This is splendid Sarah! I like the framing begiunning and end as well. And the wonderful imagery of a layer cake overlaid onto the landscape. Wonderful work!
This is wonderful Trish! I like the framing with the same phrase beginning and end. "No markers of history with stories untrue." Wow--what a ;piercing ,ine because it feels so true so often.
I’m sitting on my deck as I read your poem and you have evoked a primal feeling for me. I’m watching juvenile woodpeckers leap off their nest tree -- a towering cedar tree. Testing their wings as I did. All creatures must do this -- fly the nest, test our wings, explore. Thank you
Atmospheric perspective -
that's what it's called when the rolling mountains
I grew up in start to look softer in the distance.
I used to think it was sad that something
so vibrant could appear to fade
as you get further away,
but now I think I rather relate to being perceived
differently up close.
yes.
and ouch.
A landscape love letter
I come from
a valley landscape
mountain slopes
frame East and West
tectonic shifts
basalt flows
and glacial floods
gave birth to the terrain
A layer cake of
lush green old growth
rich red volcanic soils
and flinty blue foothills
give way to the horizon
dense coastal fog prevails
and ancient volcanic peaks
watch over us
A river basin
feeds the valley floor
a mighty flowing heart
and tributary tendrils
a riparian realm
teeming with fertility
I come from
a valley landscape
This is so beautiful. I love how you circle back with the last two lines, which seemed so ordinary before the imagery in the rest of the poem.
This is splendid Sarah! I like the framing begiunning and end as well. And the wonderful imagery of a layer cake overlaid onto the landscape. Wonderful work!
Landscape
Freedom is
the landscape of
a wide open field.
No fence-lined
restrictions
or signposts
of rules,
no markers
of history
with stories
untrue.
A space
to expand
and abandon
and heal,
a space
to explore
and discover
what’s real.
A place
not measured
in time or degrees,
a place of enough
just simply to be.
Freedom is
the landscape of
a wide open field.
This is wonderful Trish! I like the framing with the same phrase beginning and end. "No markers of history with stories untrue." Wow--what a ;piercing ,ine because it feels so true so often.
That "signs signs everywhere a sign, do this don't do that, can't you read the signs" song keeps running thru my head.
In my peaceable kingdom
Peace is tempered with passion.
In my vision a utopian oasis grows, then fades as if it were never seen
Landscapes of rolling hills and happy brooks speak into the world of peoples who may or may not notice but
The hills and the brooks persist without our encouragement
nor do they care for it
nor do they require it
I get a "so don't fuck with it" coda coming at me.
Hmmm - it's just a reverie, not a dictate
This is wonderfully evocative, Leslie. For me, it evokes the temporal nature and winding rhythm of our lives in connection with earth.
Thank you, Larry.
You are welcome!
Landscape
.
Landscape covers the eyes,
A stretched ocean,
Sea breeze on salty skin,
Lingering smile of intrepid beginnings,
Gulls taking flight,
One breath in one town,
Another in the next,
Chasing down shadows in the pavement,
Empty streets, uncertain glances,
Night dew glistening in the 3am morning.
Honesty, vulnerability,
Truth.
.
Landscape covers the ears,
“Ocean, it’s where we came from, you know”
Guitar strumming, chords plucking,
Feet tapping, mouth humming
“The less of it I need, the more of it I get”
The sounds and the silence,
The sounds in between,
The words expressed and the words
Unspoken,
Everybody seems to have
Something to say.
Honesty, vulnerability,
Truth.
.
Landscape covers the heart,
Head rubs and adoring gazes, cocktailed harmony,
Another smile back in wonder
Watching magic unfold and stars take flight,
Watching all the truths you’ve ever felt
Painted out before your eyes,
Destiny manifest in another
The landscape appears before your eyes
But unfolds in your heart,
The adventure and the destination calling you to
Shine louder, share bolder.
Feel it all, but not never again.
Honesty, vulnerability,
Truth.
.
“I’m telling you, just take it from me”
Take every landscape from me
truth
Thank you so much, Chuck!
What a wonderful and alive poem! I love the way you paint, weave and compose your words!
Thank you for your joyful reception of my poem, Larry! I’m honored to share it with you.
The scape of land,
Stretches out,
My Kansas home.
Endless prairies,
Skies stretching on,
My temporary Eden.
Vastness is a reminder,
I am small,
God is big.
it's not really yours to claim.
She saw it was good
way before you ever wandered by.
The great creator, licking her lips,
relishes her creation at play.
it's her gig.
Treat it like an eavesdrop.
And give thanks.
every line a resonant yes.
Claim staking, no.
Eavesdropping and gratitude, yes.
so good. thanks for this.
Do other people seek new skies,
kaleidoscope sunrises
or tree-lined constellations?
I yearn for those tableaus sometimes
as I sip cloudy tea on a porch step
in a city I was born to, walking distance
from two generations I was born out of,
allowing landscapes of wanting escape
as my eye catches a patch of dandelion stems
that I could have sworn were clover last week.
Landscape
looking out at the horizon
how far can I see?
I can see into the past
before the houses were there
some trees and wildlife
going to the edge of the river
untouched by modernity
how far can I see?
I can see today
beyond the economic system
that has, at times,
pillaged the land
and displaced life
how far can I see?
I can see things as they are
beyond the facade of development
to see the true costs
of putting monetary value
on every person and parcel of land
how far can I see?
I can see things that most avoid seeing
between life and death
the forgotten and forlorn
dirty and unkempt
left homeless and hungry
how far can I see?
I can see into another realm
betwixt this world and the world to come
the liminal space
where I linger in prayer
wrestling with God
how far can I see?
I can see things I don't understand
broken and blessed
powerless and suffering
called and being empowered
how far can I see?
I can see a new creation
becoming and abundant
life with dignity
worth for all for just being
a place for God's shekinah
how far can you see?
sometimes I can't see past my own nose. Thanks for the reminder.
Landscape
Across the opening sky,
comes a call to honor-
The sacred, the holy, the mundane, the desecrated,
the reclamation of earth-
land, sea, sky,
heart mind, body, spirit.
We travel across landscapes,
real, dreamed, imagined.
All is sacred. All is beauty, all is whole;
What we deem broken, unholy, defiled,
are just other landscapes
we will pass through.
The great circle that beckons,
the peace that lies within,
the heart that finally opens.
I’m sitting on my deck as I read your poem and you have evoked a primal feeling for me. I’m watching juvenile woodpeckers leap off their nest tree -- a towering cedar tree. Testing their wings as I did. All creatures must do this -- fly the nest, test our wings, explore. Thank you
Recalling a day at the museum -
I stroll past the larger landscapes
Monet's gardens
Cezanne's seascapes
I smile at Degas' ballerinas
and wonder at Van Gogh's starry night
Arriving at my destination
I gaze at the beauty, the emotion, the love
in the story I create for the couple in Renoir's
Danse à la campagne
Moving through my day
In our home
in the garden
Pruning out dead branches
Hearing the choral cacophony
pouring over the back fence
from the birthday party in the park
Birds singing
Stopping me in my tracks
with their calling yearning claiming
As if all this was not enough
Charlotte returned from the urban farm
With previously uncomposed songs
pouring our of her heart in my hearing
The landscape of my soul is
again this day
made new
Lovely. It's a kind of mindscape, that we see in some artwork, sometimes based on reality, sometimes a totally imagined world.
this is so inviting and evocative.
going to hang out in the landscape of my mind, yard and neighbourhood to see what arises.
thank you Kaitlin, for seeding our imaginations and awakening our hearts.
So much love in these words.