Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Mountain, Plain


For One Single Impression

The mountain peak
dreams of love on grassy plains.
The acacia dreams of heaven.

A fading face
dreams of supple lines and lips.
The child seeks pain at seven.

17 comments:

Amias (ljm and liquidplastic) said...

I understood the first one, and was on my way to understanding the second one, when the last line stump me.

"the child seeks pain at seven"

To be honest I do not know what this mean, I know of no child who seeks pain. This is very elusive to me. Please enlighten me.

Thank you so much for dropping in and leaving a comment at my blog.

Tammie Lee said...

so many dreams
so much seeking
so often the way
lovely poem with a wonderful clear photo~
Spirithelpers

gabrielle said...

Mountain, Plain, The poem is beautiful, the last line unsettling the common longings. Elusive indeed!

WH said...

Amia, thanks for stopping by. Maybe the stanzas aren't parallel enough. B/c the theme was elusive, I was trying to show how our wants and desires are always at odds with where we are in life. The mountain and plains have different wants. In the same way, the adult wants to be young again, while the child wants to hurry up and grow up--which always entails pain he's not aware of. I guess it's kind of ultra-compact since I was going for a haiku feel. Thanks again for your comment :)

Tammie Lee, yes, that's the theme, the elsuiveness of seeking and the dichotomy between old and young.

Gabrielle, thank you so much!

Marja said...

Beautiful I loved the dream lines and got stuck on the last one as well Thanks for your explanation BTW my kids very much like where they are They probably never want to grow up.

Crafty Green Poet said...

very thought provoking, stunning photo too

Cassiopeia Rises said...

Billy, I like this one very much. So wistful and very elusive. The child wanting to be fully grown and the solidity of the mountain. Beautiful


love, Melanie

WH said...

Marja, kids should be happy with who they are--glad yours are having fun :)

Juliet, thank you as always.

Melanie, you are always too kind, but that's all right -:)

Amias (ljm and liquidplastic) said...

Now I get it ...

... I love reading others poem, but if I don't understand it, I don't pretend to. Thank you for directing me.

rebecca said...

Billy,

This was lovely. Your poetry always leaves me speechless because I find poetry so hard to write (good poetry is hard to write), and yet, you make it flow so effortlessly like silk sliding off the skin.

It was beautiful... "acacia dreams." Wow!

WH said...

Amias, thank you for your honesty and for visiting aqain. The feedback helps me know what works and what might need improvement. Please visit again, and I shall hop over to your blog asap when work subsides in the next day or so.

Rebecca, you and the others make my ego much too large LOL. Thanks !!!!

Lana Gramlich said...

Sad but true...

SandyCarlson said...

I liked this Billy. I could relate to wanting whatever is Other. And the idea of seeking pain young....How when we are older we seek pleasure and innocence. I think when youngsters hurry toward maturity, they have not idea what they seek. Little do they know the pain that awaits.

WH said...

Lana, my dad always said we're never satisfied with what we've got. Even today, I wish I could take the wisdom in my present body and put it in my 26 year old body.

Sandy--always seeking the other. That;s certainly what I was going for here. And I see my 21 year old son for the past few years in such a hurry to assume responsibilities that he will not want in another 5-10 years. Wordsworth knew this all too well in writing about nature, children, and innocense.

JP/deb said...

I love the duality of each stanza. Nice pairing with the image too!

WH said...

Thanks, deb!!! You're always so kind!

Raven said...

Nicely done. That second one makes me stop short, but I get what you are saying.