Hot Water, Sharp Needles
Glowing like winter-light.
The arabica plunges a stake
into the heart of a morning
glowing like winter-light and a lemongrass candle.
The oak table where I drink and work (and drink)
is the type that can fold like a map or a paper doll,
as malleable as a bird’s dirt-bones.
I envision it someday packed away and discarded
in some estate sale
before the sun has stained the lawn with light.
I know it is temporal,
like the bone-thrill of success and the stabs of happiness,
like the stir of the train in the distance,
its whistle brightening the fog,
its presence so mundane as to be divine.
The lakes that surround me churn with November water:
brackish, polluted, stained with death.
The water there runs cold.
About the Creator
Carly Bush
I'm a writer with a passion for highly visual and quietly subversive literature. I contribute to Collective World and you can find my short stories and poetry here.
Connect with me on Instagram and TikTok: @carlyaugustabush
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
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Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Expert insights and opinions
Arguments were carefully researched and presented
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
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Comments (13)
The imagery of "arabica plunging a stake"... that first morning coffee that hits the mouth like a slap that hurts but in a kind of good way. But most of all I connected with the line "its presence so mundane as to be divine." For those moments you stop and look at something and relise you haven't actually loooked at it for months or even years and suddenly you see it all over again.
Carly this was really moving and well written!! Beautifully done and congrats on Top Story!
Thank you for this insightful poem. I look forward to reading more of your work.
I really appreciate the strong opening and the detailed imagery; and "so mundane as to be divine" is a particularly striking line. Congrats on TS.
Beautiful imagery!
Read several times! Entrancing imagery!
congratulations on TS status. The imagery you create is beyond words and yet, you found them to create this masterpiece. AWESOME.
Very atmospheric.
Wow, Carly. You made me miss fall and crave a slice of temporal life. I love how you place the solid/practical beside the divine/mystical and tie them together - beautiful work, so deserving of a top story!
Awesome story, Carly Bush Congrats!!!💖
Beautiful poem. You create such vivid images using unique comparisons, really awesome! Congrats on the Top Story.
It may be my context of having just read a piece about writing, but I'm reading this as being about writing too .
Kind of makes me think of the muddy creaks that used to run clear in my youth.