Earth, walk with me

To where  
my beloved home waits
crisp yellow by red sun 
and serenaded by ancient trees 
here, the smell of musk is spice
the heat is soup with bread
the fragrance of green 
are soft cotton sheets at night
and my eyes are opening at the 
first brush of light
and flight of small wings

Earth, remind me
of dawn's pink sparkle
dispelling fingers of darkest night
of fresh scent of rain
on faces of wild berries 
I want to shrink, sink 
into your chest of silence
turn me into a stone or grain
it matters not
beside the rolling river,
I am pure 
beating heart-


The above poem was inspired by this Pablo Neruda's poem illustrated below:

OH EARTH, WAIT FOR ME

Turn me oh sun
towards my native destiny,
rain from the ancient forest,
return to me the fragrance and the swords
that fall from the sky,
the solitary peace of field and rock,
the moisture at the margins of the river,
the scent of the larch,
the wind, alive like a heart
beating among the remote flock
of the great araucaria.

Earth, return to me your pure gifts
the towers of silence that rose
from the solemnity of their roots:
I want to return to being what I have not been,
learn to return from such depths
that amongst all the things of nature
I could live or not live: no matter
to be one more stone, the dark stone,
the pure stone that is carried by the river.

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Guest host is Jill Lyman.  The prompt is Response Poetry where the challenge is to write a poem that is a direct reply to another poem.  We can test  our poetic limits by mirroring the form of the original poem.  You may also choose to take the challenge to another level by writing two poems in which you respond to an original poem of your own. Please join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

Too many names

I place a spell on time
It knew not what day is today
Nor what hour is shaping 
It slurred like a hapless driver 
With no hands to tally
coins and bills
beginnings and endings
My clock danced with no shoes 
and threw pebbles across the pond

What of my given birth name
Tying me to a place
Where every girl born is given
the first name Mary 
And the last name is everyone's
last name in the town
And even if someone 
writes my name on the sand 
Ocean tide erases them
like rain cleansing away chalk marks
What am I called when I am newly born
like budding blooms in season
My mouth filled with rain & nectar

At night, I hang up 
all the labels I wear- wife,
mother, employee, citizen, daughter
And fold away
all the names & letters I have been called
I put on the color of earth 
And dabble on my cheeks 
the blush and perfume of flowers
The veil of the moon covers me

I, the unnamed one,
into the wholeness of sky-

Title and poem inspired by Pablo Neruda's Too Many Names poem.

Written for D'verse Poets Pub -Writing a Poem In response - Hosted by Mary ~

Thanks for the visit ~  Picture credit:  here