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.

6 April 2012

Himself























He sits astride the cannon. He is five.
At that time, I was not even alive.
This is my favourite picture of him:
such a joyous child, with so much to give.

His head is high; the wide, delighted grin
is echoed more restrainedly by the man
and the older boy, father and brother
sitting smiling behind him on the gun.

Their heads lean towards him. He does not see
their protective attitudes; family
he remembers as undemonstrative,
and himself repressed, but here he looks free.

His eyes are crinkled behind the round specs.
There’s a pride in the way his head’s thrown back —
a little-boy smugness: he’s in the front,
his chubby bare legs stuck out straight as sticks.

Now he’s my husband. He is eighty-three,
and the laughing child is still there to see
with that same spontaneous joy in life
as he smiles at me ... as he smiles at me.





























April PAD Challenge #5: Something before your time.
Also submitted for dVerse FormForAll: Rubaiyat quatrains (mine using syllabics rather than metre).

12 comments:

  1. A wonderful tribute, Rosemary!

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  2. Oh, that is a marvelous, wonderful, joyous poem! I read it and it made me feel that this is what makes life worth living.

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  3. Thank you friends. Semaphore, you are right: it is! :)

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  4. that's such a sweet tribute to the man you love.

    he does have a cute smile.

     care for those age’d until the end

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  5. Wonderful smile (photos) and poem, Rosemary! I love the playful and loving feel in the poem itself too. Enjoyed reading this!

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  6. I love real love stories like this, God Bless yall
    http://leah-jamielynn.typepad.com

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  7. oh he still has that same boyish, adventurous sparkle in his eyes..this is lovely rosemary

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  8. big grins...i can only hope to one day have something of this calibre written of me...a lovely tribute...and he seems like quite the man, but then again you know that...smiles.

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  9. What a wonderful tribute to your hubby...I can see the smiles in his, and yours too ~

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  10. Lovely use of the form for a tribute and reflection

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  11. So glad you all liked the poem, and agree with me about his smile!

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  12. Well Rosemary he's still got that twinkle in his eye.I
    would still check the collars for lipstick smears:)
    Lovely poem.

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