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.

7 April 2015

The Stars with You

To Bill

On a clear tropic night in summer,
from the deck of a trailer-sailor in the Gulf,
away from the lights of crowded cities,
we saw the sky crowded with stars of all sizes
and a small white satellite going over.

We were happy together, again, that summer.

It wasn't your fault that the stars never shone
so thick and bright again, and we lost sight
of that vast heaven. A seafaring man,
you were never meant to come to rest on land,
clumsily flapping about and struggling for breath.

The 6th prompt for 'Poems in April' at 'imaginary garden with real toads' is Seeing Stars

17 comments:

  1. the stars never shone
    so thick and bright again...

    This contains all the wealth and remorse of memory.

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  2. Oh, I love this, especially:
    "It wasn't your fault that the stars never shone
    so thick and bright again"

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  3. I love "the stars never shone so thick and bright again". So poignant. Such a wonderful description of a seafaring man on land "flapping about and struggling for breath".

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  4. Such beauty. Sorrow and joy and longing.

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  5. the surprise ending is so skilfully introduced, the sadness is over taken by brillance in craft

    thanks for dropping in to read mine

    much love...

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  6. Just a wonderful close--one feels the man is a bit like an albatross--or really some underwater creature--out of sorts--a little like one of those constellations one tries to see as a shape. Thanks--and thanks for your suggestion also re my poem. k.

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    1. I was thinking particularly of a landed fish. My late second husband, Bill, was an abalone diver so his seafaring was not only on boats but also underwater.

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    2. I was thinking consciously of how the inevitable retirement from that work before he was really old didn't suit him. (But it's not work you can do too long.) Just realised the unconscious was involved too - remembering that he died of a heart attack while crewing for another diver.

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  7. Ach! This broke my heart! Beautiful, tragic and wistful. Loved this. - Mosk

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    1. Oh, thank you! Don't take it amiss if I say I am so chuffed to have broken your heart with this! (For me it was a very long time ago.)

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  8. Oh wow...this ending surprised me and the view of stars in true dark stunning...great write, Rosemary.

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  9. Rosemary,
    This is quite a piece of work! Absolutely remarkable... beautifully executed.
    xoxo

    www.adashofsunny.com

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  10. You have me wanting to go back outside, Rosemary. To view the stars again. We live in a fairly dark area and the stars display quite nicely. What you told is how this land lubber feels.
    Now I wish I had told of my feelings. Mine tonight doesn't hold much interest, a bad decision.
    ..

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  11. "the stars never shone
    so thick and bright again" So melancholy and yet you shared a moment like no other before or after. What a gift. Beautiful

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  12. the sailor's wife's lament... ~

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  13. I like the pairing of bright stars at sea with the relationship. Lovely, Rosemary.

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