"No one said it was easy
But it was once so easy
well I believed in love
now here I stand
I wonder why" --On My Own sung by Michael McDonald and Patti Labelle
Yesterday I found a garter snake
hiding in the ground ivy
by the side gate.
Tonight I hear
a constant cricket
sheltered in the violets there.
As the evenings shorten more and more,
I've been cleaning and finding
old shoes in the closet--my old ring in a drawer.
I have a dog--a book--a bed--
and perplexity about old easy desires
that rise and fall and fade--instead.
Yesterday the radio took me by surprise--
buckling my heart,
blurring my eyes.
Tonight and every night I hear
that constant cricket,
sheltered in the violets there.
________
for this.
Nice sound with the rhymes coming in almost unexpectedly. I like the repeat mentioning of that cricket and the "perplexity about old easy desires that rise and fall and fade." Very nice. Thank you for linking this with dVerse.
ReplyDeleteI so know that "perplexity about old easy desires" and the way a radio - or a song, or memory - can take us by surprise. This is so wonderful to read. You took me right there, into the room. Thank heaven for "I have a dog - a book - a bed". Our treasure.
ReplyDeleteI love the unobtrusive rhymes in this - almost like that cricket in the violets, but still heard. I wonder about that old ring. That is why I rarely listen to the radio. If I hear One on One, I know I am lost. I am glad you have the dog, bed, and book. Something to give you peace.
ReplyDeleteThe cricket is such a stark part here... a constant reminder of something that is missing... there are certain sounds you only hear those thing... but bless the dog the bed and the book.
ReplyDeleteCaptured idle late summer thoughts, well put....but the cricket serenade sounds annoying. I wonder if he bothers the snake.
ReplyDeleteI love the sounds you've created throughout the poem.
ReplyDeleteTeresa from Razzamadazzle
You had me at the radio - a song can turn me into a weeping willow very quickly.
ReplyDeleteWhen we find love it is so easy...until it is not. I love this write. Reality in every line.
ReplyDeletepace and tenor, so often overlooked - but you have brilliant line breaks, flow, and if not melancholy then acceptance ~
ReplyDeleteI, too, like the "perplexity about old easy desires that rise and fall and fade".
ReplyDeleteA beautiful poem, Shay. it reminds me that we are all of us alone, though we long to be attached to others, because life seems more bearable that way. there are times, however, when a bed, book and dog suffice.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote an ivy and violets poem. Yay. :)
ReplyDeleteI adore this section:
"As the evenings shorten more and more,
I've been cleaning and finding
old shoes in the closet--my old ring in a drawer."
Also the phrase "old easy desires."
Love the rhyme here as well:
"Yesterday the radio took me by surprise--
buckling my heart,
blurring my eyes."
I know I'm probably stretching, but this makes me think of a woman catching her husband having an affair:
"Yesterday I found a garter snake
hiding in the ground ivy
by the side gate." .. The close proximity makes me think the woman was a friend, someone who came over for dinner and such. I feel like he cheated with something obtrusive, "ivy," but your side thing, your comfort, was this "cricket" --- which feels innocent, a friend. A true friend --- someone who is constant, always letting you know they're there for you, always very closeby. That sort of thing.
I'm sure you'll say I'm reading it all wrong. :)
I love the sounds in this poem, Shay. I know that 'perplexity about old easy desires' far too well.
ReplyDelete