The RetroLounge Daily Poem Thread (Fri 12/14/2007)

[RetroLounge]

A Blessing

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.

James Wright

**************************



RL

[SPKrazy]

1. thanks for that retro!

nice

[RetroLounge]

11. ...

RL

[ThomCat]

2. That is beautiful.

Can you imagine having an experience like that?

[RetroLounge]

12. I love this image...

Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.




RL

[xchrom]

3. sometimes you can only describe a poem as delicious.

and this is one.

[RetroLounge]

13. It certainly is...

RL

[hisownpetard]

4. Hey -It's pretty amazing that you chose that particular poem to send me. I had never read it before

but here's on I wrote where the emotions and even the circumstances are extremely similar.
Weird, eh? Thanks for sending it, you sweet thang!

Here it is:




APPLES ON SOUTH ROAD


For once, the black horse
so close to the fieldstone wall I can touch him.
I leave the car running
and the door ajar, to approach — hand held
open, low and flat.
Standing to the side, I stroke his mane, brush
the fly-away hair
back from his jack-of-diamond eyes and, again,
watch it fall. The horse
keeps nudging my shoulder, my arm, as if starved, as if
petting were less than
what he needs, so I leave to rush home — ten slow
minutes of winding road —
to get some apples. I don't know what makes me polish the skins
before peeling them,
then take time to cut the pieces smaller
and smaller, careful
to remove the hard seeds, the starry cores.
When I return, he’s
turned away, eating lunch, his head dipping from one
bucket to the other
on the field's fallow side. How to get his attention?
Ignoring the occasional
passing car, I stomp my rubber boots: ineffective thuds.
Snorting doesn’t
sway him either, so I wait with my plastic bag
for him to look up.
And wait and wait, the horse not glancing
even once
toward the road’s shoulder where I stand, gazing instead
at the adjacent farm’s
vacant field. As it grows late and chill, I eat the apples I brought,
unwilling to quit
with the task undone: name the horse or the need. Before
leaving, name one.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. thanks

for this.

[RetroLounge]

10. You are welcome...

RL

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. My dear Retro...

Ah, this is wonderful!

I can just see the scene and feel the emotions so vividly...

Are you resuming your daily poetry threads?

Oh, I hope so...

You have been missed...

Thank you, sweetie...

[lizziegrace]

7. So does this mean what I think it does??

Will we see another thread tomorrow??

[RetroLounge]

9. Well, I don't know if I can say that.

I'm not much with committments...



RL

[ThomCat]

8. If you and BlueIris are both going to be posting poety

will be somehow manage to get the lounge interested in reading and commenting on poetry?

[BlueIris]

14. Trying to steal my thunder, eh?

[RetroLounge]

16. Just sharing the wealth...

We'll get these loungers to read poetry yet!



RL

[BlueIris]

17. Whatever, thunder-stealer.

[RetroLounge]

18. Now what would I do with your thunder?

RL

[BlueIris]

19. Use it to fill a ringing absence in your thunder jar, apparently.

[Inchworm]

15. Beutiful man, beautiful

thanks Retro.

Are you back? I remember seeing you say you missed doing The Daily Poem Thread. Could it be?

[RetroLounge]

20. Just felt like posting one today, that's all.

Glad you liked it.

I've missed posting these.



RL

[Sugar Smack]

21. I really liked that a lot.

It gave me a sense of peace. Thank you for that. You have no idea.

[RetroLounge]

22. Thank you for saying that..

RL