(An Autobiography of Hope)
Not too long ago…
As a result of the greatest tragedy;
anyone could ever dread to experience;
the sudden, and unexpected event which resulted
in the most horrible sight I have ever seen,
the one where I watched…
helplessly…
as my beloved wife,
and
soul mate,
died in my arms…
Change began to enter my very soul…
For whenever someone would ask me
about my future,
these three small,
yet powerful words,
began to permeate my thoughts
and my speech…
“Time will tell…”
Sometime later…
Quite by accident…
I unexpectedly wrote my first poem…
simply to place words on “paper”;
so that a friend could write a song in tribute.
Upon its completion,
a process which took
but a very short time indeed,
I read MY first poem…
I was truly astounded…
All I could say…
“THIS came from ME…???”
And it seemed to say to me
“YES, I came from YOU,
and you have many,
many more within you,
waiting for the proper inspiration
to present itself.”
I said, meekly…
“But, what am I to do?”
It said, quite boldly…
“WRITE…
EXPERIMENT…
Pour your HEART,
into every word you write...”
I asked…
“But, what will happen if I do?”
It said, simply,
“Time will tell…”
So, I began to write, experiment,
and read in my works in public…
All, to my complete amazement,
were very well received…
I then set out upon a journey,
where I took an old hat,
all floppy and worn,
and placed my given name upon it…
Along the way,
I found two rings,
one much larger
than the other…
Inside those rings
were poets and writers…
Inside the smaller ring,
there were the great poets
and writers of history…
Inside the much larger ring,
were many others,
some great, some small,
but mostly unknown…
As I passed on by the smaller ring,
those inside looked upon me…
I stopped…
Wept…
For they whispered to me…
“Join us…”
Feeling quite unworthy,
I continued on to the larger ring.
Those inside welcomed me, by saying:
“Join us…
Write…”
I asked humbly:
“Where will this take me?”
All inside chimed in unison:
“Time will tell…”
Since I’ve been amongst the larger ring,
I’ve continued to write, experiment…
Sometimes, like a man possessed…
One day…
Out of the blue…
A poem presented itself to me…
The ink wasn’t even dry on the rough draft,
when I presented it to those within the ring…
The incredible reviews began to pour in…
The great poets,
bent an ear…
That poem entered “this month’s best”,
within 24 hours of it’s very birth.
I was ASTOUNDED…
Once again…
At this moment,
I gently take my old hat,
I hold it before me,
in the position
of honor, and humility,
as I stride towards
the very edge of the ring,
towards my exit…
I hang it upon a post,
and take up a new hat,
holding IT now,
before me…
One with my pen name
written upon it…
One under which I will continue to write,
from this very day…
Humbly…
I turn…
Bow…
And thank those within the larger ring,
for allowing me the time there…
I leave my old hat to remind me,
from whence I came…
I now begin a much more difficult journey,
one fraught with pitfalls,
and heartache…
Towards the much smaller ring…
Those within the smaller circle,
“the greats…”
begin to sit up
and take notice…
They say to me:
“Continue on your journey…
For you may join us,
one day…”
I say to them in return:
“I do not understand,
yet, I feel drawn towards you…
But am I truly worthy
of standing amongst you?
I don’t feel that I am…”
To this they say to me:
“Tread well along the path,
that is opening before you;
continue to pour your HEART,
into every WORD you write,
INSPIRE yourself,
maintain your humility,
and
most of all,
continue to WRITE…
For when you do…
One day…
Perhaps…”
Of this I say,
humbly:
“Am I truly worthy of joining you,
the greatest poets and writers of history?”
To this they all say to me,
in melodic unison…
“TIME WILL TELL…”
© Jonathan Wikkins October 16th, 2001
Revised March 7, 2008
All Rights Reserved
Author notes
Written October 16th, 2001
In a list
A contest entry
- Forever, Never, Maybe.... by Gone.
410 points, ended February 27, 11 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Sapphire's Saga by Sensual Sapphire.
3530 points, ended April 3, 11 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 14 of 14
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Lovely
A true vision of hope in inspiration...You should always have faith in your work if this is an example of your writing
The ONLY thing, which bugged me, was that before I had read 20 lines, I knew what the last line would be. And some people may like this, but I am personally, although a fan of repetition as enforcement of an idea, not a fan of the proverbial "last line"....if I know it's coming, it doesn't need to be read!
Thank you for your hope, great writing, and entry to this contest
James
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Yes, only time will tell.
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wonderful piece, fantastic story. it's defintely an inspiration to me, for i desire to have my writing published someday. blessed be.
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Love the new background for this one...and TIME has told us a lot over the past almost 2 years, has it not! I'm curious what it will tell us over the next two.
m -
Honey this is a very well pen poem I like what it had to say. I think that you said it very very well but I am sorry to say that I did not understand it thought so maybe one day you can explain it to me thank you for shareing it
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neutral
Thank you for sharing the events that led up to a much surprising one for you. I'm also glad to see after the loss of someone, how God has a way of replacing it with something prolific!!! I will love to read your work.
*giggles*...Had it been mine, I would have named it 'Old Hat'.
symbolic and paradoxical at the same time!
Bless you this very day!! CookieZeal/ -
So easy to see that the heart writes at times --- very nice!
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Whonrock my friend,
The fire in your desire has touched this poet, join us, you belong:)
Tommy -
thanks all, it's been an incredible ride, for a guy who's only been writing poetry, less than 4 months...
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great job. i'm glad you were able to discover this talent of yours and be able to share it with all of us. i've enjoyed reading your work. peotry is a great way to let everything out, and you do it well.
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a journey to yur inner soull..it's nice to see a poem about the discovery of inner talent.. excellent job..much applause
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Is this a good poem?
Time will tell. -
Isn't time amazing?...and how we seem to wake up and find ourselves in a totally different place from where we were headed??? You did well on this one.
m -
Deep!.. Very good. Time tells all.
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