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Friday, November 15, 2013

These Days

Sproat Lake in February


At Real Toads, Shay has asked us, for Fireblossom Friday, to post a poem from our archives that we are extra fond of,  or think we wrote especially well. I have a handful of poems I  consider favourites. 

But I picked this one, written in the early 1980's, because it is one Shay once said she really liked, and so I believe it may have a bit more impact, and be technically a better write, than some of my others.

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


Sigh. Still true. I wrote this in the 90's, in Tofino, about the one man in my life I truly loved. We were together in Kelowna in the early 80's. It is a lake town, too, as is my current town of Port Alberni, pictured above. 

Kids, my two weeks away from home are coming to an end on Monday, thankfully. It has been difficult only having two hours a day around noon at the computer. I am ridonkulously behind. But will do my best this weekend, and life will return to what passes for normal next week.


28 comments:

  1. Beautiful pic and memory and words to picture it in. Place and person are also bound together in the landscapes of my life.

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  2. There is nothing to say about this gem of a poem, Sherry. It touched my heart and moved me profoundly the first day I read it, and it does today, too. It's one of my favorite poems by anyone, ever.

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  3. This is so beautiful. it made me cry, for real. It's an amazing poem xx

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  4. i agree with Fireblossom ~ your words reach out and touch one's heart { i actually got shivers } and it IS one of THE BEST poems i have ever read. LOVE it!!!

    dani

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  5. Yes, Sherry, I remember this poem, and the aching pain it conveys, and the utter joy too, of loving another human being beyond measure.

    Aren't these words to make a grown woman cry?

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

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  6. This is just emotively flowing and beautiful...and as all of your work, straight from the heart in your authentic voice...in short, I love it, Sherry.

    I really love, too, the way you bring nature to intermingle with emotion. The imagery of birds are especially pleasing to me.

    Thank you, for sharing this gorgeous poem, Sherry. ♥

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  7. This is such a beautiful poem Sherry. I loved reading it and am so glad you posted it.

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  8. I feel profoundly touched reading this intimate poem! It is beautiful-so well expressed. I feel happy, sad and sunburned reading your poem!
    Bravo Sherry

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  9. Oh Sherry, this is so beautiful .. Mere words cannot describe the emotion flowing through me as I read it. Thank you for sharing.

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  10. A beautiful poem, Sherry-- very stately and emotional and touching and naturalistic at once. Thanks. K.

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  11. 'all I was
    searching for
    I found
    within me
    forever now
    without the need
    to roam'........this is such a great feeling....this peace, contentment and calmness of mind has a soothing impact on the reader's mind.........this is a beautiful poem....so moving..thanks for sharing...

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  12. This is so beautiful...the emotion, the images...What can I say when beauty flows across the page so splendidly.

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  13. What a beautiful love poem, Sherry. I truly am touched deeply by this.

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  14. it is so beautiful.....beautiful with love!

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  15. exquisite, Sherry, in your weaving wisdom and longing. ~

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  16. :) filled with deep love and devotion...

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  17. truly a composition of love, mi amiga
    this spoke to my heart and I'm sure many of us that are lucky to be part of this word journey

    gracias mi amiga

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  18. The power of the past is truly amazing--and things that happen there shadow us all our lives. I especially liked this line" The single step
    that started/my long journey/the thousand miles
    it took/to bring me home..." Life is a long trip(in every sense of the word. ;_) )Loved this, Sherry.

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  19. yes, Sherry.... this poem amongst all of yours has stuck with me, too. i just love it. it is, i think i want to say pure. it's pure. xo

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  20. Sherry, this is one of the most beautiful love poems I've read. It is a yearning, yet a letting go of the past, and the person, while loving him still. How wonderfully you mixed the memories with your feelings. This really touched my heart.

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  21. Crushing and spiritual and romantic and just right. Heavy sigh.......

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  22. the whole section on the dove circling back having lost its mate and if you only know....def that section resonated with me...it is a lovely love poem....

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  23. I just love a good love story. How you describe it is perfect. Sad, lovely, perfect.

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  24. I am incapable of expressing the glorious beauty of this poem. Wow.

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  25. This is a beautiful and wistful love poem, filled with stunning images, Sherry!

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  26. Beautifully sustained and tender piece, Sherry - a fitting tribute to the man you loved, that's for sure

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  27. Great imagery. It is really delicate, heartfelt and beautifully penned. :-)
    -HA

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  28. Remembering, remembering those arroyo days. Bittersweet, beautiful. So very moving. How you circle back to revisit the topography of love with the tenderness that years bring. I am dewy eyed and grateful to have shared these intimate memories with you.

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