your bones to wood
your voice to ash
but time can also spool
your paper cuts to maps
your river of darkness to candle
it depends on the lens wearing our eyes
a $3.00 subway ticket is
someone's meal for the day-
when a dress gets rain soaked, it's not tragic
as when a town is mud-swept by monsoon floods-
i peer out from my chair
& draw a ship bobbing upon the waves -
on some days, when i feel i am on that ship
i remind myself, there's a lighthouse at h
o r i
z o n
Photography by: Kylli Sparre
Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Bringing light to darkness -
Living in Canada, I feel so blessed & thankful ~ Whatever challenges I have are so small compared to what others have to go through everyday - war, discrimination & lack of freedom ~
enjoyed your view and your piece 'Horizons'. your commentary is my mantra...whatever challenges i have are so small compared to what others have to go through every day...
ReplyDeletegrace-fully said
gracias
I love this... $3 subway ticket is someone's meal for the day--very profound line. Us human's have a lot of petty complaints and often times, we don't think I love this... $3 subway ticket is someone's meal--very profound line. Us humans have a lot of petty complaints and often times, we don't think about how blessed we are... I'm guilty of doing it every now and then; the light comes from humbling yourself in those moments... smiles. how blessed we are... I'm guilty of doing it every now and then; the light comes from humbling yourself in those moments... smiles.
ReplyDeleteI love how time is all relative...some see the passage of time as a blessing whereas others see it as a curse.
ReplyDeleteLoving the paper cuts turned to maps.
ReplyDelete.... so nice.
ReplyDeletepaper cuts to maps huh? That would take the sting away if X marked the spot to treasure haha
ReplyDeleteYou have nailed it, Grace - the subway ticket someone's meal for a day, the damp dress as opposed to a monsoon flood....I especially admire "your paper cuts to maps / your river of darkness to candle, and the lighthouse on the horizon. Exactly. I, too, know we are lucky to be living in Canada.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this, Grace. Such optimism and hope shines through your words. Well, done! As always, thank you for sharing your talents. Have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the way you show that everything I see or do, means something ELSE to every other person. No wonder we preach tolerance and patience...and PEACE!
ReplyDeleteLooking for $3 meal, found one @ $4.85... (when I was drinking, I could usually (always!) procure a bottle, whether...money or not) it was life-or-death toward the end.
Thanks Grace!
so true... we sometimes worry or get angry about little things if you set them into relation to what happens in other parts of the world... when i was so very sick a few weeks ago and felt like dying i watched the news, the attacks in gaza and the ukraine, the bombed houses and i was so thankful to have a warm blanket to cover me...
ReplyDeleteExcellent perspective, Grace. And excellently told.
ReplyDelete"it depends on the lens wearing our eyes "....exactly...the analogies are expressed with heartfelt words...the world needs humility & gratitude....
ReplyDeletewe should always help the needy person
ReplyDeleteThe end.. Whenever there's a lighthouse I'm sold.. Still those pictures of desperation are so crisp I feel I wear the beggar's shoes.
ReplyDeleteWhat a paean to hope, truth, gratitude, perspective; I, too, liked the lines
ReplyDelete/but time can also spool/your paper cuts to maps/. Sometimes the shadows of tragedy hang long on our days; thanks for your gift of light.
You have done a superb job of reminding us to put things in perspective. There are images in this poem I only wish I'd thought of...like the paper cuts.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's all relative. If we look at other people's suffering we realize what is truly a struggle or tragic.
ReplyDeleteSkilled use of shape to highlight the perspective of these words Grace.
ReplyDeleteGreat metaphor...keep eyes on the horizon for focus and looking for that lighthouse beaming hope.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! It does matter about perspective. Like this a lot
ReplyDeleteLove this Grace, so inspirational. Often we forget just how fortunate we are and how others are suffering. Lovely write!
ReplyDeleteSo wonderful to have a lighthouse. I like how you put things in perspective Grace. Good write.
ReplyDeleteVery nice take on the prompt. I can easily read the darkness and the light in the poem.
ReplyDelete"it depends on the lens wearing our eyes" nicely said Grace..I think life is about perspective..we need to see all angles.
ReplyDeleteGood use of contrasts to put our trivial setbacks and daily "disasters" in perspective and then, rightly, to finish on an optimistic note..
ReplyDeleteAs Glenn says, your poem is a gift of light; I think an hour doesn't go by in your day when you (and I and others) are thinking about the latest natural tragedy or that bobbing boat ...;)
ReplyDeleteYes Grace there is always hope and we should never give up on it. Excellent poem.
ReplyDeleteTruly it is all about perspective..i think..to lose it all..can be to gain it all..all at once at some point when life is truly gained away from illusory death in life...for life at last..are we alive can be the question..and finding the answer can be the question..as perspective true..i think..2..:)
ReplyDeleteThe correct lenses put everything in perspective...and help us see our blessings. Thanks, Grace, for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteLove your positive perspective...beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteit sure is what we see through the lens..beautiful write Grace
ReplyDeleteA nice sense of perspective - I tend to feel too deeply the injustice done to others, the suffering they have to go through... but not appreciate enough my own good fortune.
ReplyDeleteOooh, 'time can grind / your bones to wood...' fab - wish I'd thought of that! :)
DeleteThe lead image is apt, because reflection makes the horizon shimmer, and tells us there are always two perspectives in our sight, the obvious one and the one we eventually choose if we use the eyes of the heart. Amen.
ReplyDeletebeautiful transition to light and with the concrete Hope that the Lighthouse is there...symbolic and amazing
ReplyDeleteYes, it is nice to realize that there is always that lighthouse, despite however dark the river of darkness could be. Light always finds its way!
ReplyDeleteHow true, Grace! Our little tragedies seem nothing compared to the real ones some people go through every day.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the lighthouse, the comparative ships and the window of opportunity. This poem is a beacon.
ReplyDeleteloved the dress and town comparison... sometimes we need to look at others needs not ours
ReplyDeleteperception definitely plays a roll on how we see things...also our awareness of the world outside of our own...sometimes (whether consumed by our own darkness or simply having known nothing else beyond the limit world we occupy) it is hard to realize there are worse things out there and their is always a lighthouse calling us to the safety of home.
ReplyDeletelovely write.
A wonderful direction to go with darkness and light...many of us really can't imagine true darkness, where hope and light are not seen or heard. We need to spread our light around, even if it's limited.
ReplyDeletejust lovely Grace Touched me the light!
ReplyDeleteAnother sparkling one from you, Grace. I love the contrasts here and the lovely tone of the poem. :-)
ReplyDeleteNice reminder of the privilege we have. A rain soaked dress...what an image of first world "problems"!
ReplyDelete