catching up

there’s something about the way

I can’t quite match my stride to yours,

 

it’s not that my legs aren’t long enough,

it’s not that I don’t want our steps to match

 

I reach and reach

 

but I can never quite

keep up

  

do you reckon my Robert Frost

was ever a match for your Plato?

or my Dickinson

to your Cicero?

 

the stars shine in your smile

and if I find myself a little behind

sometimes

I hope you’ll take me by the hand

and pull me close.

Reviews

[eleonora grey]

This gives a sense of having someone on a very high pedestal, and loving that person so much that you feel too blessed to have them, as if they'll disappear at any moment. Lovely. I like the beginning lines, and the ending ones- they showcase that feeling of not quite believing that you could be so lucky, without saying it.

[mick weller]

Strides - stri... striving, something terribly sad about this, but that smile is clearly worth it...

[OT]

ah a sigh write for sure - trying to keep up, hoping someone will pull us forward if we trail behind! another wonderful write from you pen!

[Phibby Venable]

your poetry always far surpasses the tiny steps you start out to take.
very beautiful.

[Buddhistboy73]

beautiful write.....you take the reader on a journey here, and that is what all good poetry is about for me......the last stanza is really enjoyable....I feel it...:)

[StephanieElizabeth]

Whilst other reviews seem to be picking up more so on the references to notable folks in this poem, I am more attracted to the two opening two lines. "There's something about the way / I can't quite match my stride to yours," It is both elusive and allusive. Of course, the reader wonders of the owners of these strides, and indeed, whether there is any meaning beyond the literal walking step-in-step between two people. It reminds me of something I wrote before: "I miss us when we were small; / When our fingers hanged unbitten / from our hands, / from our arms at our sides, / and stroked each-other's with each stride." I guess I am curious about the natures of our walks, and whether there is anything to be revealed in our gaits. Your poem only reinforces this seed of an idea within my mind, for what if the root of love is in the soles of our feet? What if our strides dictate our romantic fate? A captivating notion.

[Greg Skura]

Emily your words are so full of the yearning of the soul to love and be loved!
I am in awe!

[Sweet_pale_cacophony]

I always see a palpable vulnerability in your words..you are not afraid to bare your soul through your words and that is why i love them so..The last four lines took my heart away.

[Markymark]

I wonder who the other writer is? We all have someone to whome we are in awe, to whom words seem to flow from without even a slight effort. They may find something in our footsteps too. Each has his gift of words.

Mark

[Narnie]

Maybe some have curving paths and others have straight lines, but as long as they meet at the crossroads every now and again, they will always be able to greet eachother with a level footing.