Photo by: John P. FordThis new poem is the result of reworking an old one from several years ago and workshopping with a fellow poet, writer and blogger at aeroman101.blogspot.com . Alex is a real inspiration to me and I love the sharing quality of workshopping with him.
The poem was a crying out against the disappointment and unmet expectations in relationships and a discovery of what relationships have to offer in reality.
Alas, I have always preferred to live in a bit of fantasy. I continue to gain insights from that period of my life where so much time was spent in learning what is really important and a little about what is real! One thing I have learned deeply is how essential words are to me.
Can you relate? I would love your thoughts both on the poem and your personal experiences in life through love and family relationships and how it may or may not impact your writing. Your comments and thoughts are welcome and valued here.
''The Pond Princess"
The Pond Princess stands before the one
Worse for the journey she has chosen
For what they thought was the greater thing
To Sir Johan they gave her heart fast
Now as she waits she knows (at last) tired and worn
Her fabric fraying under the weight of him
Losing itself, slithering away from her bones
With the force of a wind in her back as he passes
With never a word, even while holding her, loving her
Herself alone, she would have long ago
Mounted her steed to let the wind blow her hair
While she looked for windmills to slay
One day, words pierce her heart, pin her
Foot to the floor, slice her solar plexus, her breast
Blood flows down her garment. No one sees
The blood is invisible as pain
But the words pick her up and gently rewind her on a thread
While she turns, methodically, reconnecting her heart, the word sews
Knowing that strength will come at the end of the sewing
When she takes up her sword and the Pond Princess turns to walk
From where she is now, moving from where she kneels now
For the healing to allow what she knew (in her body) as it sways
And she looks up and hears the words say:
"Fly with the eagles or play with others who know where to find the day."
48 comments:
How lovely. Even words save you in the poem . . . " . . . and words are all I have to steal your heart away . . . " You must love that old Bee Gees song??
Linda- it's funny, I never thought of pain as invisible. Or the pinning power of words. A nice jaunt through forest and hoove. Well done. ~rick
Very nice.
Also, check out my blog..left something for ya. =)
Words are deeply essential--for the purpose of communication.
Next, for the telling of stories.
And for the musical beating of poetic beauty, which is uplifting for our souls
Then, for words set to music, a high form of sometimes heavenly communication.
Words describe for me a most high form of communication, the transference of one's thoughts to another.
That is just beneath the highest form, that transfer which takes place with a glance of an eye.
Hello,
I've been wondering where you were. I was just thinking of you too. I have a friend who just posted a video I think you would like. Here's the link. http://checkraise2.blogspot.com/
I hope you are doing well.
"While she turns, methodically, reconnecting her heart, the word sews
Knowing that strength will come at the end of the sewing"
These are the lines i relate to most in this poem Linda...I guess when growing up, we don't realise the impact words of others have on us. How deeply they root themselves into our sub consciousness and take part in forming our character. Such strength words have that we should treat them with the up-most respect and realise the power that they behold.
A lovely poem Linda. Thanks for sharing it with us.
X
I would love to see this painted out in images, page by page.
Will you do it?..make it into a book.
Oh yes, and haven't we all been her.
x
Thanks Bonnie!
Yes I do like the Bee Gees~! Thanks for you comment and for stopping by!
Rick
I appreciate your observations and comments. Love seeing you stop by.
I know you will say you are not one but you are my kind of poet!
Karla
You are my dieting-dancing inspiration!. Thank you for the lovely award!
You deserve it!
Steve
Thanks for stopping by!. Yes. Those non verbal conversations/connections are lovely. Music is my favorite beyond words I think.
Beaux
I hope things are ok with you. I send you a prayer every day. Please keep me posted. Thanks for stopping by. I have been
working too much this summer and blogging too little!
Branwen
What a thoughtful comment. I love seeing you on Facebook! Send me some of your energy? I appreciate you
Hugs
Terry
What a lovely thought. Thank you so much. I have been looking at your art. Perhaps we should work together?:>)
Michelle
Yes I think we have. You are in my thoughts and I love your writing. Your mom is in my prayers. I wish an easier fall for you.
Thank you everyone
Love and appreciation...You are all wonderful and I deeply appreciate this connection!!
Linda
Words are most important in life, not always what is said but the manner in which they are spoken.
How someone's thougtlessness can upset a person, especially in families and relationships, they can make or break. I enjoyed your poem very much I suppose many of us have been there sometime or another. Pleased to see a post from you.
Yvonne.
i like the poem... the inconsiderate? actions of another, and how they are completely unaware of the effect on you...
Vivid poem. I love the image above too.
You know my dear Linda, never have I read a post of yours that reveals more fully the INFP in you. I can say that because I am one too, and so I can see from your poem and your explanation how similar we are in processing these romances we have lived through and suffered in. I think the healing does start to come as we age, and learn to see it in this way. We do become more grounded because of experience and pain, but we will always find room to fly with the eagles. It is a vital part of who we are I think.
Linda, your poem is awesome, brilliant and thought-provoking. I love it. I said this once before, but if you cut me, I think I'd bleed words. I have to run errands today, but I'll be back to read it again. I'll leave you with this very favorite quote of mine:
"But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling like dew, upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think." ~Lord Byron
I've always felt detached in most of my relationships. Unable to fully give myself into the melding of two.
Words do indeed have the ability to heal. To search out that part of you and sew it back to your very being. I'm on a journey to discover just how much of myself can be sewn back into my soul.
I read this yesterday and came back again to read it. To taste the delicate texture of the words on my tongue, to savor what you wrote.
Beautifully done dear friend. (Hugs)Indigo
Linda, this is so beautiful.
You've written this poem gently
and with careful thought. I'm
filled with a loving spirituality.
Thank you.
Linda, for me it is not words so much as something words can do. It is clarity. Words sometimes fail.
Hi Linda,
I love your poem and your imagery. It conveys a lot of emotions. Looking forward to more!!
Regarding words...I think they are very powerful, so I try to use them very carefully. Sometimes what's between lines shouts louder than words.
-Alex
a very warm poem..... i could feel pond princess bleeding but it's alright now.... here is an interesting picture i found on the internets.....
Hey Linda! It's so nice to see you back to your blog my friend.
This poem is absolutely wonderful. It made me think of a lot of things.
I believe that people don't consider what impact their words can have on others. And this needs to be taught at a young age, because children can be so cruel to each other, and that carries over into our adulthood, adding to our character,only as to how we chose to deal with these words. Is this not when we start to acquire "baggage" in our lives? even at a very young age.
I agree with the majority of your readers that most of us have been her at least once in our lives if not more than once.
I do love how the poem ends on a gentle, positive note," ..... knowing that strength will come at the end .........."
It says to me , in strength there is always hope.
Great post Linda!
take care my friend,
Julian :)
I love this poem - the very powerful imagery and the positive ending. And the power of words is so strong.
Ah, heureuse que vous publiez à nouveau !
Cette photo est magnifique !
J'ai lu le poème mais je crains que le traducteur ne fasse pas bien son travail, surtout lorsqu'il s'agit de poésie.
Ce que j'en comprends et ce qu'il en ressort, c'est que si nos forces sont épuisées, et bien il faut aller en chercher d'autres avec le peu d'énergie qu'il nous reste là où il y a encore ou toujours, à travers tous les éléments qui nous sont offerts, c'est à dire d'autres êtres humains, la faune et le monde animal.
Pour ma part, je pense que tout ce qui ne tut pas, nous rend plus fort et l'être humain a des ressources incroyables !
Bien à vous.
Mathilde Primavera
Linda relationships can be so wonderful but yet so fraught with difficulties,just like life.I used to live in a fairy tale world full of simple notions about love and relationships.Then one day I was faced with something so explicable that I couldn't grasp it for many years.
A metamorphosis of my soul that shed tears day & night,trying desperately to understand why it was so.In time I just went with the flow and realised it was just part of the process of my evolution.
I do think words can be healing ,most importantly the words you tell yourself.
Thank you for sharing your feelings in a form of a poem.Your words resonated within me.
Linda - You post poetry so seldom that I had no idea you could do this! The images of her losing herself, being cut in two, then rewinding the thread as words sew her back together is amazing! Not only do the images grab me, but the rhythm of this is outstanding. This will stay with me, Linda.
Linda Dear,
Reflection is one precious ability which takes much effort but also rewards more to the brave hearts. Thank you for sharing such a great poem. I really enjoyed it. The image of the pond princess is imposing on me now.
You have always been both my inspiration and a safe harbor. Thank you!
Christine
Oh wow Linda very powerful and moving piece.
I am catching up on my reading finally!
There can't be a better poem that the one which conveys emotions and is not indifferent. Yours is awesome, I guess at some point or other, we all can be that pond princess.
As for your question... I believe the most beautiful things I have written (of course that's me who considers them beautiful) when I was deeply hurt but someone I love. I was sad and lost and I found myself in writing, surprisingly enouh writing positive and happy pieces, maybe that was some kind of searching for balance in my life. Then things got to normal and I started writing less. Strange enough when I am happy I do not have this need to write a lot. But I am still writing thanks to the closest person in my life who does not stop to tell me I should make the most of what I have got. And that I am doing, or trying to, by picturing things and feelings and emotions which are or were the part of my life or the lives of people I know.
Oh yes I can relate...still finding my place...my pack...
Hi Linda, it takes great courage to work with someone to re-consider and revise a poem. (Poetry workshops can be difficult.) I was perplexed about how blood and pain are invisible because I always see the color red when I read 'blood'. (The image is powerful.) Thank you for sharing your heart and words.<3
I think my son drew a picture of your pond princess years before you wrote about her. See what you think: http://www.blestatheist.com/search/label/Shura.
Wow Linda, you have awesome talent there! Your writing conjurs up so amny images and feelings! Amazing!
I think such attachment(in the poem,so original, and in life), comes at an early time when our bodies are hormonally stacked. Who can resist, who does? But, aha, time goes by, and now I am the eagle! The price that's paid for that freedom?..Just living.....
the pond princess sounds like she
is on her way to being a Queen.
So much emotion packed in such a short poem, LInda. Words as daggers...
Loved it - and the byways it led me down in my thoughts.
"While she turns, methodically, reconnecting her heart, the word sews"
reading your beautiful words, I thought, "she has walked my path?"
and the last phrase,so beautiful, and with such personal and powerful meaning in my own life, I was stunned to read my heart in your words...
when this happens, and it very rarely does, I am often speechless for a time so I will leave you with that for now. I would love to have a copy of this beautiful piece, if you feel inclined to share it with me for my personal reading...uplifting...healing.
blessings to you, my dear, it is good to hear you again...
X
My friend Mathilda...Translation of her comment on this post!
Ah, happy which you publish again! This photograph is splendid! J' read the poem but I fear that the translator does not do his work well, especially lorsqu' it s' acts of poetry. What j' in include/understand and this qu' it comes out from it, c' is that if our forces are exhausted, and well it is necessary to go to seek d' of it; others with the little d' energy qu' it remains us where there is still or always, through all the elements which are offered to us, c' is to be said d' other human beings, fauna and the animal world. For my part, I think that all that did not conceal, returns to us more extremely and l' human being has incredible resources! Yours sincerely. Mathilde Primavera August 20,2009 5:29 AM
Thank you Mathilda!
Linda
Yvonne
Thank you for your comment and your constant support. I appreciate the relationship travels...I know all of us have been or will be there?
Shadow
Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate your insights. We all can have such impact on each other....Sometimes we simply do not see it and all of that is ok...just sometimes we do not see.
Alpha
Thanks for your comment on the poem and the photo. I love what you are doing with your blog changes. I particularly like the focus of inspiring post content
Cat
Your comment is like a poem! I appreciate it. You are right. I am an NFP...but I go back and forth at periods of time from E to I with mostly I. We do process in a really similiar way...
Hugs
Love and Thanks for the wonder and the joy of sharing on blogs!!
Linda
here's the picture i thought you'd like.... second try.... not sure why it didn't link the first time....
thanks Linda-- the circles within circles in your visual are a neat reflection of the many tales and insights spinning in this piece.
"Knowing that strength will come at the end of the sewing
When she takes up her sword and the Pond Princess turns to walk
From where she is now, moving from where she kneels now..."
This strangely brought me comfort during a difficult time. Thank you for stopping by and leaving your message. Being here, reading this, makes me remember what I have found so enchanting about blogging and the relationships the words kindle. I need to return to it. Thank you for sharing this poem and for your message.
Best,
Cindy
The last line appeals to me..
hugs
~Silver
A lovely poem Linda. Thanks for sharing.
ok.... charmed third try.... link
This is so beautiful, Linda. Gorgeous, actually!
Love anything with a Princess, and the mystical and magical quality that you've so beautifully expressed. I have the same affinity with words. They heal, they express...they are Beauty!
thank you~
~Calli
Hello my friend,
I hadn't been on for quiet awhile, so this is nice read, with an obvious impact to The Pond Princess.
Sometimes we can lose ourselves by carrying the weight of others then finding our way again can be a struggle.
"The blood is invisible as pain
But the words pick her up and gently rewind her on a thread"
I like that line...
Very nice poem
The pond princess is too alone, she needs to become her own company. That will heal her pain.
The Pond Princess is a beautiful work. I feel good reading it. Nice writing, Linda.
John DeFlumeri
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