Hello, words,
I've searched all over for you,
down rabbit's hole
among the twisted roots,
and
chasing the wind,
tangled with flashing leaves,
how easy it was to find
nestled in this old oak,
within the sacred grove,
where Winter's wriggling
his cold toes.
I've seen you all
before
and could call you all by name,
were it not for that old squirrel
hoarding you away,
I'd take you all
and say "nothing"
... but I'm not so bold,
I'll just take the ones I'll need
and make a path through the leaves
Author notes
Written November 19th, 2004
In a list
What did you think
Comments
1 - 23 of 23
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Geez! That's where they've been hiding?!! No wonder I couldn't find any lately. Hope you left a few for me.
I really enjoyed the playfulness of this piece. Such a departure from the last poem of yours that I read. Shows your versatility. Very nicely done. 
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I love the way you can write about words like a friend, and old lover, or even like a shadowy enemy. You have a true talent.
Write on. ~~SpydurPoet~~
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I liked this. . .Very good. Thanks for sharing! Keep writing and I'll keep an eye out for you on the site! Good luck in the contest (not that you NEED it) :-P
Love,
Amelia
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Their is a fantastic flow in this poem, and I also like your use of imagery in it
Good luck in the contest, and keep up your way of writing!
Leander -
I love your Buda thought......well done
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I like everything but the title... Awesome write. Smiles.
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I think this is probably my favorite poem of yours, for the moment anyways, and I think that's because it's like a trip to 100 Acre Wood. It's got rabbit holes and squirrels and leaves, an old oak. And words.
And it has an sweetness about it, speaking to the words, knowing them by name, wanting to take them all but not being so bold, only taking the ones you need.
(Needs a new title, perhaps "down the rabbit's hole" or "words")
It's sorta like looking at the world or at poetry through the eyes of a child. It's peaceful and safe and fun and there is no war. No one is dying or suffering and no one is bleeding, not even the words.
Edited on Nov 29, 11:24 p.m. because ''. -
Lovely
I enjoyed the personal connection created in this poem. I know very little about Buddha or zen or yin or yang, but to be as one with nature and the written word has to be a gift from somewhere, so whats to say its not from Buddha.... Good luck in the contest
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charming and enchanting poem, Lute. I love the personifications and the simplicity of this poem, and yet beneath the surface is another layer of meaning. or so it seems to me. the search for words when expressing something is much like the buddhist who searches for the answer to suffering, which comes only when desire ceases and enlightenment is embraced.
Like the simplicity of the cover of the Beatles' white album, on the surface this poem hides the deeper meanings. it takes a true word artist to do this.
what cvillelisa said: this is very white. and yes, buda is a place of zen.
thank you for lifting the quality of poems in my contest to a higher level.
~travis
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I like the word Hello and I like little words best because really they are just the ones what peoplethings need and they are just the one what you used so I like it and I like thinking that Mr Winter has cold toes more than anything I can think of at the moment. But I thinked it needs another little word before through in the last bit, just one word like "straight" or "right" inbetween "path" and "through" would be lovely and a bit more comfy but maybe I just read wrongly.
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without words
your poem reminded of this quote i'm using in my thesis, "Without a name, we have difficulty discussing our experience" (McHugh, Maureen C.).... great job and good luck in the contest... keep on writing... keep on being... keep on making art... penumbrapoet -
Very very nice.. I often search for words only to find that so many rest within reach, yet from those fields only a few are needed to say what needs to be said. Each flowers when the bloom requires it...
Good luck..
~~Lisa -
This is very white.
Well, my mind (and Bohb just called me Loopy so I grow more aware of my reputation around here each day), connects Budda to Buddha via your "nothing." Vast Emptiness.
I suppose there are lots of times I wish I was bold enough to say nothing. But then again sometimes I think even what I say when I'm saying it, upon further review, is Nothing. Sigh.
Yay for Lute he entered the contest.
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Nice!
I like the personal relationship the I-person has with the words:
"I've seen you all
before
and could call you all by name"
The poem has a charming, quiet seasonal and rural feel to it.
Cheers!
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Very good imagery with this work. I enjoyed reading this and I now know where all those words go when I can't think of them.
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I also thought this might have some relation to the buddha somehow, but I certainly was not disappointed! Maybe the buddha was contemplating enlightenment somewhere under that oak tree and we just didn't notice! LOL! Anyway, fun poem...loved the imagery. Great job!
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hello words... What would you name a word? If a word is a name for a meaning or for a thing... how do you know the name to call a word? Perhaps they resent this and decide not to answer.
~Scarlet -
"where Winter's wriggling / his cold toes." I like that part ... definitely an original phrase. Great use of analogy, also very original. I find it interesting that you chose to break it up into stanzas as opposed to having it be one long section. Good luck in the contest!
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not entirely sure what this is about, but some of the phraseologies are interesting.
by the title of the contest, i rather expected a buddhist-type poem. if this is such a poem, i'm unable to grasp it (which is alright, since i'm unenlightened anyway). -
okie
opps ... I thought this was a contest. I must have gotten confused by th name then. Did the pem start at "I want a slice of life" or "hello, words" ... ? I am unsure. -
Yay for Lute. I always love reading your work. It's like flooding my poor tired brain with refreshing imagery. It's like lemonade, only better, because it makes you think. This poem makes me think you have beautiful eyes, because, you see such wonderful things. We all know you have beautiful talent.
Thank you so much for sharing, keep up the good work.
-Jes -
ah...so the old squirrel is actually ed, no wonder he posts so many poems, and all of them mostly good.
bit confusled by the open quotes (')
I'm trying to figure out why I feel transported by this poem, and I can't, but I do. Woods and fall and seeking inspiration. This is vivid writing; I know that wriggling.
yeah, if we had all the words....
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and the crunching of your scurry echoes...
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