Thursday, January 24, 2019

Winter snapshots



I.

Looking out from my window-
who painted this sky with grey dove tulle?
who splattered this garden with white-
petalled diamonds?


II.

Small flock of geese flies
in v-formation, 
to southern climes
where warmth awaits them
as freshly brewed ginger tea


III.

A pair of red-orange
cardinals hop on fence, bright 
as poppies
as rain trickles down, silky
as cottonseeds


IV.

Mud sticks to my hiking shoes
As forest floor is caked in dead leaves
A giant log is home
to creatures & sleeping seeds
Birds and butterflies flutter 
shimmering of life
Shrubs and flowers garnish remnants
of twilight
Here is 
Where I want to live my life all over again, 
to begin again, 
to be utterly wild.*



* Inspired and lines from Mary Olivers poem:  A meeting

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub- OpenLinkNight.   Thanks for your visit and comments.




32 comments:

  1. I love how you took us for a walk into both yours and Mary Oliver's footstep... very very good.

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  2. Love the four stanzas. Small note, first line typo I think; perhaps "by" should be "my". I liked stanza 3 the most; I'm a sucker for red anything.

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  3. Damn💞 that last one makes me want to run through the fields and sing your words on the top of my poetic lungs. Gorgeous!💞

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  4. Grace, I love your usage and references to various colours through the poem. Brightening up the gray skies and snow white grounds, after last weekend snowfall.

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  5. A beautiful tribute to Mary Oliver. Every word of your poetry is fantastic.

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  6. Excellent -- fantastic rain bow and wonderful hope

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  7. I love your winter snapshots, Grace, especially the ‘grey dove tulle’ sky and the warmth of freshly brewed ginger tea. Just what I need right now! You really lit up those cardinals and poppies. A delightful walk in the wild.

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  8. There's a silent communing with nature in this, colours not sounds, the silence and thoughtfulness of a walk in the wild

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  9. Lovely tribute to Mary Oliver highlighted your own skills, Grace.

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  10. I live the second one .. probably I need a tea :)

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  11. A wonderful tribute to Mary Oliver and a wonderful tribute to nature and winter.

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  12. This is vivid, especially those cardinals!

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  13. Grace- Your imagery is excellent. I could see it all in my heart. And it is a wonderful tribute to Mary Oliver.

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  14. Nature sure brings forth much indeed

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  15. Lovely, vivid images. I've been reading Mary Oliver lately also. She'll be missed.

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  16. These are beautiful - your love of nature and respect for Mary Oliver shine through

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  17. I like how you take inspiration from Mary Oliver's words, but make the poem your own. Beautiful imagery.

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  18. Your stroll with Mary Oliver was beautiful to behold. You took her up on her invitation.

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  19. I thought I was reading Mary Oliver... You replicated her poetry very well. Ah... to return again and live with wild abandon! Well done!

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  20. Beautiful imagery. I could hear the sound of wings and visualize the cardinals on the fence 💕

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  21. You graft Oliver's ecstasies into your own language with the ease of long accommodation -- it is your own voice praising hers --

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  22. A wonderful poem!
    I especially was taken by:
    "A pair of red-orangeo
    cardinals hop on fence, bright
    as poppies"
    Great write Grace...! :-)

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  23. Fresh beginning and add meaning!
    Life will be a celebration :)
    Nice lines.

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  24. I agree with the comments about the vivid colors, the palette explodes of the page, a contrast to usual whiteness or even blankness in winter imagery. you feel the urgent life in Oliver's poems brimming over into your own reading, her poems living in your own urges, a shared and refracted experience. every poem becomes a new life in the hands of the reader, how wonderful to see the new creature sent out into the world. Especially wonderful:

    "Birds and butterflies flutter
    shimmering of life
    Shrubs and flowers garnish remnants
    of twilight"

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  25. All beautiful verse but I and IV are my favorites...the question and the quote. Definitely Mary's style with Grace-ful touch!

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  26. Shimmering to life...a wonderful image, and complements the photo so well. (K)

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  27. I like those cardinals and the diamonds in the snow and the desire to do it all again in the same place.

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  28. Love this Grace, I was there, in everyday!!

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  29. A beautiful and fitting tribute to Mary Oliver, Grace. I love the exuberance of your imagery, as well as the serenity depicted by the natural scenes you craft. Well done!

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