Auras

    At times poets will find themselves intrigued by a certain topic that can be expanded upon in more than one poem. This leads to a poetry series with poems that are all loosely related, but they oftentimes can still be understood separately. The topic surrounding a series could be a progression of events. It could be a person in the poet’s life that they have watched grow up. The series, in this case, could be a poem about the birth of a person, that person coming into themselves as a child, a teenager, or later on in life. It could be a series about a particular place and the different experiences had there. Basically, the series could be about anything that speaks to the poet. In my opinion, poetry series can be really interesting to follow as each poem is able to stand on its own, but can tell a story when read together.  
    Recently I have become infatuated with the auras of people around me. The energies that people have, to me, may look like a certain place or thing, or maybe even a season. I have recently taken time to observe my friends and write about how their personality looks in a more physical form and then break that down into how that person is represented by their particular symbol I have chosen. While one friend may be a bike ride in Paris during autumn, another may be the sand of the beaches in the spring, or a snapdragon in the beginning months of summer. When writing these I had to figure out whether or not their energy was chaotic, stoic, gentle or abrasive. Their energies could quite possibly be a mixture of multiple opposing things depending on time and place. I tried to do each person’s aura justice in who they are and how they make me feel. Below is an example of a poem I wrote within this series. 

​White Noise
He’s an orb of water
suspended in refracted
candlelight--
an image of likeness
and opposition.

Water
like his eyes,
like his ever changing shape,
like the depths he withholds
and reveals upon his own command.

Light
like his smile,
like the rhythm of his swagger,
like his laugh
that rests upon the transformed aura within a room.

To warm or burn,
to cleanse or drown,
the illustration of multifaceted chambers
that rise out of need not vanity,
the essence of baptism all the same.
 
His life in dedication to both
waves and flames,
forming in the shape of
peculiar thoughts
that settle comfortably
upon his crown with pride--
unapologetically alive,
confidently present,
enthusiastically pondering
and challenging
the white noises of our mindless humanity. 

​LORI ABLE