Ditch the ads, upload images and much more - upgrade today from 5.95/month!
Read • Contests • Groups • Learn • Forums • Store • Help
 

Wander

 

 

Solitary nomad drifts,

no caravan to claim me,

crawling though cracked and cruel deserts;

wild zephyrs howl behind my back.

 

Parched and purged of purity,

no oasis in sight -

 

only mirages waver

in this dire distance,

 

descent of dreams,

shimmering

with false hope.

 

Pausing in the plains,

 

I gathered

what little strength I had

 

to save myself from sinking,

slowly but surely,

into simmering sands

that betrayed their promises of safety.

 

I hid in harvested fields of gold,

basked in Autumn sunlight -

 

knowing well

Winter was on its way

and shelter must be sought.

 

Long have I been lost,

 

lingering languid

upon this vast

and lonely landscape,

 

yearning only

to find myself

 

home

within your eyes...




 

Author notes

 

"We don't need no stinkin' notes."

Something that was actually NOT said in the movie

Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Directed by John Huston. With Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt

Ok, so this is gettin' a lil' serious, a lil' fun & a lil' educational, too. 
Information re: comment below from Jonathan ROBIN, courtesy of same:

"Et in Arcadia ego"

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_in_Arcadia_ego  

(please DO click on the link; there's much more information available, as well as beautiful paintings, too)

"Et in Arcadia ego" is a Latin phrase that most famously appears as the title of two paintings by Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665). They are pastoral paintings depicting idealized shepherds from classical antiquity, clustering around an austere tomb. The more famous second version of the subject, measuring 121 by 185 centimetres (47.6 x 72.8 in), is in the Louvre, Paris, and also goes under the name "Les bergers d'Arcadie" ("The Arcadian Shepherds"). It has been highly influential in the history of art and more recently has been associated with the pseudohistory of the Priory of Sion myth popularised in the books Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Da Vinci Code. The phrase is a memento mori, usually interpreted as "Even in Arcadia I exist", as if spoken by personified Death. However, Poussin's biographer, André Félibien, interpreted it to mean that "the person buried in this tomb has lived in Arcadia"; in other words, that the person too once enjoyed the pleasures of life on earth. This reading was common in the 18th and 19th century. For example William Hazlitt wrote that Poussin "describes some shepherds wandering out in a morning of the spring, and coming to a tomb with this inscription, 'I also was an Arcadian'."[1] The former interpretation is now generally considered more likely; the ambiguity of the phrase is the subject of a famous essay by the art historian Erwin Panofsky (see References). Either way, the sentiment was meant to set up an ironic contrast between the shadow of death and the usual idle merriment that the nymphs and swains of ancient Arcadia were thought to embody.

See? Told ya so.

 

 

 

 

A contest entry

What do you think?

    I plan to revise this poem: please leave constructive criticism!
    : , Your review:

    Comment Suggestion: What is your your first impression?
    : no Cost: 0 free left 0 points, You have (?)

Comments

1 - 27 of 27

  • Jonathan ROBIN
    March 10
    Edit | Reply

    Home is where the heart is

    lingering languid
    upon this vast
    and lonely landscape, yearning only to find myself


    Home is where the heart is as the adage goes so melt the shadows
  • LovingPhoenix
    January 25
    Edit | Reply
    What a beautiful write! You have expressed yourself so well, in a way that speaks to my heart.

  • Sonja silver member
    January 24

    Edit | Reply
    Beautiful penning my friend. I stumbled on the first stanza and can't move my mind of it. The whole poem is so deep that hurts.
    ~Sonja~


  • poet2angels gold member
    January 23

    Edit | Reply
    Beautiful and so powerful...Do you know how strong you really are????

    Another amazing write ...You took us with ya , in your footsteps to "wander"

    Love it

    Lynda


  • Spiritual Soul
    January 21

    Edit | Reply
    wow this is beautiful, so beautiful I especially love the ending and , "Long have I been lost, lingering languid upon this vast and lonely landscape," wonderful alliteration here, it flows smoothly. Wonderful write!
    Blessings,
    ~Michaela~


  • CarolDesjarlais silver member
    January 21

    Edit | Reply
    Funny how we get past our own wander when we find out there are others along the path. I have felt way less lonely as I begin to look up and see the faces and palces along the way.
    SAdly and evocatively written.


  • Nicolette gold member
    January 21

    Edit | Reply
    Beautiful - especiallly the closing lines!



    ~ Nicolette


  • Zayra Yves
    January 20
    Edit | Reply


  • Predaw
    January 20

    Edit | Reply
    Yup. Finally finished it. I liked the "Be back later." *pouts* This is good too. Don't forget to "Keep writing."

  • born4freedom
    January 20

    Edit | Reply

    Excellent!

    What fine use you have made of the prompt word "wander" in writing this journey of the soul in its search\. Bravo!

    Carol


  • Jonathan ROBIN
    January 20

    Edit | Reply
    Long have I been lost, lingering languid upon this vast and lonely landscape, yearning only to find myself home within your eyes...

    Et ego in Acadia fui

    and few we are you could fail to respond to this call from the wild


  • Mad Moon silver member
    January 20

    Edit | Reply
    A longing and solitary voice to this, Wanders (love that title ). As always, your expert use of alliteration makes this roll off the tongue so very smoothly. I can so relate to this, my friends. It is as if the words were pulled from my heart as well as yours. I couldn't possibly pick a favorite line or passage. Much love to you, dear one. I love this!!


  • marc creamore
    January 20

    Edit | Reply
    A poem of almost sorrowful isolation, the journey of the soul seeking resolution, understanding . . . sort of makes me think of a book by Thomas Merton entitled The Desert Fathers wherein he talks about the holy men of long ago seeking the face of God . . . but enough of this . . . you done get yourself back to the serenity of your pond because cactus can sometimes be harmful to pure white feathers . . .

    Marc

  • Just4u
    January 20
    Edit | Reply
    In following the same path
    In walking to same beat
    We only see the same things
    as all the other feet

    But when we dare to break away
    by choice or other cause
    We come upon a different path
    so great that we must pause

    We wonder what beholds us
    and the path that we have sought
    And we wonder of the path at hand
    and if it was for naught

    But in the end by breaking free
    we'll add to what was man
    Until all paths entwine once more
    and we all join heart and hand

    Hugs...Eddy
  • Eusebius
    January 20

    Edit | Reply
    Oh, a most marvelous and most potent write, full of your deft and signature alliteration... I just loved it!!!


  • transcendental baby gold member
    January 20

    Edit | Reply
    The absolute beauty in this betrays the intensity of loneliness and despair the images invoke ... it makes the harshness of the journey seem more full of hope and fortitude and a joy in just moving towards the desired destination. Beautiful work Dear Lady


  • kaibab silver member
    January 20

    Edit | Reply
    You find your sigh in the stars, wandering scribe of hope and oasis...lovely desert drift of feather...


  • tomisb
    January 20

    Edit | Reply
    You start with the solitary journey. The need that some of us have, even if we feel we did not want it, to wander alone in search for some surcrease to the emptiness. We create an external reflection of the internal state. The last two short verses sum everything nicely. For all the wandering and pain, for all the delusions and empty mirages -- we only need ourselves and we want to find a partner who needs us, as well.
    Love, Tom B.


  • nilav
    January 20

    Edit | Reply
    it is always lack of words to comment on the intensity of feelings in your poem... you make us drown in loneliness with the heavy weight of helplessness and hopelessness with your powerful expressions...

  • just mercedes gold member
    January 20

    Edit | Reply
    Powerful images of isolation and strength, Wanda. Or should that be fortitude?

    I liked basking in the fields of gold, my favourite part!


  • Cannonsfire gold member
    January 20

    Edit | Reply
    If this is what happens when you wander then you should do it more often

  • Eusebius
    January 14
    Edit | Reply
    Be back VERY, VERY SOON!!!

  • just mercedes gold member
    January 13
    Edit | Reply
    Wanda has gone for a wander...

    I'll be back to read when you're done.

  • Predaw
    January 13
    Edit | Reply
    Just leave "BE BACK LATER!" and I will laugh so hard. It would fit. >.<


  • MJ Donnelly gold member
    January 13
    Edit | Reply
    Can't wait to read...and why have we not talked in a while? Am I a pariah or something? ;(

  • catz Moderators member
    January 13
    Edit | Reply
    And I'll be back to read it
  • Just4u
    January 13

    Edit | Reply
    I wonder where you wander...

    Be back later to read when you post.

1 - 27 of 27