Ella's challenge at Real Toads today is to write a poem based on observations from our inner and outer worlds, thus expanding our awareness, much like ripples in a pond, which travel outwards. If you click over to Toads, you'll find some wonderful examples..........my attempt simply wrote itself, as if it had been waiting to be typed:)
Under the cheerful voice,
behind the pleasant smile,
lies sadness.
Where does it come from?
Recent loss,
or so far back
all but my cells
have forgotten?
Out the window,
endless gray sky,
windows dripping
with rain.
But, if I stand on the porch,
and look,
and listen,
raindrops play
timpani
on the roof,
and a red-breasted
hummingbird
buzz-bombs the feeder.
A doe turns her head
my way,
still, considering,
from the pasture,
and I remember:
all is beauty,
right here,
now.
We just have to remember to look around! Beautiful thoughts here, Sherry.
ReplyDeleteThis is just what I needed to read today. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful message Sherry ~
ReplyDeleteI needed to read this after getting stuck in the traffic today ~
A good reminder to live in the moment Sherry! A lovely write.
ReplyDeleteSo glad that the beauty in nature drew you to the present.
ReplyDelete"lies sadness" ... I like the possibility for double meaning here. Sadness hides behind smiles, but sadness is also a liar and a thief, stealing joy and hope.
ReplyDeleterosemarymint.wordpress.com
So lovely, Sherry, and so wise.
ReplyDeleteLuv, K
Wonderful view...I love what you wrote~ The sadness haunts, but the beauty helps to heal~ Well Done
ReplyDeleteI have to read it again!
aw.
ReplyDeleteall the animals and nature, too, probably ropes you into the present. the book a wolf in the parlor by jon franklin is all about the dog's role to bring a person back to just being present. you capture the moment of awareness very well.
ReplyDeleteSherry, your optimistic view, fueled as it is by nature, even the "timpani" of rain on the roof, is inspiring. I'm actually appreciating these small moments of natural grace more since I met you. Love, Amy
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful world, isn't it. Sometimes we forget what matters most.
ReplyDeleteYou know how to capture the most elusive of emotions. I stopped to think about sorrow so deep and old, it is remembered only by the cells, and felt so uplifted by the change that came over the observations at the end.
ReplyDeleteYou express what living in the now is all about here, Sherry, and how we can choose to see beauty instead of ugliness, strength in scars, fullness in solitude.
ReplyDeletelove love love the last two stanzas - nature really is such a healer... if only we could remember that in our saddest moments
ReplyDeleteLovely lovely and so right. K>
ReplyDeleteIf we but have the eyes, Sherry. thank you for the reminder, wrapped in such a lovely gift of verse.
ReplyDeleteYes, beauty all around in your neck of the woods, despite all the rain. Good to go outside when the inside gets sad sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThe pain of loss has me withdrawing at times, but just as you nature brings me back to the present and the beauty that surrounds me...a lovely poem
ReplyDeleteHappy or sad, every experience has worth. You of all people seem to know that this is the case and use every ounce of who you are or have ever been to enlighten me almost every single day to the beauty that surrounds us. I appreciate that.
ReplyDeleteSherry - you do know how to sing to my heart, and this one just sings!
ReplyDeleteBeatiful Sherry. Sometimes it takes no more than the turn of a head to change one's view. Your poem exemplifies that reality.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
I feel this with you, Sherry. Sometimes the racket caused by that vague feeling of sadness drowns out all the sounds of the day that carry happiness in their song.
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