Monday, April 2, 2012

These days.......

image by west coast artist Sue Coleman


These days
I often find
my thoughts
returning
to dusty mesas
dotted with dry scrub
along the arroyo
through dry, sandy gorges
you once told me
was a river long ago


In reverie
I circle sleepy rooftops
finding yours
where we made love
one afternoon
your face so dark and beautiful
above me
those summer days
that ended
way too soon


Those days
you were an eagle
soaring / captive
caught somewhere
between the earth
and sky
while I caught my breath
and emptied out my being
into the wonder
of becoming
you and I


Now my spirit
sometimes walks
on summer mornings
-dew-fresh scent
of tall marsh grasses,
willow trees,
fresh lake ripples
lapping gently
on the shore-
the scent of
all the mornings
I remember
and I long to walk
beside the lake
once more


In memory
you turn
your slow smile
on me
always a bird
alighting on your hand
I hear again the coo
of doves at daybreak
and somewhere -
another time,
another land -
"Blackbird" is singing
in the dark of night
while two lonely seekers
try to hold their pain
at bay
by clinging
to each other
way too tight
unable to find words
to make it right
and somehow
lose their way


The dove
lost its mate
and flew
but keeps on
circling
circling
back to you
never very far
from where you are
if you
but knew


Through all
those years
I saw your beauty
plain
and now I am
remembering
remembering
again.


The single step
that started
my long journey
the thousand miles
it took
to bring me home
all I was
searching for
I found
within me
forever now
without the need
to roam


I have one more
hug
to give you
in this lifetime
one more time
to see
the smile start
in your eyes
If we never
meet again
know I have
loved you
as no other
all the seasons
of our lives


Posted for Real Toads's Open Link Monday - an oldie that I was thinking about this morning. Check out the other poets posting there today - there is always amazing writing and reading going on at Real Toads.

24 comments:

  1. I am so glad you have shared this with us, Sherry. It is a thing of most profound beauty, which no words of mine need point out.

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  3. Love this, especially:

    "Those days
    you were an eagle
    soaring / captive
    caught somewhere
    between the earth
    and sky
    while I caught my breath
    and emptied out my being
    into the wonder
    of becoming
    you and I"

    The whole poem feels almost Native American, yet modern...a wonderful natural flow.

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  4. Oh my, Sherry...the sweet pain of life that shows us we are truly alive.

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  5. I agree with Kerry.this one's beautiful beyond words and one of your best poems.moving, warm, passionate and so so lovely.just fantastic.

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  6. Sherry, this is sooo beautiful... reading and rereading it took my breath away - a poem I need to visit often

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  7. loving you all the season of our lives -> wouldn't it be a cheap, cheat love if it were not for all the seasons? just the good ones?

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  8. Such beautiful dreaming... remembering an old lost love... a bit sad, too.

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  9. The inter-species connections are wondrous here, Sherry. The piece flows in a steady spiral, leading us to the ultimate expression of love.

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  10. Such passion and so much love captured and treasured...I love this Sherry ~

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  11. lots and lots to choose from to like. this is my favorite: while I caught my breath/ and emptied out my being/ into the wonder/ of becoming/ you and i

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  12. Vividly expressed emotion and memory. I feel a bit sad at the end there, but the memory is a precious treasure that is forever the narrator's. Thanks for sharing this, really enjoyed reading it. :)

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  13. You pretty near put into words how I feel about my first love--a love that in the end, couldn't be. I think there will always be an ache in my heart for him, and a longing for a final hug and for him to know that I loved him--and in a way, always will...

    Beautiful poem. Thank you.

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  14. This is so beautiful, Sherry. What a deep and soulful love this must be.

    rosemarymint.wordpress.com

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  15. Wonderful, my friend. The last
    stanza moved me tremendously.

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  16. This one is full of infinite beauty and sadness.

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  17. You've moved us all with this one Sherry. It'a a beautiful rendering of love.

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  18. beautiful, sherry, so beautiful, i think i am now living vicariously through your words :)

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  19. How lovely this is, melancholy ... sad. I do have this lovely image to my right as I compute.

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  20. What tugs at in the heartstrings, for me, is the image of that single dove, circling, circling, for its mate.

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  21. Oh wow... this is so lovely Sherry. As most folks know by now, I always felt I knew how to fly in a past life so, for me this was 'there'
    Fabulous piece of writing from you again. Once again...wow!

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  22. the tone in this, the ability to recall without growing maudlin, to give this its proper weight... its a fine fine line, and this piece is exemplary.

    there are two or three stanzas here that i'll personally thank you for one day.

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  23. Beautiful. I especially like the last stanza. It encapsulates such a perfect relationship.

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  24. while I caught my breath
    and emptied out my being
    into the wonder
    of becoming
    you and I

    Just sensational feeling and a soft spiritual feel about it. First loves always are carried within our hearts, I think. :)

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