I'm not sure where or when this poem actually began.
Poems sometimes have a way of hanging around ... lurking ... waiting for the right moment ... and then presenting themselves to me.
I think this one had its roots in the time and place where I grew up. We lived on a small piece of land just outside a small farming community, so it was not truly a lonely existence, in the sense of being a stranger among strangers.
We knew everybody ... and I presume everybody knew us. We were among friends.
Still, there were times of loneliness, times when there were no playmates, times when there was nobody to talk to, except my grandparents ... and they were sometimes occupied with their own concerns.
So I think this poem may have been speaking to that time and place, particularly with its reference to the hills ... "my voice flying" ... "someone hearing, answering" ... but I really think it speaks of a hopeful outcome.
We could all use a bit of that.
And now the poem:
REACHING OUT
Let me stand
in the clear blue
of morning,
sun rising, warming
the waiting hills,
and my voice flying
through the silence,
someone hearing,
answering, more
than an echo,
a kindred spirit.
©
1998(originally published in The Christian Science Monitor)
***
Today's word:
kindred
3 comments:
This really hits something inside me. When I think of the word, kindred, I think of Ann of Green Gables, but I also think of myself. Your poem must strike something inside many of us. I can remember as a child, feeling lonely in a crowd or even with the family, once in a while. I've never had a pokerface, and my mom would ask me what was the matter. I'd tell her I was lonesome...she knew what it was, but smiled it away, saying they were all here. I knew that! Thanks, so much for this poem. I makes me know now that I wasn't the only one.
Mr. Brimm,
This is my first visit to your journal.
I like your
Today's word
and
Afterthoughts
ideas.
Thank you,
Brian Salchert
Hello Mr. Brimm,
I want to thank you for sharing this poem. I have had a hard couple of emotional days Mr. Brimm and I haven't felt all that good. I do think that your poems certainly help to ease some of this sadness I've had. Thanks again for sharing this. We all need a kindred spirit Mr. Brimm so thanks.
Take care Mr. Brimm
Post a Comment