I entreat you, do not speak the words aloud.
Don’t speak them harshly, or pronounce them delicately, or even lend them your voice at its gentlest whisper.
If you were to sound them out now and set them free to fly off the page, they would only flutter a moment and die
Freshly penned, just saplings now, newly alive and yearning to become something more
But they have not yet been tried by their first winter
They have never been weighed or bent by hungry midnight crows
And they do not know how it feels to be strained by the wind of a furious squall till they should snap
But afterward straighten again anyway because the sole alternative is surrender
They must be shielded from winter’s spiteful teeth, bundled in cloths
Protected and warm in a textile igloo,
Hidden until Spring brings well-meaning rain and the nurturing sun.
If they make it to Spring, then they may go free, inked wings dried and iridescent,
But it isn’t always that simple.
So until then, I implore you to visit them privately when the world is breathless
When babies and daylilies sleep, when lovers meet
And the cloaking darkness rushes snugly into the spaces around you,
Weighted down by the bedsheet of stars...
If indeed you must wake them at all.
Lift them gingerly, be kind, and when you’re through lay them back to rest
That they might strengthen and,
If they are meant to,
Find their way to Spring.
-
Author:
Solitary Sandpiper (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: August 2nd, 2016 20:46
- Comment from author about the poem: The fear that someone will happen upon something I've written is always there. That is a fear I carry in my pocket every day, because people in my life don't know that I write. The thought that someone could find a poem of mine that was unfinished or left incomplete is more like a soul-deep terror.
- Category: Surrealist
- Views: 38
Offline)
Comments2
Thanks you SANDPIPER for an elegant and challenging poem. "The moving hand doth write and having writ moves on. Nor all thy piety and wit can lure it back to cancel half a line ~ nor all thy tears blot out a word of it !" This is an awesome poem because it shows you have an understanding of the infinite power of the written word. Consider the power of the "Book of _Psalms" inthe Bible. When you publish poetry or prose on a public site - like MPS - it remains in the public domain for ever ! To me your words are sacred and I treat them with TLC ! But ~ TAKE CARE ~ because some will twist your words an throw them back in your face with venom. There are sites like that ~ but I have found MPS ~ OK so far ! So SANDPIPER (lovely name !) be careful what you write and where and how you publish it. Your words are beautiful and will bear friut. Every Blessing ~ BRIAN
What this poem reminds me of is a favorite book or poem that you keep coming back to over time. You continue to enjoy it as it has withstood the test of time. Enjoyed.
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