Alive

[CdnReader]

Alive
within this imperfect body
within this restless heart
within this unquiet mind
lies a ferocious spirit.

Brook no resistance
against the demons of the past.
For they are weak and powerless.

They will gather and circle.
They will nip at your heels,
and fill your head with
noise and nonsense.

They will whine and whimper.
They will tell you stories
of their heartache and their sorrow.
They will show how you alone
have inflicted all of their wounds,
how you alone have caused
all of their grief and misery.

But the demons cannot penetrate
a determined countenance
and a resolute constancy....

Let them growl and grumble.
Watch them coalesce
and divide.

They cannot breach your ferocious spirit.
They have no power
but what you give them.


-cdn/12jul07-

[PrinceMyshkin]

Oh, welcome, dear friend! And may you find here some additional space in which to practice and experience your aliveness!

[CdnReader]

Many thanks for the warm welcome, PM... :)

.

sunbeam

once in awhile
nothing matters
but to breathe
and know the sun

welcome warmth
slides across skin
leaving shimmering trails
that lead nowhere


-cdn/09jul07-
.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Many thanks for the warm welcome, PM... :)

.

sunbeam

once in awhile
nothing matters
but to breathe
and know the sun

welcome warmth
slides across skin
leaving shimmering trails
that lead nowhere


-cdn/09jul07-
.

I like this very much except for that unexpectedly (and inappropriately?) downturn in the last line.

[CdnReader]

Thanks.... The last line to me was meant to convey the delicious beauty of having nowhere to go, nothing pressing, summertime, and nothing more important than feeling the sun. Perhaps it needed further clarification?

That line to me was very positive and uplifting, lazy and directionless, just as a summer's afternoon should be. Interesting, isn't it, how everyone puts their own spin on it. :)

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thanks.... The last line to me was meant to convey the delicious beauty of having nowhere to go, nothing pressing, summertime, and nothing more important than feeling the sun. Perhaps it needed further clarification?

That line to me was very positive and uplifting, lazy and directionless, just as a summer's afternoon should be. Interesting, isn't it, how everyone puts their own spin on it. :)

Yes, it's true that you prepared us to read that last line the way you meant it by your earlier, positive reference to "nothing"...so maybe my reading was because of a fault in my middle-class orientation, i.e. that everything is meant to lead... somewhere. In rebellion against that I once wrote:


The Bound-to-Get-Somewhere Blues

I don’t want anything I can use,
I got those all-the-time-useful blues
Wanna be let go, dropped by all
The way that others rise, is the way I got to fall.

I got the blues, I got the blues,
Got those all-the-time-useful blues

Don’t offer me nothing, don’t want to choose,
I got those all-the-time-useful blues
Don’t want to be chosen, don’t want to be named.
When I try to be different, I’m most the same.

I got the blues, I got the blues,
Got those everybody-knows-me-blues.

I threw away the Bible and the telephone book.
When I take what’s going, I’m apt to get took.
I am no hippy, brother, I am no square.
If you start at all, you’re bound to get somewhere.

I got the blues, I got the blues,
I got those bound-to-get-somewhere blues.
I got the blues, I got the blues,
I got those bound-to-get-somewhere blues.

[ampoule]

Thanks.... The last line to me was meant to convey the delicious beauty of having nowhere to go, nothing pressing, summertime, and nothing more important than feeling the sun. Perhaps it needed further clarification?

That line to me was very positive and uplifting, lazy and directionless, just as a summer's afternoon should be. Interesting, isn't it, how everyone puts their own spin on it. :)

Very interesting indeed. People read things from 'where they are' in life. Well, I should only speak for myself I guess.

[ampoule]

Oh....and Prince....I love the BLUES!

[CdnReader]

Yes, Jer.... Even when we think we're going nowhere, we're ALWAYS going SOMEWHERE, aren't we? Life never just stops, but sometimes I sure wish it would. Especially when you get to the good part. :)

Thanks for stopping in, Ampoule. You are absolutely correct. Each of us can only view everything from the viewpoint of our own little lives in our little corners of the planet, and from the perspective of our previous experiences and upbringing. Ain't it cool??

-----

Between

I live life in
an in-between space...
not quite here,
yet no longer there....
everywhere
yet nowhere.

Between place
Between space

I look back
but the mists cloud my gaze.
My path has deviated
from centre...
Their vision tells them
that my future
has been left in the past...
but I know different.

Between time
Between lives

.
cdn/13jul07

[ampoule]

I like that!

[PrinceMyshkin]

Yes, Jer.... Even when we think we're going nowhere, we're ALWAYS going SOMEWHERE, aren't we? Life never just stops, but sometimes I sure wish it would. Especially when you get to the good part. :)

Thanks for stopping in, Ampoule. You are absolutely correct. Each of us can only view everything from the viewpoint of our own little lives in our little corners of the planet, and from the perspective of our previous experiences and upbringing. Ain't it cool??

-----

Between

I live life in
an in-between space...
not quite here,
yet no longer there....
everywhere
yet nowhere.

Between place
Between space

I look back
but the mists cloud my gaze.
My path has deviated
from centre...
Their vision tells them
that my future
has been left in the past...
but I know different.

Between time
Between lives

.
cdn/13jul07

Wondreful! Especially


My path has deviated
from centre...

[Pendragon]

The forum overflows with new talent every day! Fresh new poetic voices (Make a great name for a magazine!) never cease to amaze me! And now we have: CdnReader with wonderful new poems and fresh viewpoints, making ol' Jer drag one of his forgotten masterpieces out of the mothballs as well! Man we need to publish a Lierature Network Forum Poetry Book with all the talent represented here, and new ones discovered all the time! http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l108/AbsalomKane/Smilies/Bravo.gif

Pen

[CdnReader]

Thanks muchly, Ampoule and Jer.

Ah.... Sir Pendragon.... And art thou from the renowned line of Uther? I bid you welcome, and thank you for your ever-so-kind words.

.

The Quest: The Beginning

The forest engulfs.
Darkness obscures my path,
both behind and ahead.

Steel is sheathed at my side,
yet it glints still in the rays of the rising sun.
I have ridden far from thee this day,
yet my quest drags me onward
relentlessly...
and I dare not withdraw.

I crouch at the stream
(softly softly)
and give thanks
before assuaging my thirst,
then begin the task of
washing away the wounds.
Blood still stains my palms,
soaked through my leather gloves.
Too much of this blood is mine own, I fear.

As sleep overtakes me
I allow my mind to wander,
remembering...
the touch of your hand
the warmth of your smile
the beauty of our joining.

For only one brief moment,
I allow the ache for you
to emerge into consciousness,
the point no wider than a dagger's thrust,
but as deep as the blackness of beyond.

It will be long ere I see thee again.

Release.
I rest now.
There will be need again of my sword
ere night falls.

.
cdn/14jul07

[PrinceMyshkin]

YIKES! I do NOT like the darkness of this, though I admire it as poetry.

[dibyendra]

Alive
within this imperfect body
within this restless heart
within this unquiet mind
lies a ferocious spirit.

Brook no resistance
against the demons of the past.
For they are weak and powerless.

They will gather and circle.
They will nip at your heels,
and fill your head with
noise and nonsense.

They will whine and whimper.
They will tell you stories
of their heartache and their sorrow.
They will show how you alone
have inflicted all of their wounds,
how you alone have caused
all of their grief and misery.

But the demons cannot penetrate
a determined countenance
and a resolute constancy....

Let them growl and grumble.
Watch them coalesce
and divide.

They cannot breach your ferocious spirit.
They have no power
but what you give them.


-cdn/12jul07-

Great poem Cdn !

[CdnReader]

Thank you so much, Dibyendra. And thank you, too, Prince... um... I think... hehehe....

-----


Shall we be reborn
in an instant's reckoning?
Living beyond boundaries
both physical and temporal....

I dreamt once
of a young woman
who drew water from a wooden sluice.
Her burdens were many and her pleasures few.
As she aged,
her hands twisted and knotted
with unexpressed grief and anger,
and she laid on her deathbed,
with her family gathered 'round.

I dreamt once
of a young man
who overlooked the labours of many.
He strove to see the good in all,
yet witnessed a murder
that confronted him
with the reality of evil.
His life ended in fear and despair
as the wicked exacted their revenge.

These are only two
of those who comprise
the whole of me.

And all those who surrounded the woman and the man
in their separate lives and times
surround me still.


-cdn/15jul07-

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thank you so much, Dibyendra. And thank you, too, Prince... um... I think... hehehe....

-----


Shall we be reborn
in an instant's reckoning?
Living beyond boundaries
both physical and temporal....

I dreamt once
of a young woman
who drew water from a wooden sluice.
Her burdens were many and her pleasures few.
As she aged,
her hands twisted and knotted
with unexpressed grief and anger,
and she laid on her deathbed,
with her family gathered 'round.

I dreamt once
of a young man
who overlooked the labours of many.
He strove to see the good in all,
yet witnessed a murder
that confronted him
with the reality of evil.
His life ended in fear and despair
as the wicked exacted their revenge.

These are only two
of those who comprise
the whole of me.

And all those who surrounded the woman and the man
in their separate lives and times
surround me still.


-cdn/15jul07-

Marvellous! It seems to me that you are venturing further and further into the mysteries of your soul.

[CdnReader]

This is an area I've been exploring for some time now, Jer.... pretty much forever, it seems .....but I'm not always sure which ones to share and which audience to share them with. ;)


-----

.
Broken, whole
Ebb and flow
Evil, good
Darkness to light
Happiness to grief...

All these define the edges
of our reality....
and we dance within the confines,
creating a lyrical web of complex threads
leading backwards and forwards,
and connecting us to...
all.

Is it an endless journey without reprieve?
I know not the answers nor the purpose,
yet I trust that all will come clear
in time.

I search for clarity, wisdom, peace....
I tread lightly through the forest.
I feel the wind at my back, pushing me ever forwards,
to a future both unknown and unknowable.

I rejoice in the beauty of all
and I dream beyond.


-cdn/16jul07-
.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Lovely the way this just lifts at the end, like a kite suddenly catching the wind.

[Pendragon]

This is an area I've been exploring for some time now, Jer.... pretty much forever, it seems .....but I'm not always sure which ones to share and which audience to share them with. ;)


Don't worry. If my Echoes From the Edge Round didn't drive people away, you probably won't drive anyone away either...

Good poetry is still good poetry! And me, I am a little darkside anyway...

Pen

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l108/AbsalomKane/Smilies/PuppyLove.gif

[CdnReader]

Oh, thank you, Jer. I love positive and uplifting days that inspire poems like that one. :)

Pen, it's fun being the "new poet on the block." I don't yet have a reputation here for any particular style or subject matter, so I feel braver about sharing just ... well ... whatever. :) Thanks so much for your encouragement. I'll have to go look up your "darkside" thread. ;)


-----

.
What if....?

What if love
could be bought
at the corner store...

It would be nestled
in a bed of white satin,
tucked into a striped box,
tied with a red ribbon,
and would cost
99 cents.

I would buy two.


-cdn/08JUL07-
.

[PrinceMyshkin]

.
What if....?

What if love
could be bought
at the corner store...

It would be nestled
in a bed of white satin,
tucked into a striped box,
tied with a red ribbon,
and would cost
99 cents.

I would buy two.


-cdn/08JUL07-
.

Much as I love this, for the way longing is married with a sense of whimsy, I have a quibble with the grammar of that last line. One understands what it means but it doesn't literally scan: "two love"? "two loves"?

"I would buy it twice" might work - although you might be like me, wanting to slap the impertinent hand that attempted to fiddle with your poem...

[CdnReader]

Two boxes, was my thought. :D

[PrinceMyshkin]

Two boxes, was my thought. :D

Oh yah? Well


Let us go then, you and I, when the evening is spread out against the sky

was MY thought. but I didn't write it down so some bloody transplanted American got the credit for it.

[ampoule]

Prince made me think of...loves...loaves. I don't know what that has to do with anything. I'll leave now. :)

[PrinceMyshkin]

Prince made me think of...loves...loaves. I don't know what that has to do with anything. I'll leave now. :)

Oh? And if I might paraphrase the late Gen. Douglas McArthur:

"(Not so) Old Redheads never leave,
They just fade away..."

which was followed of course by his vigorous:

"I shall return!"

[CdnReader]

...but I didn't write it down so some bloody transplanted American got the credit for it.

Damn, Prince. I hate when that happens. I do hope you've learned your lesson. Write EVERYTHING down.

Ampoule, I've given it some thought, but I can't see how I can squish a loaf of bread (never mind multiple loaves) into that little striped box, alongside the love. It's either bread or love.... apparently we can't have both. Hrmph.

[ampoule]

Ampoule, I've given it some thought, but I can't see how I can squish a loaf of bread (never mind multiple loaves) into that little striped box, alongside the love. It's either bread or love.... apparently we can't have both. Hrmph.

haha...no no no...I wasn't suggesting it be included. Besides bread goes stale.

And prince..you little smart aleck..go get that darned coffee!! ;)

[CdnReader]

Besides bread goes stale.

So does love sometimes. :lol:

[CdnReader]

.

On the Subject of Being


Within
lie all the seeds of the future
mixed amongst the remnants of the past....

Yet if time is subjective and irrelevant,
then how does it all fit?

Perhaps there is no progression
no forward movement
no growth....

but only
being.


* * *


Being
is the essence
of all.

We are one and the same,
joined yet separate.
We are here always
and never.

Knowledge is as close as our fingertips,
and as distant as the stars....
as vast as all the galaxies that have ever existed
(never existed)
yet abides forever and entirely complete...
in the petal of a rose,
the wisp of a breeze,
a child's giggle,
a grain of sand.

It is all there for you.
Reach out and ask.
It shall be yours.

Time
in all its manifestations
cannot erase
the experience of
being.

Being is all.

.
cdn/05jul07
.

[PrinceMyshkin]

I'm especially taken by these lines:


.

in the petal of a rose,
the wisp of a breeze,
a child's giggle,
a grain of sand.



Thanks!

[CdnReader]

.

Escape


I

She packed her heartache
into a battered leather valise with
scuffed-up edges and a broken lock,
and left.

Her past trailed out behind her
in long ribbons of barely acknowledged resentment
and unexpressed sorrow.

She surged into the unknown
with hardly a backward glance,
pushing her hair into place and adjusting her collar,
on the outside chance
that someone might notice
and give her a break.


II

She stood in line at the airport,
a pair of sunglasses with scratched lenses
dangling from her mouth,
while she absentmindedly checked her pockets,
wondering which one contained her passport.

The clerk glanced contemptuously at her small battered valise.
It wasn't sturdy enough to imprison the demons of her past,
and appeared far too humble to hold
the seeds of a new start.

She hefted the worn suitcase onto the conveyor belt,
then gathered up the incessant unending threads of guilt and unfulfilled obligations.
She impatiently stuffed the lot of them into her purse in a tangled mess.
"Snakes' honeymoon," she whispered,
not quite only to herself,
with a lopsided almost smile.

She narrowly dodged the barbed claws,
soaked overnight in sanctimonious retribution,
and said, "Anywhere. It doesn't matter."

The signature on the back of her credit card
was faded almost beyond recognition.


III

And she flew away on borrowed wings.

Every time she checked
(trying to be as unobtrusive as possible),
the ribbons of self-reproach had again become entangled,
tripping up her feet and twisting amongst her heartstrings.

Each time, she quickly snatched up the errant threads,
tore them from their new moorings,
and buried them under future details.

From her satchel, she retrieved a book
with an unadorned cover of soft brown leather
and a delicate ribbon of red silk to mark her page.
She reached into her pocket for the weighted fountain pen
that fit her grasp perfectly.

She opened to the first page
and began to write.

For a day and a night and yet another day
the words poured from her pen,
like drops of blood from her fingertips.


.
cdn/03jul07
.

[PrinceMyshkin]

I can't quite say whether this reads better to me than when I first read it, or just as good - which was and is very, very good!
I was especially moved this time by different details than those which moved me before, e.g.


.

The signature on the back of her credit card
was faded almost beyond recognition.

and


She reached into her pocket for the weighted fountain pen
that fit her grasp perfectly.

Minor (?) quibble: I would change the foregoing to


that perfectly fit her grasp

because ending on "grasp" leaves us focussed on the tension, the hope, the uncertainty she still feels, whereas ending on "perfectly" suggests that she has got a handle on things.

[CdnReader]

Oh, that is a very good point, my friend. I agree and will make that change in my original. Thanks!

I'm back to working on the next set of three....needed to set them aside for awhile, and now ready to look at them with fresh eyes.

[CdnReader]

.

washed away

washed away
by waves that overpower
crashing louder
deeper, farther
beyond

sound explodes
reverberations echo

pulled past safety
water swirls around ankles and wrists
bonds of fluidity
grasp with rigidity
dragged into the
unknown

there is no respite
water surrounds

i drown

.
cdn/30jun07
.

[PrinceMyshkin]

I especially like the way "I drown" echoes the earlier reference to the unknown. Good poem!

[CABSHA]

"Between"


LOVE IT !!

[CdnReader]

Thank you, CABSHA! :)