Monday, December 1, 2008

Encore....Or Play It Again Sam





Photo by: John P. Ford

I have come to believe that life is a curious mixture of the magical and the mundane and the interplay between the two. When our day to day lives are steeped in the mundane we sometimes long for the mystical and the magical...a longing that can spark creativity and color our lives in rainbows and bolder patterns.... in a way that can elevate our experience to a more spiritual feeling level.... at least momentarily.....

We may dream and begin to search for a way to mentally create a wider path in living life so that we can be at least one inch above the reality where we may feel a bit stuck.

We may long to be uplifted. As spiritual beings living here in physical form on earth, we may become painfully aware of the limitations of the human form and seek to transend those limitations if only briefly.

Alternately, if our feet are too far off the grounded path, we may feel a longing for a connection to "reality". We may ask for reality checks and confront our thinking beliefs and search for answers in only what we can sense.

We will find ways to connect to nature and see our part in it. We may glorify what we can see in front of our eyes. We may begin to search for the more traveled traditional path that can offer the illusion of familiar territory.... A home base so to speak.

This poem is about the mundane and the magical and their intersections. It is about the transition from boyhood to adulthood and the gains and losses that are a part of that journey. It begs the question, is that journey ever ended or is replayed on various levels throughout life? What defines the poem? If you replaced the word boy with girl would it make a significant difference in the poem?

What is reality? Illusion? Spiritual connection? The meaning of a life lived?
I am still working of all these questions..All answers are a way of questioning.

Play it again Sam

The boy stood
at the top of the hill
Feeling he had
The matter at hand
Under his full control

Yet his half smile
revealed not the half of it
Fear Not, for he
has a heart of courage
and a mind

That at times is open
to Exploration
of the sacred cows
he has always felt

To be constant
that even now
ripple in form
in the heat
of the late afternoon

So. What is it
that the evening
will bring if not
that elusive

Peace. Contentment
and comfort
that belonging
that strikes the lost chord
of his youthful longing

The sirens song
the misty boat
of Avalon untenanted
yet powered on

The blood of passions
Red in life unshed
Unknown, Unclaimed
Laid Down unlived

How gently he
kneels to smooth
the ashes at his feet
the veils not yet parted


From the Lady of the Local Pond Series
With reflections

29 comments:

talk3talk4 said...

..it begs for answers ....in search of balance...the balance between reality and perceived illusion
... the truth in what's right against the backdrop of what's wrong ..and more importantly, to live a life free from encumbrances of the present without the pain of the past and the expectation of the future.


Best Regards,

Robert Lau

Charli Henley said...

Hi Linda. What an engrossing poem. I can just picture Sam, smoothing those ashes at his feet. (I love that image, by the way.)

I also love your use of a siren's song... What was his siren singing, I wonder?

(On a side note, one Halloween my girlfriend dressed up as a siren and I dressed up as her song. It was lovely and strange.)

Also, is Sam a real person?

Cheers, poet friend!

Linda S. Socha said...

Well Said Robert! You have gone to the heart of the matter it seems.
I appreciate your posts!

Charli
I love hearing your responses and I value them deeply. I love hearing comments in general. I think his siren may have been enticing...toward illusions... May I respond to those other astute questions in email or a bit later?
THANK You for your consistent and loyal readership and willings to share. I love that you dressed up as a song! Waws the song identified??
Hugs
Linda

jiggins said...

"The boy stood
at the top of the hill
Feeling he had
The matter at hand
Under his full control"


These words resonate with me. I feel the emotion that is set down here. I really can relate with the 'boy'.. the 'boy' that I am and always will be..

Always the feeling of standing at the top of the hill.. I love this Linda. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I ask all these questions about life when my I don’t know where my life is going. I much prefer to see the path right in front of me and to live my life instead of trying to figure it all out. I spent too much time in the magical world and sometimes still do but from experience reality is a more superior place to be.

An compelling poem Linda.

Cloudia said...

What a peaceful garden of words & intentions! I hope to return - and refresh here often. Thank you!
Your readers dress up as songs, and value the mundane magic of our world. wise bunch; I'm proud to meet you all!
Aloha from Waikiki-

Anonymous said...

Have to agree Linda, I love the last stanza and agree with Charli... you are an artist with a pallette of words...thanks for sharing them...

vixen kitten said...

Beautiful post...beautiful poem

Thank you for your kind comments and for visiting. I can't wait to stop back when I have more time and explore more.

~vk~

Unknown said...
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Tabitha.Montgomery said...

What a great post! And nice to meet you Linda :)

Anonymous said...

Sigh, you are such a good writer. And I LOVE that photo.

Feisty Crone said...

I love the poem. Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting. I will be back! And I've found lots of magic in those mundane days...they seem to pop out of nowhere, when I least expect it.

Linda S. Socha said...

Jiggins.
Thanks much for your comment. I knew another boy at heart who was the inspiration for this poem.
He used the phrase lostboyblue in his email:>). I am glad you connected with it. I hoped you would. I love what you are doing with the photo blog!
Branwen.
I am glad to see you back. I appreciate your support and your comments.
Cloudia
Welcome! I would love for you to visit often. What a lovely comment. I appreciate it!
A'Jay
Love you being here....Love the
beauty you create in the blog world.

Judith Ellis said...

Thanks, Linda, for such a beautiful and thoughtful piece. The encore is the universal continuum, the forever dacapo from an existential beginning.

snowroses said...

Lovely post & poem. I like it.

Rick said...

Hello, Linda. Such a pleasure to visit your site and read such thought provoking work. I'll be back again to visit and spend some time.

Cherie/ Butterfly Dreamer said...

Linda ~ I related to this poem so well.Thank you.

Linda S. Socha said...

Vixen Kitten.
Glad to have you visit and look forward to hearing from you again

Tabitha
Thank you for your nice comments! I enjoy your blog also.

Jacqueline Michelle
Thank you so much thanks so much for remembering mw with the awards.! I love it and appreciate it very much and will move them to my blog as soon as Rhi is free ti give me more instructions!!
THANKS
Linda

Linda S. Socha said...

Judith
Great to see you here!. Much thanks for the asture and thought provoking comment!

Gran
I love your reminder of the magic in mundane days. I needed that this week!
Linda

Fareykin
I was glad to see you visit! I enjoy your blog!

Cherie
Thank you so much. I appreciate you being here
Linda

Writing on Board said...

Linda. Love it. Is this a typo or on purpose?

that even now
ripple in form [from?]
in the heat

I like it either way.

Christina said...

Hi Linda, thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting. Btw, I noticed one more thing we have in common - we are both Capricorns! I love the poem. It speaks more each time I read it.

Jim Kent said...

"we may become painfully aware of the limitations of the human form and seek to transcend those limitations if only briefly"

I do this through fencing.

Interesting journal. I felt like part of this post was very relevant to me. I will stop here again and listen.

Oh.....I started fencing at 51...I have been fencing 5 years....I hit the half way mark.:)

Dave King said...

We've all been there, it's a pretty apt description of life's estate.

Robin Pedrero said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog and leading me to yours. How lovely!!

Femin Susan said...

How awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Wishing you in advance "A Merry X'Mas and A Happy New Year''

George said...

Hi Linda, I like the fusion of the different states of mind with the poem.

Linda S. Socha said...

Thank You GEORGE!

Erin said...

Hi Linda,
This is my first visit to your blog. It's very nice! I enjoyed this post and the poem as well. To me when I read the last line about the "veil not yet parted", it made me feel like he is still looking at the world through the filter of the ego.