A philosophy of hope

Today at dversepoets.com  we are invited to write about philosophy of life, about taking a break from "being connected" and taking time to be with one's own thoughts and how we can re-write our scripted life.  I had written this earlier but it seemed to fit the category of "opportunities to look at one's life", taking stock of what one has, a way of surmounting trauma and disappointment, etc.

Skeletons of old railroad relics lie scattered,
stuck in foliage stiff and dry
Sing my poverty!
Squirrels whisk nuts underground,
barn to barn the swallows fly
nab what fruits they can by robbery
Prickly heat throws back the sun; 
we breathe the motionless air

How different the weather is,

the river does not flow,

runs and hides a honey bear
Overhead jet stripes in the sky
bees vanish as scythes pant,

The horseman's ruddy gaze 
says he is parched from the inside,
emerging from checkered shadows,
drunk on his drowsy ride 
Red brick in color, 
chunks of clay earth break away
where waterfalls used to slide,
hawks scared the jay
His sight stretches back to the volcano
that emptied its belly -
when hope faded quickly away
and heat softened the mind
He had the strength to carry on,
the desire to live a different way
Glimmers a mirage in glassytude,
just when an oasis soothed the eye.
Imagining underground water blue
He dismounted and crawled,
digging elbows into silt,
sprawled on his stomach in the dirt,

Grateful he might live another day

he quenched his thirst in morning dew
A slip of grass caught his chin
as he bent his head to pray

I always wanted to learn to play the violin....

Sharing with  today:

Just having seen the movie "Hope Springs", and for other reasons, lately I have been thinking about longevity in marriages and what it requires for them to endure. My parents and both sets of grandparents were together 50+ years; so I know it takes work, but they made it look so easy.  At one point, I was married for six years and there were other relationships, but the quantity and quality I sought has always alluded me.  And it's imperative, I think,  to find peace with whichever situation one finds himself or herself in - single, divorced, widowed, or alone. The many interesting dynamics of said couplings are addressed in the movie by Steve Corell, who is able to keep a straight face in his role as marriage guru/counselor at a marriage retreat.  If you see the movie, keep in mind that you are watching two of our most formidable and professional performers of our time, Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones.

          She bought things but
did not sell them... sewed seeds of love  

and knitted in the bleak months               
lingered in the meadow to the sound of 
cowbells, the smell of lilacs and cloves
        ..wistful dreamer

She found opposites, accidentally
picking the wrong mushrooms

          

          Ravaged wildly by chocolate
and champagne kisses..she was tutored 
by the ships in the night

given to Gothic love stories, romance 
veils of rose petals and sprigs of mint
       wearily...she fell prey to promises
only to drown in teeming pillows
...never authentically betrothed

               

         She took a peak at the 

essence of pearls.. found them
unattainable..turned to baking soft brownies 
for the kids instead....knowing only
how to dedicate years to her
      .. best mate and create

be a merry lass always forgive
 ...offering vanilla smiles

         Shame of love's tattered remains

arrived, stayed awhile, then vanished
true love cannot be downloaded
What was there faded

to the value of pale green pressed glass 
      .. infinitely dispirited
not to spin gold or uncover cut crystal 
 ...her love still yet not quite wholesale

      

        But her heart has accrued interest           

grown tempered, seasoned, serene

unlike the young, unfolding soft buttercup

Shadows with weights lifted, doors unlatched
       ..she politely declines the abstruse

her marrow renewed with new substance      

spirited by ardor for art, creativity

....sick and tired of..
 the wood in her head

by klr