with which we sleep
by: John Sturgeon, ©2015
19 mins., stereo
with which we sleep - ruminates poetically on the gradual dawning of an unavoidable realization – that point in a relationship when the couple senses things have begun to go awry, or when the façade of their intimacy has cracked, revealing what may already be crumbling around them.
Subterranean indicators surface, tripping their way across the stage with inappropriate gestures, the oblique inadvertent comment. Worries begin to manifest: has this gone beyond saving, or worse - is our union already lost?
Each night our little cart trundles its oblivious cargo
to and fro about the ancient tower
whose indifferent chiaroscuro
strips bare the awful things
with which we sleep -
shuttering further these two
who cling so ardently beneath their gloaming.
Primary Text: with which we sleep
That’s how these romances begin
with their conclusion embedded
in momentary little stumbles,
inconsequential blunders,
union’s drop-stitch of promise.
Even as we rush to propagate our mantel,
add frames for the bureau
such vivid portraits -
cherished protests to the contrary
this naiveté of nurturing settles with the heedless dust
withering before the verdict of the court.
Each night our little cart trundles its oblivious cargo
to and fro about the ancient tower
whose indifferent chiaroscuro
strips bare the awful things
with which we sleep -
shuttering further these two
who cling so ardently beneath their gloaming.
The uninvited submission claws the hearts
Digs with malignant darkening,
wills both chill cold.
How curious these moments are,
which become instantly frozen -
Freeze-dried tattoos that subjugate the soul-skin,
Branding the way we conceive of love’s capacity
littering up the geography with directives:
the dos and don’ts
and never again -
that define and translate our being smaller…
less pliable,
more like wrinkled fables
stiffening, with the cooling could have been.
John Sturgeon ©2011
All Fallen In
all falling in
waiting for the sensuousness
of the collapse
an implosion unto death
the end
of a desire
of a meaning
of a life... or, just a part of a life,
seen suddenly from the back
like a design or a set, with the structure all revealed
the hidden reasons
sweated out in the dark
now caught, all beaded up
in a glimmer from this light
all falling in
John Sturgeon ©2011
VIDEO:
Like watching Bergman when I was young.... meaning, it was like the first time being exposed to that level of relationship pain and disconnect.
Poignant, elegant, restrained, so lovely really. From the get-go, though, I NEVER rooted for the couple to make it. I just got myself prepared to watch it dissolve.
Amazing transitions with the inversion table and the snow/trees/ and the image on the computer with her notes. Really dense, yet in balance. Excellent work...
Illene Segalove remarks: With Which We Sleep (July 11, 2016)
