Memories tie themselves
‘round tree trunks, door knobs --
weave particulars into a song --
catch your heart
with the right twist of shadow.
We never forget when
we have been touched.
I live with ghosts.
Tales children create --
memories, kite tails, in blue skies --
when friends and I were wild eyed,
pledged to a brotherhood full
of unconquerable dreams.
Families move, dreams
lost in packing crates.
Promises forged on playgrounds
forgotten like stone
markers for hopscotch.
Except, when I creep through the rock
deep in my foundation, find relics
holding hot afternoon catch,
tackle football on front yard grass,
all my futures buried in my past.
Friends lost to twist of time and parent's
course in job demands. But, I understand
we made ourselves believe we could be
anything our imagination perceived.
Now, I am nothing like I could foresee
but so much more for the practice I got
with friends riding waves in a sandbox sea.
11:57 PM
03/03/09
Washington, DC
Author notes
Prompt: Spirit Insurance - White plains, NY
A contest entry
- notes from a bus ride by Suzanne Dia.
4375 points, ended March 11, 9 entries
Silver trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Admissions by TheCorrodedBreed.
400 points, ended July 15, 9 entries
Bronze trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think, what it makes you feel, how you are moved.
Comments
1 - 40 of 40
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My comment here has disappeared, but this is well worth reading again to find the little treasures I missed the first time! It feels different from the first time I read it, but I like the unspoken analogy of memories and ribbons tied around trees where our roots are, on door knobs where new opportunities and experience may be opened, and the melodies that weave it all together like shades of satin to shimmer life.
Things change: so much is not touched again until a catalyst triggers a thought from long ago and a smile (sometimes a tear) moves through everything temporal, marking the essences of spirit which always moved like waves in the sea or the sand ribbons etching the dunes beneath the wind..
They are the stone markers of hopscotch which we leap, leave for the games adults play, and then look back and see them sparkling like agates in the sun--still in the boxes we outlined in chalk.
I loved reading this one, tomis.. -
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We are a thousand upon thousand of possiblities. When we forget to keep exploring, we begin to lose our aliveness. Laughter, magic, and the vibrancy of our imagination, all gifts of the grace of that sweet child. Thanks for the lovely review.
Love, Tom B.
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thanks so much..I really like what you did with this prompt..an original entry.
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I am only too glad you enjoyed. I let things carry me. Every poem an exploration and discovery. The more I learn from it perhaps the better it is.
Love, Tom B.
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Wow!
This is one supreme poem. Filled with marv content, metaphor & vivid imagery. Love your word choice and the way this flows so smoothly without effort! Worthy story poem. I could really identify with this. Trust this'll do well in the Contest.
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We are forever innocent when we are present to all our possiblities. The love we give ourselves is only a reflection of how much we are willing to allow God to love us. it took me a long time to find a way to express what is in this poem. Glad you enjoyed my attempt.
Love,
Tom B.
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You have shown us a way of lightening the load we all bear... It is and always will be a matter of perspective. So who says it's irresponsible to try and retain some of our childlike wonder, where a dream could wander wherever it would please?
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Often, our inner child is our saviour. I always wanted to catch this. Took me a long time to get here.
Love, Tom B.
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In a sandbox sea of dreams who doesn't reminese about the old days of what used to be...or could be for that matter. Great penning my friend. Thank you for sharing this lovely poem with me. ~Sie
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So much of our aliveness and our joy is found in the resources of our inner child. it is not so much to be lost in the past as the be strengthened by the wonder and joy of the child that lives inside us.
Thank you for sharing the joy my poem gave you. Glad you could stop by.
Love, Tom B.
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If ever a poem reminded me of childhood and bought back its memories your wonderful piece did excellent poet
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Thank you. That was all I truly wanted to do. Return the joy of the child to the heart.
Peace & Light,
Tom B.
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Stunning!
For some reason I find free verse poetry so hard to write, rhyme just creeps in all of the time. So straight away I admire your style here. Then after reading you realise that the imagery within your words is so vivid, effortlessly invoking the images in my mind.
A most wonderful write here sir!
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My goal was to create a response at a deep and personal level. We are built upon the joy of the child within us and the dreams that grow out of the memories strengthen us. Thanks for the quiet thoughtful reveiw. It takes a large soul to enjoy what doesn't come easy to them.
Peace & Light,
Tom B.
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Sigh~
Bro...you always give the reader something to take when they go, like a feeling in the heart...
"catch your heart
with the right twist of shadow."
Amazing as always...
Lynda
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It is funny the things that can spark a sigh or a vision of the past -- a smell, a glint of color, the sudden smile of a child. We are made up of a spiritual being clothed in the memories we create our life with. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your joy in this piece.
Love,
Tom B.
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great take on the prompt, this just really hit me hard, i'm not sure why, there is a realism to it that just makes it great, best of luck in the contest
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When we forget the child we were, we lose who we are. Everything we did was real even if it missed being anchored in the adult version of reality. Before we learned about the claw, we danced and pranced and conquered all. We are born to create universes and the greatest amongst us never stop trying.
Love, Tom B.
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kudos
words so true. makes me remember the good ole naive days. i miss those good ole days.
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We are born naive so we have time to learn to dream. Otherwise we would arrive dead at birth.
Peace & Light,
Tom B.
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This is what life is all about though, being anything we want to be even within growing up, if we lose the child within, we would wither and die. You capture it C
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It is more than learning, it is about discovery. Dreams open doors and our sense of adventure teaches how to keep flying long after we have learned we must keep both feet on the ground. Our child keeps us laughing when we should snort cynically and all the child asks in return is that we love ourselves completely with no walls.
Love,
Tom B.
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i really needed to read something like this after the day i have experienced. you have made me smile with your words and reminded me that not all is depressing. thank you for sharing this with me and i wish you the best of luck in this contest that you have entered. i am so hoping to read more from you soon. viyanna rosemarie
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My newest will give you a *sigh* , this just is here to remind you that we all begin with dreams. The child within always needs to know we love ourselves enough to play with dreams, not as goals but just to play at dreaming.
Love, Tom B.
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lovely
It was the sandbox and toy cars. Swing sets in the back yard. Playing war and king of the hill. It was bikes and just goin' fishin' after the paper route was over. -c
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I never cease to be amazed that it is all me as much as father, salesman, designer, handyman I am now. I haven't changed -- just, play new games.
Peace & Light,
Tom B.
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Oh this is simply stupendous and evocative. "wild eyed,
pledged to a brotherhood full
of unconquerable dreams. "
This so goes along with the creative art expression I am doing today. How many sandbox boys thought they had to slay and rescue for us when all we wanted was help baking bread?
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From second to fifth I was in a neighborhood where the boys and girls mixed and competed constantly. From soft ball to hide 'n' seek we all played hard and dreamed big. Thanks for letting me know I captured a part of the magic of good friends and hard playing youth.
Love, Tom B.
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I am very grateful for this link, tom ... thank you so much ... besides that your imagery is absolutely stunning and pushed some buttons in me that related to my own childhood, there is a very profound spiritual lesson to be integrated in these few amazing lines :
"Now, I am nothing like I could foresee
but so much more for the practice I got
with friends riding waves in a sandbox sea."
it is an invitation to be fully in the present moment ... little children still know how to do that, animals, too ...
otherwise, our minds are constantly engaged in watching the world through the veil of "I already know" ...
yesterday afternoon, I offered two different cakes (one freshly baked, one baked two days ago with the same ingredients) to my mother and my husband, asking them which one they preferred ...
while my hubby welcomed this new game, my mum immediately said in a defensive tone: "I already know that (old) cake ! no need to taste it again." I suggested : "please, don't KNOW the cake, but TASTE it. maybe two days ago, you were watching tv while eating that cake, but now you have the occasion to fully be present to tasting it, consciously instead of unconsciously ..."
of course, the verdict of which cake tasted better, was not important, the whole interest was in being present to the act of tasting ...
well, you see, when you send me one of your poems, I always end up telling you lots of stories
...
maa
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For us to be present all of us must awaken. If I evoke stories -- I must be doing something right.
Love, Tom B.
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liked the line about not forgetting when being touched.
liked the title.
i always dreamed of becoming a pirate when i'd grow up lol -
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And perhaps you are. Full of romance and madness, ready to leap upon the newest ship and love the chase across stormy seas.
Love,
Tom B.
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"Promises forged on playgrounds
forgotten like stone
markers for hopscotch."
I'd forgotton I used to play hopscotch... sigh'n here. I"ll bet you never were still as a child...full of adventure and energy, definitely captain of your soul.
This poem has a sweetness and nostalgia to it. Childhood seems to be made just for dreams, and as you've told me, we keep that inner child forever. What a treasure to sometimes let him/her surface again to remind us how magical we really are!
~ Karen
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I hoped that image of hopscotch caught someone. Yes, I played and played hard. My imagination frequently became more complicated that was possible. But, we built secret forts, had clubs played every game we could find. I moved alot so my friends were varied and many.
Your inner child is all of this and more. The vibrant immediate innocence you have in the moment is this inner child greeting life. Keep the child safe and you are free to dance with a breeze, play tag with a wave or laugh 'cause the world is such a funny wonderful place.
Love, Tom B.
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I love the title.. I love the first stanza..I love the flood of memories you've woven into poetic words. Your last line truly melted my heart though Here'sto all childhood friends and riding waves in sandbox seas.
Love,
Stacy
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the truth of the past is how we carry it in our hearts in the present. I am glad you were able to see that in my images. Thanks
Love,
Tom B.
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I like how you expressed the concept of time in this piece, a flowing blue satin ribbon that'll never been torn or cut. This reminded me of walking through my old elementary school, looking at the lockers that were once mine, the playgrounds I would play on and scrap my knees.
This was a very effective write a nice trip down memory lane
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We were all heros when we were three I have gone back to places I remember and am always amazed at how small they look now.
Love, Tom B.
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a very interesting piece full of nostalgia. The last stanza wraps it all together.
Reading this brought back my own childhood dreams, some are still there waiting to come to fruition in just a few more weeks.
Juls
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I wanted to catch how the path of the spirit through time is so deeply formed in our youth. Even when we end up in places we never planned for, a large chunk of who we are is to be found in the times between ages 4 to 10.
Love, Tom B.
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