Poem of the Day – Day 19

All my past life

All my past life is mine no more,
The flying hours are gone,
Like transitory dreams given o’er,
Whose images are kept in store
By memory alone.

What ever is to come is not,
How can it then be mine?
The present moment’s all my lot,
And that as fast as it is got,
Phyllis, is wholly thine.

Then talk not of inconstancy,
False hearts, and broken vows,
Ii, by miracle, can be,
This live-long minute true to thee,
‘Tis all that heaven allows.

– John Wilmot

Better late than never 😉

Poem of the Day – Day 18

What is Life?

And what is Life? An hour-glass on the run,
A mist retreating from the morning sun,
A busy, bustling, still-repeated dream.
Its length? A minute’s pause, a moment’s thought.
And Happiness? A bubble on the stream,
That in the act of seizing shrinks to nought.

And what is Hope? The puffing gale of morn,
That of its charms divests the dewy lawn,
And robs each flow’ret of its gem—and dies;
A cobweb, hiding disappointment’s thorn,
Which stings more keenly through the thin disguise.

And what is Death? Is still the cause unfound?
That dark mysterious name of horrid sound?
A long and lingering sleep the weary crave.
And Peace? Where can its happiness abound?
Nowhere at all, save heaven and the grave.

Then what is Life? When stripped of its disguise,
A thing to be desired it cannot be;
Since everything that meets our foolish eyes
Gives proof sufficient of its vanity.
‘Tis but a trial all must undergo,
To teach unthankful mortals how to prize
That happiness vain man’s denied to know,
Until he’s called to claim it in the skies.

– John Clare

Poem of the Day – Day 17

I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

– William Wordsworth

Unsaid No More – A short story

She watched him. And while she saw him this now, she could see him in the when.

When they were younger. When they were more foolish. When they had no idea. When forever was in the making.

But sometimes, the forever you wish for ain’t the forever that you get. She thought as her hands trembled. Her back was getting clammy as her heart tried to calm itself down but failed at the attempt.

Without even touching him she remembered clear as day how the touch of his skin felt like. How his hand fit so perfectly into hers.

With just a twitch on his lip she could her his voice in her mind. How he would say those loving word in that special accent, and mostly she remembered how those words made her feel.

As if watching a movie about their past, memories flashed before her.

The littlest things. The late night phone calls. The way he stroked her back. How he would write her little notes. And how they enjoyed surprising each other.

The littlest things that might seem insignificant to others felt like the most vital in her life at that moment.

Oh! The things she wanted to whisper to him.

She had written them down. All the words that she had been afraid to say, but had never left her mind as the memory of him still stayed fixed.

She unfolded the paper three times and her writing came out to breath the fresh air. She started reading to the wind.

“All the nights we stayed up talking, the words would come for hours and hours. But now the words don’t come as easily anymore.

You used to talk about how you tended to flee from love in the past, and here I stand, ashamed of being the one who fled from us. 

I saw our future. 

Not one, but many possible futures. Some were wonderful, just thinking about them makes me smile. But too many of them ended with you hurt. 

I saw how history might repeat itself. 

I saw you! 

The most amazing person I’ve ever known, and the only person who’s ever really known the true me. 

I got scared and I ran! With tail between my legs I ran faster than I’ve ever done. For a long time I didn’t even dare to look back. 

But the thing about true love that I’ve come to learn is that it never really leaves. 

You can move on, body and soul, but somehow true love lingers in your heart forever. 

I wish I could have been the right girl for you. 

In many ways I was a perfect fit, but being a piece that fits doesn’t necessarily make it the right piece. 

I fled so that you could have an opportunity the real happiness and the absolute perfect love that you deserve.

I might regret it. Probably for the rest of my life. But as soon as I know that you’re as happy as can be, the pain will be worth it.

I love you, now and forever.”

The wind took a hold of her words, but were unable to carry them all the way. As the kind wind met his face it was just a wordless whisper.

She watched him from afar as her words were finally spoken. Then she folded the paper three times and turned her back to his smiling face.

One last time she looked at him over her shoulder and smiled when she saw him laughing. She had seen him that happy, more than once, and to see him like that again was all she needed.

 ©Christina de Vries

January 2013

Poem of the Day – Day 16

Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her

If questioning would make us wise
No eyes would ever gaze in eyes;
If all our tale were told in speech
No mouths would wander each to each.

Were spirits free from mortal mesh
And love not bound in hearts of flesh
No aching breasts would yearn to meet
And find their ecstasy complete.

For who is there that lives and knows
The secret powers by which he grows?
Were knowledge all, what were our need
To thrill and faint and sweetly bleed?.

Then seek not, sweet, the “If” and “Why”
I love you now until I die.
For I must love because I live
And life in me is what you give.

– Christopher Brennan

Poem of the Day – Day 15

Life

Let me but live my life from year to year,
With forward face and unreluctant soul;
Not hurrying to, nor turning from the goal;
Not mourning for the things that disappear
In the dim past, nor holding back in fear
From what the future veils; but with a whole
And happy heart, that pays its toll
To Youth and Age, and travels on with cheer.

So let the way wind up the hill or down,
O’er rough or smooth, the journey will be joy:
Still seeking what I sought when but a boy,
New friendship, high adventure, and a crown,
My heart will keep the courage of the quest,
And hope the road’s last turn will be the best.

– Henry Van Dyke

Let’s turn this no around!!

Sometimes we wait for a long time for an answer to something. We wish for a yes. We picture it. How it will feel like to get it, how you will proceed from that point, how it might change your life. And even though we try to be realistic and to keep in mind that there is a good possibility of a rejection and how that also will feel like, we get disappointed never the less.

Yesterday I got one of those rejections that I was afraid of was coming, but was so much hoping would be a new opportunity instead. I thought I was prepared for it, but the truth is I wasn’t. I could feel my stomach clenching up and the overwhelming thought of What the hell am I going to do now! 

Because in my mind I had a plan. I had pictured it all and I was so ready for this change in my life that I somehow (even knowing I might not get it) didn’t picture my future without that opportunity in it. Mentally I fell, and I fell hard.

When I got home from work yesterday I just ate and fell asleep at seven pm. My body just wanted to tune out for a while. Recharge my batteries and reboot my system,

Luckily I’m an optimist for most of the time and after another day at work today and a little nap after dinner I can finally feel myself coming together again.

This rejection was a set back from my plans, but hey! It’s not permanent! I’m healthy, I have a gorgeous son and a fantastic boyfriend, I’ve got a job and I have a roof over my head. I have friends that support me even when times are tough. I have ambitions of course, and there’s nothing wrong with wanting more from life, as long as you know how to appreciate the things you already have!

I’ve decided to turn this no around into a new opportunity. A way of life telling me that that wasn’t something that I was supposed to do because something else is coming.

I’m going to devote more time to my writing and I will keep on finding out what there is I want to do with my life while I’m going to enjoy what I’m already doing.

So here’s me putting the real smile back on my face, picking my self up and keep on going!

2013 will be a good year, I’ve decided so 😛

Poem of the Day – Day 14

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

 

– Maya Angelou

 

 

It’s been two weeks with poems already and I’m really enjoying the adventure I’ve had in the world of poetry so far! And there’s fifty more weeks to go! Every day for a whole year I’m going to pick a poem I like and share it with you guys 🙂

I would love to post some poems from not so known authors as well, so if you write poetry yourself or maybe know someone who do then please let me know! You can email me at featherbrush@gmail.com  🙂

Poem of the Day – Day 13

Life in a Bottle

Escape me?
Never–
Beloved!
While I am I, and you are you,
So long as the world contains us both,
Me the loving and you the loth,
While the one eludes, must the other pursue.
My life is a fault at last, I fear:
It seems too much like a fate, indeed!
Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed.
But what if I fail of my purpose here?
It is but to keep the nerves at strain,
To dry one’s eyes and laugh at a fall,
And, baffled, get up and begin again,–
So the chace takes up one’s life, that’s all.
While, look but once from your farthest bound
At me so deep in the dust and dark,
No sooner the old hope goes to ground
Than a new one, straight to the self-same mark,
I shape me–
Ever
Removed!

– Robert Browning

Poem of the Day – Day 12

I Have Loved Flowers That Fade

I have loved flowers that fade,
Within whose magic tents
Rich hues have marriage made
With sweet unmemoried scents:
A honeymoon delight,
A joy of love at sight,
That ages in an hour
My song be like a flower!.

I have loved airs that die
Before their charm is writ
Along a liquid sky
Trembling to welcome it.
Notes, that with pulse of fire
Proclaim the spirit’s desire,
Then die, and are nowhere
My song be like an air!.

Die, song, die like a breath,
And wither as a bloom;
Fear not a flowery death,
Dread not an airy tomb!
Fly with delight, fly hence!
‘Twas thine love’s tender sense
To feast; now on thy bier
Beauty shall shed a tear.

– Robert Bridges