Thursday, June 21, 2012

From my window




clear glass window stoops over city's freeway
where cars and trucks rumble and sprint like ants
on brown veined leaves, underneath summer sky

whistles and tires drum the roads like bees gathering
honey before the butterfly net catches its golden tails,
scaring small black birds perched on the maple tree 

nearby the flock of geese amble between parked cars
like a solemn procession for the saints or the brown cross,
babies following the father robed in white and grey

above maze of roads, she comes to peek at my window, 
checking the traffic she says in her soft wistful voice,
but always craning to see her cottage, a dot in the blue lake 

her face is apple stained with divorce papers and struggles
of everyday cares, but her eyes twinkle in a merry dance,
stomach full of laughter,  as she thinks of retiring in 7 years

my eye catches the shade of the day,  bright cantaloupes, 
ripe mangoes sliced sweet and plump, framing office cube, 
bare of personal touches,  clearly a pit stop in my book of travels 

i don't see a white cottage by the lake, but the arms of sun
growing longer, brighter in orange twilight.   a thunderstorm 
is coming tonight but for now, i like the view from my chair   



Posted for D'verse Poets Pub:  Where in the World am I
and Poets United:   Labyrinth

picture credit:    here

25 comments:

  1. Love all the vivid images and also vivid colours through all of this. The twinkling eyes bought a smile ... all of this is gentle, lovely.

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  2. Very nice, Grace. You brought the view from your window to life.

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  3. I love the view from your window, the glorious photo (I once had walls like that!), the apple faced woman whose history is written on her face (like me!), and all of the wonderfu8l images that draw the reader right into the sense of place. Lovely.

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  4. Grace, so good how you integrated the setting and then unfold a story of sadness and loss. The contrast between the beauty of nature, the traffic and the woman works so well.

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  5. Grace- You have captured so many lovely observations. I especially like the second and fifth stanzas and the geese. Love the ending, too.

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  6. You have really created a vivid scene here...evoking character AND setting beautifully, Grace!

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  7. this is wonderful grace...love your descriptions and the contrast between her little cottage and the bustle of the rest....your description of her though is my fav...her face is apple stained with divorce papers and struggles
    of everyday cares, but her eyes twinkle in a merry dance,
    stomach full of laughter...nice...i want to meet her...

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  8. The view from the chair is so important--always! Great use of simile and metaphor--and set the stage beautifully--

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  9. very cool how you take us with you to the office, right into the moment...esp. loved that you made us see your colleague...her face is apple stained with divorce papers and struggles
    of everyday cares, but her eyes twinkle in a merry dance,
    stomach full of laughter..this is great

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  10. It's wonderful to be moving along with you Grace! Your narration is so real, true to form. We were there. Great write!

    Hank

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  11. The picture is perfect, the writing, terrific....I feel lucky to have come across your blog :-)

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  12. A painterly view of the world revitalising the shades within! A sense of sad escapism empowers the poem with an undercurrent of drama!

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  13. If I read this right, a cornucopia of memories are spread out beyond your window in dazzling array.

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  14. I like the idea of the arms of the sun growing longer and longer. :)

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  15. A poem, a short story, a life time all in seven stanzas...beautiful Grace!

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  16. You sure captured life in little snippets here and there, as it goes on, hope your having a nice day.

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  17. This is beautiful. It reads like a journey through life, all from your chair. I like the imagery you use. Really nice.

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  18. Vivid descriptive images that paint a beautiful world after being cooped up in an office...the sense of freedom is palpable...love this :)

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  19. hmmm, this is a bit of a teaser, I think though the clue is oerhaps in the photo that stands at the top of the poem. The mixture of reality and fantasy is nicely crafted into a poem that's satisfying in the way it teases us with the reality fantasy interplay. There's anxiety and suffering here, but they are caught up in another overriding reality, which somehow cushions their force. A very lovely poem that grows and grows into something quite wonderful.

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  20. "apple stained with divorce papers and every day cares" absolutely gets my attention - I may dream about her tonight.

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  21. This is one tremendous stanza:-

    her face is apple stained with divorce papers and struggles
    of everyday cares, but her eyes twinkle in a merry dance,
    stomach full of laughter, as she thinks of retiring in 7 years

    Don't know why I picked out that one: they all are!

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  22. Unique way of taking this prompt. I liked it.

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  23. but the arms of sun
    growing longer, brighter in orange twilight.


    Love this and so many of the unique images that you liken to nature form that world that is lacking in nature...you fill it to the brim with beauty!

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  24. I love the view from your chair! I love so many lines, but
    "her face is apple stained...." said, so much~
    The lines of life mark us, yet hopeful most will still long
    for the arms of the sun!
    Well Done

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