Tuesday, January 1, 2019

first wintry day



time reveals itself
in rustic colored leaves
frozen in pond

overhead, veils and
silhouettes of bare knuckled
branches and shrubs drip
layer upon layer, moments of
eternity

above the cityline,
brown buildings and sweeping lake 
brows landscape, grey now,
after midnight burst of firecrackers

i shake off
"What ifs" and "Why didn't I" thoughts
to winter doldrums
and draw
the bluest of sky & golden sun
inside my head

nowadays, time travels in circular path
much like ducks 
gliding serenely around the same pond
-only my eyes are new-

water glints soft silver-rain
sharpening my focus, to what can be
and leaving behind
scribbled pages & notes, straying
in wind


Frozen pond

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Time and What If, hosted by Merril Smith.   Thanks for the visit.

24 comments:

  1. Only my eyes are new... what a wonderful way to see the first day of a new year... and we should not live with what-ifs I think

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  2. This....oh this...

    "nowadays, time travels in circular path
    much like ducks
    gliding serenely around the same pond
    -only my eyes are new-"

    So very beautifully writ.
    May you have a happy and health 2019, Grace.

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  3. Oh my! "Only me eyes are new" Wonderful, Grace. Beautiful poem.

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  4. I agree with Lillian, beautiful writing in that stanza.

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  5. You use colour so well in your poems - this is no exception. You write as if you are really painting.

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  6. The first stanza is beautiful on its own, Grace, and in its brevity conveys the elusiveness of time – that frozen pond will eventually thaw and the rustic leaves will be washed away. I love the way the poem moves upwards, firstly to the ‘silhouettes of bare knuckled branches’ and then the ‘after midnight burst of firecrackers’ before creating an image of ‘the bluest of sky & golden sun’. How poignant those ‘scribbled pages & notes, straying in wind’!

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  7. Excellent wordsmithing, Grace--a powerful and passionate start to another landmark year at dVerse. You had me at /bare knuckled branches/, and your last stanza was killer.

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  8. The 'only my eyes are new' is a lovely line. Everybody else seems to agree.

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  9. A beautiful sentiment, embedded in poetic images that flow like those couched in the best haikai! Wonderfully done, Grace!

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  10. Nature is so outspoken about time, isn't she? This is so lovely I had to read it twice. I love the optimism in the third stanza and the idea of drawing our own images of sunny days. Happy New Year to you, Grace!!

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  11. I like the thought of those pages slipping away in the wind.

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  12. Beautiful thoughts, Grace. We've got to shake off the what if's or we'll never see the beauty around us. Great take on the prompt

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  13. I agree with everyone...only my eyes are new. Such a great way to begin a poem and a new year. A truly lovely poem, one of your best.

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  14. what a lovely way to shake off the winter doldrums, draw a beautiful landscape in the mind

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  15. I really liked your perspective of time and the visuals I got

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  16. The downs of winter can stir those regrets... beautiful images in this piece Grace...

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  17. Slipping away sure can come as winter sets in, the pages and the feet if there is ice lol

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  18. I love your intertwining of time and nature

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  19. "only my eyes are new" and that makes all the difference. Those eyes let's you always see magic in the commonplace.

    And,oh! Isn't it true that we mostly think of whatt ifs or could-have-beens when we're feeling blue.
    Happy new year, Grace.

    -imelda

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  20. What is art if not inspiration? Your poem inspired one of my own. Happy New Year my friend in poetry.

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  21. Beautiful Grace. We really can't build much of life on our "What ifs? Nicely done.

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  22. Your words combine into paintings... I am always amazed by your visuals and metaphors.

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  23. Oh! Those new eyes. Time truly reveals itself, Grace, overwrenchingly beautiful. A soft interlacing of time and the solid unchanging cycles of the ages and the delicate art of seeing.

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  24. I am grateful your notes have strayed into our winds.

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