you have to open the curtains,
their edges touching the bookcase
with the gilded leather covers
standing at attention, waiting,
their wisdom rendered from life,
and blink for a moment
at the light scattered by the clouds,
cast your scattered thoughts aside,
let the whir of your mind cease,
do not scan for the plot twist,
just marvel at the natural world,
where nothing is reprehensible
/ / /
This poem was written in response to Wordle 14 at The Sunday Whirl.
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Great take on the wordle, Richard! Our poems are definitely similar in theme; I like your writing reference with the “plot twist” mention. 🙂
Traci, thank you. “twist” is such a great word; so many ways it could be used, but I thought referring back to the books was a good idea.
Richard
Oh, I like that. It’s very almost, Lovely!
Daydreamertoo, thank you. Glad you like it.
Richard
Open the curtains, open a book and open your mind. That in itself is a good day, but when you used it as a poem’s theme and then include a wordle . . . that’s great.
Mike, thank you. That would be a good day, with so many openings.
Richard
Love it, the whole view of the world. Lovely.
Irene, thank you. I’m a Romantic, on occasion.
Richard
Richard, I see you are playing catch-up. Quite perfectly. Nice poem.
Pamela
Pamela, thanks. I think this is the quickest I’ve drafted a poem to one of Brenda’s wordles. (Look for another one tomorrow; then I’ll be all caught up).
Richard
Richard, an elegant, wise reply to the Wordle challenge. Looking past what is reprehensible is hard for me, but it’s great advice. Here’s my try at the Wordle, as they say, “ripped from the headlines…” Peace, and glad to hear from you, Amy
http://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/sunday-second-post-twist-youth/
Amy, thank you as always for your kind and thoughtful comments. I, too, have a hard time looking past what is reprehensible, thus my look into Nature (i.e., not human).
Richard
This poem beckons the reader to get to the shelf – and remember all that is there.
Nan, thank you. (I wish I had the time to get to all the books on my bookshelves).
Richard
I am always fascinated by how a poem works for me as the reader. As I read your poem, I felt myself physically and mentally calming. Nature gives us what books cannot. You accomplished the conveying of an important theme within the constraints of a wordle. Marvelous.
Have you read Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer”? If not, here is a link: http://www.bartleby.com/142/180.html Your poems say the same thing, different scenarios.
Thank you for this.
margo
Margo, thank you. What a lovely comment. One, that you found it calming. I’ll take that as high praise. And two, that you compared my poem to one by Whitman. I do know that poem. It’s one that I read to my students. Thank you.
Richard
I’ve spent the last month doing the River of Stones with one daily observation. I challenged myself to use my own photos and to keep each day’s observation drawn from Nature. It has been a unique and often thrilling adventure and I find its echo here in your poem. And btw, I really like the way you tossed out reprehensible at the end. I had to get it out of the way as quickly as possible, lol. The wordles are proving to be an amazing experience, yes? Pat on the back for taking the time and effort to catch up. From a reader’s point of view, it was well worth it,
Elizabeth
http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/
Elizabeth, thank you so much for your thoughtful comments. I wasn’t as diligent with the small stones as I planned. I wrote some, but didn’t post them all – maybe I’ll do more catching up in August. The wordles are an amazing experience. Glad you liked it – it’s all about the readers.
Richard
This is beautiful, and I love how the title works on two levels.
Kelly, thank you. Glad you picked up on the meanings in the title.
Richard
Richard, This is a beautiful meditative piece. Using scattered twice works, I like it. Your use of reprehensible rings true. Judgements are human constructs, and we have mastered them. 🙂
~Brenda
Brenda, thank you. Yeah, it just seemed appropriate to repeat scattered like that. Glad you like it.
Richard