I ... entered the poem of life, whose purpose is ... simply to witness the beauties of the world, to discover the many forms that love can take. (Barabara Blackman in 'Glass After Glass')

These poems are works in progress and may be updated without notice. Nevertheless copyright applies to all writings here and all photos (which are either my own or used with permission). Thank you for your comments. I read and appreciate them all, and reply here to specific points that seem to need it — or as I have the leisure. Otherwise I reciprocate by reading and commenting on your blog posts as much as possible.

11 April 2011

A Letter to My Favourite Internet Friend

Well, dear Sir or Madam
I wish you’d tell me who you are!
I mean, we have an assumption
that there’s only one of you.

Let’s narrow it down.
First we’ll exclude all those
I know or have known
in what we call ‘real life’.

Then — favourite for what reason?
The one whose art I love?
(A dozen or more of them.)
The brilliant poet? (Ditto.)

There are witches, photographers,
teenagers, grandparents,
some open-minded Christians
and at least one priest.

I love a certain schoolgirl
for her courage and free thinking,
a gay witch for his honesty
and acerbic tongue / keyboard.

There’s the man who takes his dogs
to the early morning beach,
the one who captures the faces of cities,
and the fellow who draws.

The magician who loves cats,
the woman who’s my secret twin,
the film-maker, the widow, the pirate,
and all the story-tellers who delight.

And there’s you, both of you,
dear haikuists: one the image
of a real-life friend, the other
with a sister who lives not far from me.

I think you might be — both —
my very favourite never-met friends.
I think your art has made you Zen;
you give me peacefulness.

Our souls brush lightly as feathers.
I like your love and laughter.
I know you can be wicked,
I know your hearts are pure.


Letter Challenge Day 8 - Your favorite internet friend

Submitted 11 October 2013 for dVerse prompt: To friends (in honour of a fine online friend and fine poet, Dave King, who recently passed).

18 comments:

  1. poetbear@cox.net11 April 2011 at 21:03

    VERY nicely open-ended!~paul

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  2. Too difficult to choose one--they all sound interesting. Nicely done.

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  3. smiles....we get just a glimpse of them through their words...i think over time too we realize while we are special, we are not that much different...interesting too the facets we accept of each....

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  4. I think your poem speaks to the differences among people we find in the blogosphere / internet at large & the connections we can forge with them for different reasons. So many people, so many interests, so many possible friends!

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  5. Our souls brush lightly as feathers.

    That brings Dave to mind. He was a very good and kind internet friend...

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  6. A loving catalog of relationships. I'm a firm believer that internet friends are some of the best they are, and know you better than many so-called 'real-life' friends. Enjoyed this much.

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  7. Oh! Yes, the process, the hints, those are the friends ... and your last two stanzas are brilliant. Tears of joy for your poem and you.

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  8. A beautiful depiction of how close we become through our Internet linking groups.

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  9. I love "our souls brush lightly as feathers" it's a bit like that on the internet and sometimes in real life...it's a beautiful thought!

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  10. Very well said Rosemary. Reading you after a very long time. :)

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  11. Very nice.. friends are all kinds

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  12. it's so awesome how we connect across big distances and how much we inspire and learn from each other in this online world...

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  13. Rosemary, I so love this glimpse of your rich assortment of friends. I LOVE "our souls brush lightly as feathers". They do - yet what an impact each feathery touch has, in the end.

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  14. This rang very true for me. Isn't it amazing how we connect to online friends in such a deep way. I believe it's that we share a passion for art and we divulge our deepest emotions and thoughts.

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  15. Of course, all of you are in this poem - you brilliant poets!

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  16. This is a lovely insight into your online friends Rosemary.

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