Poetry Month, The End
April 29, 2011 at 7:08 am | Posted in my neurosis, poetry | 7 CommentsApril is National Poetry Month and my magnificent friend Amy is encouraging us to take 5 minutes every Friday over breakfast and just jot down a poem. Please feel free to join us! My first attempt is here. Second, here. Third, here.
There are things kept dear-
A tattered old photograph of loved ones long gone marks a place in a book that has nothing to do with them.
An heirloom ring too small for any finger sits tucked in a box in the dark recesses of a closet, remembering a time when it glinted off party lights and twirled around a dance floor on the hand of my ancestor.
A simple greeting card worn from being opened and closed, closed then opened, lies in a drawer. Inside the card he penned, “Love Ya”- his signature phrase.
A memory of running carefree in a swimsuit through sprinklers on a sweltering day, the just-mowed grass clinging to my ankles like hope,
the peals of delight coming from a place
I have forgotten the way to.
Relics of a yesterday
that shaped today.
****
I give you one of my favorites by one of my favorites:
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save.
-Mary Oliver
Like this:
7 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a Reply
-
-
Blog Design
Character Illustration
-
-
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
My favorite poem of all time.
Comment by Amy— April 29, 2011 #
I’ve really loved reading these 5 minute poems. I think you should keep it up!
Comment by 180|360— April 29, 2011 #
Beautiful, beautiful.
Comment by Mel Heth— April 29, 2011 #
The Journey is one of my favorites. It was my theme poem years ago; I think I need a new one, but I still adore it.
Comment by sandra— April 29, 2011 #
My favorite line was “the just-mowed grass clinging to my ankles like hope…” Wonderful imagery.
Comment by Tara R.— May 1, 2011 #
Lovely, lovely. I’m so! glad you did this. And soon and very soon I plan on posting one of mine. Still working on the courage-building.
Comment by Kerri Anne— May 2, 2011 #
I sure appreciate these poems. They both go in deep.
Comment by LongStoryLonger— May 5, 2011 #