melancholy skies.

***

Notes from the author:

Around once a winter in the North West of England, the skies blaze as the sun sets, and social media is flooded with pictures as our communities share the awe we feel in response to it.

We have the highest rainfall and the oldest, decrepit industry in the country. When the skies burn red, as rare as it is, it can feel like the magic in our land has remembered us.

sad poetrysocial commentarynature poetry
41

About the Creator

Caroline Jane

Warm-blooded vertebrate, domesticated with a preference for the wild. Howls at the moon and forages on the dark side of it. Laughs like a hyena. Fuelled by good times and fairy dust. Writes obsessively with no holes barred.

Reader insights

Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

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    The story invoked strong personal emotions

  2. Compelling and original writing

    Creative use of language & vocab

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    Niche topic & fresh perspectives

  1. Expert insights and opinions

    Arguments were carefully researched and presented

  2. Easy to read and follow

    Well-structured & engaging content

  3. On-point and relevant

    Writing reflected the title & theme

  4. Excellent storytelling

    Original narrative & well developed characters

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Comments (33)

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  • L.C. Schäfer11 months ago

    How did I miss this? I love it. Beautiful imagery.

  • Adamu Salisuabout a year ago

    You're welcome

  • shaham about a year ago

    NICE

  • Lamar Wigginsabout a year ago

    The flow was amazing. The content, engaging. Inspiration found its way and it paid off! Congrats!

  • Robbie Reamerabout a year ago

    Metaphorical masterpiece, very nicely written.

  • 💯❤️

  • D.L. Finnabout a year ago

    Goregous imagery and powerful words!

  • C. H. Richardabout a year ago

    I love the poem and the back story about your community. Feels like a beautiful awakening. Beautiful❤️ Congratulations on your top story.

  • Adamu Salisuabout a year ago

    Nice wok kee it up.

  • Lauraabout a year ago

    I appreciate "Melancholy Skies" for its evocative imagery and the way it captures the emotional complexity of a dark and stormy sky. The poem creates a vivid and atmospheric setting, using sensory details like the smell of rain and the heaviness of the clouds to draw the reader in. I also appreciate the way the poem explores the speaker's emotions, moving from a sense of apprehension to a deeper sense of melancholy and nostalgia. The line about remembering a lost love is particularly powerful, adding a poignant layer of meaning to the poem.

  • Dana Stewartabout a year ago

    Timeless! Congratulations on Top Story! 💕

  • Holly Pheniabout a year ago

    Lovely, lovely! May the magic always remember.

  • Moe Radosevichabout a year ago

    Awesome Caroline, I like fireside hugs to, very nice congratulations 😀

  • KJ Aartilaabout a year ago

    Beautiful!

  • sleepy draftsabout a year ago

    Absolutely stunning. ❤️

  • J. S. Wadeabout a year ago

    Beautiful poem ! Congrats 🥰

  • Call Me Lesabout a year ago

    At last! You have earned this a million times over. So overdue for recognition. You've outdone yourself Caroline. This is magnificent. 💕💕💕

  • Allie Bickertonabout a year ago

    Absolutely stunning all the way through! The line that stuck with me the most was: “A fireside hug In a room of wet cement” Congrats on Top Story!! Bravo and well deserved!! You’re up one more subscriber today. :)

  • Testabout a year ago

    How beautiful!

  • Heather Hublerabout a year ago

    Congratulations on Top Story!! So well deserved, I loved it :)

  • Mariann Carrollabout a year ago

    So romantic the imagery 🥰

  • Shane Dobbieabout a year ago

    I’m no poetry expert, but the imagery in this exceptional. I would read poetry more if it was like this.

  • JBazabout a year ago

    Beautiful and interesting back story to it Congratulations

  • Tiffany Gordon about a year ago

    gorgeous work Caroline! Congratulations on your TOP STORY! 🎉

  • Lori Meltonabout a year ago

    Gorgeous ❤️

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