Monday, April 29, 2013

Out of the Dust of Yesterday's Poems

from google images

june, 1981

Does one ask a flower to grow?
I just let it be,
letting it unfold as it unfolds,
petal by petal,
carefully.

I take care not to thwart the solitary splendor
of its blooming,
remembering a flower glows
just as brightly in an empty lot
as when my eyes turn upon it
to share the sudden sweetness
of its garden plot.

As petals catch the wind
and dance under the sun
so do you glow.
Your beauty casts a clear and steady light
that does not dim
and it shines more, the more I come to know.

We touch elusively, as fragile stems
holding up heavy blooms, nodding in the breeze.
The blooms are our two lives. From underneath
their precarious weight our hands emerge
like leaves.

Your solitude speaks to
the peaceful solitude in me
and deep within my quiet heart
I can feel something gentle
yearn to be set free.

posted for Open Link Monday over at Real Toads. I spent this weekend sorting through old papers, and came across this oldie from 1981, when my heart was young. It is when I look back at my earlier writing that I think, of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. Hee hee.

15 comments:

  1. 1981 when you were young at heart? You will never have an old heart, Sherry! I thought of you this morning when I re-posted my contribution to Annell's Red Shoe Project.

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  2. Such a lovely, gentle reflection of life and beauty in nature. I'm glad you shared this with us, Sherry.

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  3. This is so beautiful and inspiring, Sherry. I'm so glad you shared it. When I look at my earlier poetry I gag.

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  4. What a pleasure to be able to go back in time and see what you wrote [and felt] then.
    Would you change anything if you rewrote this today?

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  5. It seems you were already finely tuned then, wen most of us had yet to grow into wisdom. If you had said you wrote this yesterday, I would have believed it. The solitary flower, like a sometimes solitary woman is beautiful, the more so as you let her be.

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  6. Such a beautiful poem! Your last stanza is breathtaking.

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  7. Sooo nice, Sherry. If she, the flower, were a kitten she would be purring.
    ..

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  8. Yes such youthful words, but I hear an old soul in there as well... the last stanza is particularly moving.

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    1. (and I mean "old soul" in the most positive of ways)

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  9. This is beautiful, Sherry. I especially like the last stanza. Especially 'something gentle yearn to be set free."

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  10. What a beautiful treasure to rediscover.

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  11. Like unpacked an old satchel and finding that other earring you thought was lost. I enjoyed this one, Sherry. A contemplation on a daisy, with its delicacy and the lovely time of slowly blossoming, such a comparison to the blooming of women as well. Love, Amy

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  12. I don't have any of my old poems, only a couple I've memorized.
    How delighted you must be to have this beauty, to re-see, to remember.
    Luv, K

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  13. A lovely piece for the end of April...or for any other time. I love it!!!

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  14. Sherry, This is such a beautiful piece...as a poet I feel really happy bringing back such old memories.
    Love this stanza...most :)

    "Your solitude speaks to
    the peaceful solitude in me
    and deep within my quiet heart
    I can feel something gentle
    yearn to be set free."-- wow!!

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