Tuesday, November 11, 2014

When Love and I Were Young

bestwesternbc.com

Swimming in the blue lake
surrounded by "the big blue hills",
as a child my joy was to ride a current-sent log
atop the gently lapping waves,
a princess on her chariot,
dreaming of her prince.
One afternoon, in gray storm, I swam alone
as thunder rolled,
the air metallic, like the taste in my mouth,
just before the lightning flashed.

Later, young woman in my prime,
in love for the only time,
I called him swimmer in my secret sea,
and he smiled as he read my poem.

Lake-scent and whisperings
forever engraved on my heart,
weeping willows along the shore,
weeping like my heart does, in recalling
all those long-gone years,
blackbirds and doves at daybreak,
poplars down all the country roads,
as I remember another time,
another country,
when love and I were young.

posted (a little early) for Susan's prompt at Mid Week Motif : Swimming. Which takes me back to Kelowna, B.C., where I grew up beside the lake, returned to raise my children, and once knew a beautiful love.

17 comments:

  1. So many beautiful emotions to fill a heart with lovely memories:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really enjoyed the look back at young love, Sherry....those were indeed the good old days.

    ReplyDelete
  3. a beautiful reflection Sherry...sometimes past appears to be like a previous birth...

    ReplyDelete
  4. interesting comments by wonderful peers but my take on young love is that it has no time line or age. when it comes to 'love', if one closes one's eyes and reflects upon this 'young love' experience then it is recaptured iin that moment. somewhat like your words on this piece. your memory of it allows you to relive it just as pristine, just as innocent as when first you did.

    ReplyDelete
  5. LIfe by the sea has a different dimension. Children should ideally have the experience of the ocean. It is spiritual.Nostalgic poem.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The fantasy and the Fantasy...
    Oh to dangle fingertips in the clear blue lake and tell it stories...
    I do agree with Rallentanda about the sea's dimension. But I have found that children of the sea are different than children of the lake and that is as it should be...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, Sherry, my eyes filled with tears of joy as I read your poem--that you had such love, you water nymph, you! I'm glad you were not hit with lightning! The two years I lived near the fingerlakes of NYS, I saw unbelievable lightning in the lakes' electricity. And gone though it may be, I know that lake and love and the willows and the life stay in part of your soul. The circle around to the beginning in your poem led me in to that world. Lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I remember the lake, the hills, the willow trees...
    This is a beautiful poem, Sherry, and I'm so glad you knew this happiness and love.
    K

    ReplyDelete
  9. ah - the power of love. loved how it unfolds in your poetry. that was one tender moment when you read to him. bet both of you were blushing :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great memory, and I believe your love hasn't disappeared, just become bigger, and extending at more and more people, attracting their love back to you. Hugs! :)x

    ReplyDelete
  11. So beautiful and yet sad too as time tests us all enhances memories and deepens sorrows.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very Touching Sherry...yes we all go through this phase...try to recollect the time gone by!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Such a beautiful poem, Sherry! Very well written and I got your intent completely - the calm, the fury, the passage of events, the future in the seed etc both in nature and in you! Those were the good old days :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Beautyfully nostalgic with a bit of melancholy. Lovely poem Sherry. Better to have loved....

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yes, water and life look different when younger.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sherry,

    This had a beautiful tone and a beautiful sense of sharing of you within your words. The lake holds many personal memories for you, which is wonderful, when writing about those special times...Thank you for sharing your very special connections to those blue waters.
    Best wishes,
    Eileen

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for visiting. I appreciate it and will return your visit soon.