by Steven for Meegan
Sunrises pass by
as glimpses through car windows
Sunsets exchanged for streetlights
Misty morning trails unwalked
A world of trees waves
without a friendly wave back
A universe of stars spins by
without notice
without music
without applause for an encore.
Red columns of ancient sand
stand nameless,
stained by the bloody rust of eons
defying armies of wind and rain –
stone Spartans
against Persian Time.
Here is a great mystery –
why do I see this beauty?
And a lesser mystery –
why do I turn away from it?
When her smile
or the curve of her neck
is all I long to see,
when her touch
is all I long to feel,
why do I go away from her?
Because beautiful nature bites,
chews on flesh
and gnaws on bone
Hear Her cold claws scrape the door?
Feel Her frozen breath around the seal?
Stones must be stacked against the wind
Cover pitched against the rain
Wood must be made to burn
or money
Yet even as the storm approaches,
we marvel at Her beauty
Sublime and terrible
Lightning and thunder
Our awe is our most archaic worship
Her beauty
is our recognition of our ambivalent Mother,
Creator, Destroyer
The marrow of our bones hums
an ancient song of the sun rising and setting
The moon pulls our blood out to sea
Generations rise and fall like
waves in the ocean
In our hearts we know
we are just the same
and nothing more than waves
We are born of the deep blue
turned red by the gasped breath
a whispered verse
in a song She writes
another verse follows
and another
and another
in a song with no beginning or end
(© 2008 SPH. All Rights Reserved.)
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7 comments:
why haven't you written anything else...it has been 8 months. Surely your muse has not ceased to create in you the compulsion to wax poetic.
the ecclectic one
Great question. Yes, my muse still has me waxing poetic - or at least trying to.
I just haven't taken the time to post anything in quite a while. I have many excuses - life, work, travel, illness, surgery, tearing apart my SV and putting it back together with a GSXR front end, upgrading the suspension on Meegan's Ninja, buying a Triumph Speed Triple and tearing it apart for mods, tearing the SV back apart for Meegan to get a custom paint job on it, and about a million other things on my "Honey Do" list.
Yeah, lots of excuses. But hey! We're headed back to Cancun for two weeks at the end of June, so I'll have some great downtime for writing.
Maybe I'll find some time soon to post a few new things. No promises though. I still have to get the SV and the Speed Triple (by the way, Meegan bought me the Speed Triple!) put back together. And, as soon as I get the ok from my doc, riding season will commence!
Actually, there is one other thing that kept my pencil down for a while that I forgot to mention in my last comment. This may seem stupid, but I really think that Natural Beauty is by far the best thing I've ever written. For some time, I found myself unable to come up with an idea for something new that I thought was at least equal to it. Finally, enough time passed by that I got over it. Anyhow, that's that. Thanks for the question, by the way.
sorry to hear about you illness! your best work yet? perhaps! you have talent, of that there is no doubt, but who do you pattern your writing after? what compels you to write? recognition...some innate need to express yourself? i do not know you, but i suspect it is both. i hope i do not offend. you seem to be an intellegent person who can appreciate anothers view, perhaps even chuckle at them.
the ecclectic one
p.s. yes i fully realize my spelling is terrible...i don't seem to care though
Thanks for our comments and questions. As you can see, it's taken me a while to respond - work, work, work.
Why do I write? I don't really know. It's not for recognition. If that were the case, I'd enter contests or at least try getting my stuff out there more. I know, this is the internet and that's pretty much out there, but I never expect anyone but friends to stop by. I actually used to have a technical post on here about the HHO or water burning engine hoax, but I took it down because my blog became more personal and it was attracting too much traffic. That and a bunch of ranting, so it had to go.
I think I write because I love the feel of the words. They're like well worn old tools that feel good to use. I find that the feel of the words as I play with them in my head, as I write them, as I say them out loud, is just pleasurable. I think the part of our brains that make us different from animals is actually structured to manipulate, play, and ponder words so that we can understand others and express who we uniquely are. Not using that part of our brains is self-deprivation. Whether we use it in conversation, music, writing, or whatever, it just feels good.
I also want my wife to know that I love truly love her. Backrubs and "Honey Do" projects can only go so far, so I try to just tell her - in a nice way. She's my biggest fan. Fortunately, she's not a literary critic.
I don't think that I pattern my writing after anyone. I hope, at the very least, that I have my own voice. That's more important to me than whether someone who's an expert will actually think what I've written is "good". I'm sure some people wouldn't even consider what I write to be poetry. I don't care much for repetitive rhyme. I use it sparingly and only when I think it helps drive a rhythm to the verses. If I try to do anything with regular rhyme, it ends up sounding like a Hallmark card.
I do enjoy a few poets who have voices that just appeal to me. I've never studied writing or poetry, I just read it and try to write some myself. I love Malena Morling's work. I think most of her work is simply breathtaking. Do a search for "In the Yellow Head of a Tulip". It's on an NPR website where you can read it for free. She just speaks to me. The rhythm, the juxtaposition of visual images, the choice of words that create a mood - she is a really incredible poet. I'm well aware that I'm not in her league. I also love love Pablo Neruda - obviously translated to English. My Spanish is weak at best.
I do think I'm open minded, but I assume everyone feels the same way about themselves. I'm open-hearted. That's riskier, but it makes love possible, so it's worth it. It just took a long time to turn out to be true.
I'm also long-winded.
Haha...I have also been accused of being long winded. Can not help myself, I simply have a lot to say! I have read Nerudo. Some of his stuff moved me. I will check out Morling, a little inspiration would do me good. I use to write a bit myself...teen-age angst and young adult rebellion. I find myself waxing poetic on occasion. I do not let anyone read my work for fear of revealing to much of myself. Having said that, let me throw in a disclaimer - creative writing, to me, is about the author and nothing else so one should not fret about others views. How wonderful it must be to be inspired by love. Although I am married, I have never felt the trueness and depth of others. Perhaps that fault lies withen my own nature. I enjoy our conversations, by the way, there arevery few peopl around me that supply me with intellegent discourse. Thank you!
the ecclectic one
ecclectic one,
I'm glad you stopped by. It's a shame you don't have the kind of feelings with your love that I have with Meegan. I was in a bad marriage for 17 years. Yours may not be bad, so please don't take my comment that way. I just suppose that I can relate to your lack of inspiration.
I hope you find inspiration. There is nothing like truly being in love.
I've posted a few more recent poems. Let me know what you think.
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