Linking with Word Garden Word List #3 (Grove Lewis). Hosted by my friend and one hell of an amazing poet, Shay!
Come join the writing inspiration!
Winter and sailors always break a heart
bringing chills and fever to the bones of memory
we cannot forget the wreckage nor the fervor of longing
so we wander far away and yet towards the same old pain
the old familiar sting
that same old beautiful
kiss
we land upon it like a falling limb
drown in its ocean of sinking ships
as if we know how to swim in stormy seas
some hearts search and find it in the shadows
while other leave it in the light of day
the stunning sight of love
it blinds the strongest and the weak
the daughters know that injury
as did the grandfathers of men
the follies of fools and lovers
searching for comfort in the cold
that frost that chills hands but mostly hearts
so many souls cannot stand to be alone
my heart was stricken a time or two by that burning ache
longing for another that was never mine to take
I could preach of it at pulpits
I should speak of it in halls
but still I reach and touch the flame
like I have never been hurt at all!
This is really good, Carrie! Love makes fools of us all, and indeed, when that next special smile turns up in our life, we are prone to forgetting all the hard lessons we learned before. Simply, everyone wants to be loved, and when we make ourselves vulnerable, it's a risk. Risk seems to be the price of admission, yes?
ReplyDeleteAs for not being Grover's style, that was never the point of this, or any, word list. He already wrote his own poems. I want to read yours!
Those closing lines say it all. I resonated with every line, my friend. Wonderful writing. Your poems are going deep this year.
ReplyDeleteThat opening line sets the stage for the universal story you tell here, Carrie. Daughters and grandfathers alike, the one thing we all know is what we wish for and can never quite grasp, a place, a feeling we return to like a fire in winter. Loved this!
ReplyDeleteYou’ve brought the prompt words into your piece tactfully, if you didn’t highlight them, I wouldn’t be necessarily able to spot them - you even had me wonderful if you had missed highlighting a few, because your other word choices fit so well. Thoroughly enjoyed the poem.
ReplyDeleteCarrie,
ReplyDeleteWe reach past the risk to the flame every time and you show us why: "searching for comfort in the cold/that frost that chills hands but mostly hearts" --- a description of loneliness that couldn't be put better. Loved your use of the prompt words you weaved in so effortlessly.
Pax,
Dora
Wonderful. Yes, we all reach and touch the flame over and over, even though we've been hurt. Without the flame, what would life be?
ReplyDelete