I steep in the afternoon sun,
cup of tea in hand,
and become an island of one
In my mind, one thousand and one
images evoked of you
One thousand harps play
through dark matter
One thousand mirrors sparkle
in the light of day
Unlike many a life's journey,
it all began with early trespasses
against the heart;
an uncertain perforated hull,
forever impaired the ship from sailing
Inevitably, the means to travel
transformed -
rather a steamship lugging along
an unnamed winsome river
Without gigantic sails to navigate
more easily the curves,
it's a wonder to have come thus far -
when it was Magellan whom we
set out to be -
upon the rugged sea
What befell us left us breathless
and out of sync, agog,
ardently grasping,
as opposed to better halcyon days
The question begs an answer;
will the truth yet be known -
of little hurts that negated the essence
of us?
All we strove for and stood for,
everything we were,
cut down like tall grass
by a sharp scythe, minimized
Sadly, the polish that was there
was rubbed away, tarnished
Under appreciated,
we became an unused silver tea set,
on the shelf, worse -
melted, sold, given away,
or pushed aside
Nevertheless, we strive to survive
simply and quietly,
unrecognized
by the one thousand and one souls
passing by,
who otherwise might stop to say hello,
join us as we steep in the afternoon sun,
cups of tea in our hands
Today Anna has us writing about diction, our favorite words that give our poems a certain flow. Somewhere I have a list of them, and few come to mind now that I must think of them, but I like the spontaneous "freedom of continuous, meandering thought" dversepoets.com
Ah.. the human condition evolved for peaceful easy sharing love.. when there are relatively small groups of sets of eyes to connect to.. not much more than 150 to 200.. hearts to connect to like that..:)
ReplyDeleteAnd then comes agriculture and the move away from free range humans.. and then the industrial age.. when men and women become the tools as fools.. instead of he and or her...
And now a four inch screen.. or if one is lucky 8 hours or so planted in front of a pleasing two-foot box.. is still so restricting a view.. to all the emotions and sensory experiences.. that can be.. the human being come true..:)
This is really beautiful, your diction so precise and satisfying. Your conceit works perfectly to amplify your meaning and create a transcendent whole.
ReplyDeleteOh I love how you carried through the poem.. Making me read every word and savor them precisely like a bottle of fine whine. Excellent work Kathy.
ReplyDeleteUnder appreciated, we became an unused silver tea set...how wonderfully these words bring to mind a specific image. The repetition of the first and last lines act as perfect parentheses of the words in between, enclosing them to a vivid richness.
ReplyDeleteI loved the opening line, of steeping in the afternoon sun, along with the tea that had already been steeped. I enjoyed the flow throughout, felt a bit melancholy, and then oh my surprise to find my favorite word and favorite line of the poem repeated again at the end. Very nice. Peace, Linda
ReplyDeleteOpening lines are just stellar K with the steeping of the afternoon sun, cups of tea in our hand ~ This is one of your best work, I must say ~
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this very much ~ Wishing you happy weekend ~
Such a beautiful, melancholic write as the idea of an "island of one" transitions into a lonely "we" at the end.
ReplyDeletehow wonderful to "steep" in the afternoon sun. My favourite part was "an unnamed winsome river"...just the way it naturally sounds...with the rising pitches, and the natural increases and decreases in tempo of this line sounded exactly like a meandering river as it curves one way and then the other.
ReplyDeleteWow, Kathy, I loved that.
ReplyDeleteLost love -- lost by neglect, tiny continued errors -- all too human
Sadly, almost unavoidable
But we admit that, we all have it, we share tea and wish it weren't so -- maybe enjoying the sky.
(or at least that was my read)
Such gorgeous imagery. I love the analogy of the ships...steamship vs. Magellan. As a tea lover, the idea of steeping in the afternoon sun is very appealing. Wonderful write. :)
ReplyDelete