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Tuesday, March 3, 2015

WHISPERS





















This early spring has taken me unawares,
a sudden burst of warmth that's disconcerting
to one who's grown accustomed to the cold--
bringing back a sound, a scent,
a sadness I can't explain.

Memories of halting conversations...
a sense of time slipping through my fingers,
and the feeling that there should have been more.

And I believe that I could go either way--
be a particle or a wave,
as this warm breeze whispers "sway."

This exquisite pain,
dormant for too many seasons,
now blooms fragrant and insistent--
trumpeting its arrival
with dopey daffodil dreams.

This ephemeral ecstasy,
that bleeds into agony,
that leads to animosity,
for which there is no remedy...but time.

And your sudden burst of warmth is disconcerting
to one who's grown accustomed to the cold,
and I believe I could go either way--
be your one night stand or shadow you
through one lifetime and the next.
Just tell me what the HELL you want,
for I've chosen the wrong door too many times--
got eaten by the tiger and shat out the other end...
now I must learn how to bend.

And this accursed early spring
brings the spectre of another day,
when love turned on the moment
in a warm wind that whispered "sway."




36 comments:

  1. "This ephemeral ecstasy,
    that bleeds into agony,
    that leads to animosity,
    for which there is no remedy...but time." - that was my favorite stanza and so perfectly put...relationships sure can change, can't they?

    I love the use of "sway" as it does sometimes feel almost easier to break than to bend...

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  2. I agree with Talon. I'm not very flexible.

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  3. TALON.
    The trees that sway in the breeze have mastered something most of us haven't.

    KOBICO,
    Doing the splits is good practice for that!

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  4. "... animosity for which there is no remedy... but time... time, slipping through my fingers."

    I guess we'll never find a cure animosity.

    _m

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  5. Here we go again, Tim. I'm trying to analyze this instead of just enjoying the words, because it irritates me that everyone seems to get them so quickly when I agonize over what you're REALLY saying (when a lot of times you're probably just going with the flow of words and not talking about anything in particular!)

    Are you talking about love connections in general, new and then lost? Or do you have the possibility of a new love in the here and now, but you're remembering the pain of past ones, which makes you leary? My favorite line: "Just tell me what the HELL you want,for I've chosen the wrong door too many times--".

    Or...is it possible that you're talking about an old love that has returned for another go 'round?

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  6. I felt the sway, so beautiful Tim

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  7. MAGYAR,
    I'd just like to find a remedy for TIME. :)

    LINDA,
    I think the beauty of poetry is the various interpretations that readers can make, because even though the poet may (or may not) have had a specific event or specific person in mind, a poem can have it's own personal meaning for each of us.

    This one was actually written a few years back, and it seemed appropriate to dust it off and display it again for spring. There was a particular person who inspired it. In the vast majority of what I write, I AM really saying something, though sometimes I'm doing it somewhat cryptically or mysteriously. Again, it's up to the individual reader to come away with the impression it made upon HIM or HER--like looking at cloud formations in the sky. One person sees an elephant--another person sees a kangaroo. :)

    LORRAINE,
    Glad you took the time to read it!

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  8. What a beautiful writer you are! I am so glad I found your post. I plan on following you so I can enjoy more of your work.

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  9. DONNA B
    Thanks so much--I truly appreciate that.

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  10. For starters, I'm a sucker for a dopey daffodil in the springtime - they're just about one of my favourite things. What strikes me most about this poem is how difficult it is, sometimes, to make a transition, to give up the cold for warmth, to be forced to love again, to push through the fear of pain to achieve life. You say all this in an uncompromising way - powerful poetry.

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  11. Timoteo, this is - bar none - my very favorite poem of yours. And how how I know EXACTLY how you field. Sway, Timo. Jump in and be the wave. What the hell! Either way, we win. Either way, we lose.

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  12. Love this just as much the second time around. I like the way you handled the transition from a description of early spring to introspection.

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  13. Beautiful! Like Kerry, I was really struck by the way you transition the poem.

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  14. I would hate to be in these shoes--I feel like I've been there before---hate the idea of going back--there is something powerful here in this juxtaposition between the pain and the "sway'" Loved this on so many levels

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  15. __ Again, time shows its face; five years and the wrinkles have grown deeper, and are filled with dust._m

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    Replies
    1. Very savvy, my friend. In spring, we dust off the antiques, make them shiny again, for a new generation of collectors.

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    2. Yup!
      __My most recent post is a complete haibun... from a >partial post< during March of 2009_..

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  16. To me this is a lot about the fear to seek the warmth. To linger frozen rather than taking risks in connecting,

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    Replies
    1. Yep, we tend to to feel safer with what is familiar, even if it sucks.

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  17. Ooh, I like this stanza:
    And I believe that I could go either way--
    be a particle or a wave,
    as this warm breeze whispers "sway."

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  18. Tender sad and in a dilemma. No solutions from me :)
    Beautifully expressed...as Sherry said, one of your best !

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  19. Ohh, Tim. This is a gorgeous, vulnerable, introspective little poem. I just love it.

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  20. Outstanding piece. Real, evocative, beautiful.

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  21. I hear a song here, verse to verse with cadence and repetitions--from seaasons to love, from cold to heat from left to unable to return.

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    Replies
    1. Lovely thoughts...worth more than a penny to me!

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  22. I can't tell you how much I like this poem! I was drawn right in and I want to read this to the preferred "happy ending" but some of my favorite books are tragedies… Who knew you are a romantic… :)

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  23. Yes, it could be a song. Those early, teasing bursts of warmth that don't last can bring a deeper chill. Beautiful piece.

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