when You take the New Roads (go, Thee, with great care)

English Sonnet Doublet (while teaching KLGoode [Lyn Anderson] the Sonnet, it got me in the mood to write one)

when You take the New Roads

Upon that day You take the new roads there,
be ever mindful of the ways You choose;
remember, too, the ones You leave still care,
that all their hearts and souls ~ you'll never lose.

The road ahead may seem a brighter way,
the visions far … You feel a longing lure,
and everywhere You look … a bright, new day;
then, looking back you'll see naught but a blur.

A sort of wavy imagery that fades,
of faces you once knew that smile no more ...
where colours once, now grey and shadowed shades,
as memory becomes a closing door.

Yet, so much more (unknown) is calling now,
and all you've known seems useless now somehow.

We'll miss your tender love and gentle hand,

that always knew the touch and words to say,
Whenever’s needed your sweet, special brand
to warm cold dark and sweep the clouds away.

With You, be sure to take all that you'll need;
You know, those little things that were the best ...
like poems, love, and promises decreed,
each tender heartbeat made within our breasts.

Aye, heed the road ahead … its luring call;
and, tarry not lest roads ahead fade, too.
As all you leave here far behind grows small,
remember, Dear  ~ I'll always wait for You.

Tho, those new roads may take You far away,
you’ll always be my first breath ~ every day.

Richard W. Jenkins
©2016

Author's Note

Top painting: Watercolor, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Landscape oil painting: by Carl Milton-Jensen (1855-1928) Danish artist

Please, feel free to offer critique or comment on anything you feel will help better my skills! : )

Reviews

[Marianne Rose]

This poem fills me with emotional ambivalence, a warning within an invitation within a wistful imagining of doors closing and paths opening. I walk forward on the new path with you, looking back to see the fading memories, sad and grieving, then filled with expectation of something new, a roller coaster of emotions. Another warning to take everything I need fills me with anxiety- will I forget something important? More gentle fluttering of anxiety- will I be caught between the past and the future- if I do not hurry, the road ahead will fade just like the road behind did. The anxiety is hidden behind beautiful words, barely felt, but it is there, prodding me forward. Confusion- how can you wait for me as I travel far away, the road behind fading? Maybe it is in the heart you wait, beyond the path, beyond time and space. The last line is piercing to the heart- that she will always be your first breath, everyday. Such joy mingled with loss there. A beautiful poem, with all the paradoxical emotions love brings us. Thank you, Richard. I don't really feel qualified to critique the form, novice that I am. I can only say that there are places that old-fashioned words feel slightly out of place, because the whole of the poem does not read like a classical poem, like Shakespeare, but like a poem that is written in our current language. (Words like aye, naught, tarry not) But that's just my opinion based on how the words seemed to lessen the emotional impact for me. Beautiful work, my friend.

[Richard🖌]

Goodness, Marianne!
How I ever missed your amazingly beautiful and rewarding review for this piece I can't imagine, but I love it, everything you've expressed wraps me in your warmth, camaraderie, and relatable emotion, feelings, and enthralling thoughts, a masterpiece of poetry in itself.
The "olde fashioned" words you speak of are from the very breath of timeless poetry, Marianne, neither old or new, but from the very lexicon of life … without them, this work would lose a part of its soul.

Bless you with all the equal joy and happiness your enthralling review has gifted me, Dear Lady-Poet! ⁓ Richard

[kitty]

Into the great 'unknown' I dare to venture in oblivious to what lies there be it goodness or 'sin'. Ignore alarms and dare to have a go - throw caution to the wind! You only live once they say, so live it well, enjoy the ride and leave regrets for another day! Sincere are those to wait for you when experiences are spent for time to come you'll wonder where those years went!

[Richard🖌]

Hi, Dear Kitty! : )
Thank you ever-so warmly and gratefully for selecting this rambling little number to read and review.
I have enjoyed your personal take on this piece very much, and can easily see what insights you have of life life to its fullest.

Beautifully shared and warmly felt … happy hugs to you! ⁓ Richard ; )

[kitty]

Thank you for your appreciative comments on my humble view of life. The life I live is from the guided view of a wise and now sadly departed aunt. RIP Sylvia Leonie!

[Cherrie Palmer]

so much more is calling now... that could be a motto for life, and the secret each new road holds.
There is nothing more graceful than a sonnet and yours is a journey true.

[Richard🖌]

Ah, Cherrie,
It is a such a delightful pleasure to know you've come along on this touching journey through the imagery of my humble Sonnets.

My warmest, most grateful hug of thanks to thee, Dear Lady-Poet! ⁓ Richard : )

[lightsong]

I imagine the first sonnet specially, to be read from a father or a mother to their child, urging them to go their ways in life, but to know that their place inside their hearts and home will never change, whenever they might need or want, they can come back for warmth and care, with Your simple language, it even touches more powerfully, more tenderly... wisely, I see You here, the perfect father, the real caring friend, the loving generous lover... to be able letting go someone who might be very much a part of You, needs that heart of sheer generosity and beauty, a heart that is filled with light no tiny room of darkness... Yes, it's Your heart🌟

[Richard🖌]

Thank you, Dear Gh*
How wonderfully insightful your interpretations of both Sonnets are … I, especially, enjoyed your encouraging praise of the poems and expressed feelings of my own character and depths.

Warmest blessings of many thanks to You for painting that lovely rainbow in my sky! ⁓ Richard : )

[lightsong]

☁ 🌈 ☁

[lightsong]

to let go Your loved one goes her way, with a heart filled with gratitude and care, wishing her only happiness, never easy... and only someone very special, very unique can do it.

[Richard🖌]

Yes, so well we with this depth of emotional insight truly know … thank you for sharing your understanding, Dear Poetess, and that lovely rainbow that even dark clouds cannot block its beauty. : )

[‘Thoughts In Time..]

Beautiful words full of concern and best wishes- roads untraveled can be scary and challenging but also full of welcoming adventure- leaving unburnt bridges behind- life will treat you kind- but you are so right the other side is not always greener but unless we adventure out we shall always long for unknown grounds and our hearts remaining prisoners to self , lovely poem🌹

[Richard🖌]

Bore da, Kelly! ("good morning" in Welsh)
Thank you ever-so warmly and gratefully for selecting another of my little poems to read and so graciously and gracefully comment on.
Your compliments are truly encouraging to a bard's earnest efforts, and your expressed understanding and appreciation assure we've connected … these are my greatest rewards.

My most sincere thanks to you, Kelly! ⁓ Richard : )

[Dave]

What an expression of love! To be willing to encourage the one you love to travel new roads, to experience more of life than perhaps you could provide. Loving her enough to let her know that she is your first and last thought of the day. I'm reminded of the saying, "If you truly love someone or something, let it be free. If it comes back to you then it is truly yours.

Besides this I want to take the time to tell you that I am slowly, but surely, savoring your wonderful book.

Take care -Dave

[Richard🖌]

Ah, my good friend, Dave,
You are a true connoisseur in the enjoyment and appreciation of classical poetry, and I've thoroughly enjoyed your take on this rather deeply moving pair of Sonnets.
Anytime you're ready, I'd be thrilled to teach you the English Sonnet, if you're ever so minded. : )
How wonderful you're enjoying your/our book, Dave. : )
How pleased it would make me if you leave it a nice review at https://www.amazon.com/Behind-Smile-Exceptional-Poetic-Renderings/dp/1936442485/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517148083&sr=8-1&keywords=behind+the+smile+richard+w.+jenkins
The more reviews it receives the higher on the Recommended Reading list it climbs and the more readers it reaches.

Thank you, Dave, you're a true prince of a friend! ⁓ Richard : )

[Roland Petrov]

I'm poised to retire next year and travel again; my only worry is that the roads wait for me. Don't fade now! Another lovely one, Richard.

[Richard🖌]

Ahhh, my beautifully talented friend, Roland!
How wonderful is is to see you, to receive the good news of your impending retirement and plans to travel … no wonder this little piece caught your eye, eh? : )

Thank you for your gratifying praise, too … I'm thinking of all the great adventures for you to come, My Friend! ⁓ Richard : )

[Mary]

Richard, this beautiful sonnet brings me back the feelings I had when my first son went off to college. There's something about your sonnet, wistful, nostalgic, encouraging, caring, filled with love and hope for the traveler. Thank you for this!

[Richard🖌]

Oh, Mary,
Thank you ever-so warmly and gratefully.
Your shared sentiments have truy touched my heart.

Warmest hugs for your lovely, warming words of appreciation, understanding, and praise.
Happiest of blessings to you, Mary! ⁓ Richard : )

[Susan 🦋]

And you wonder why I am soooo drawn to the more structured form of poetry. I was hooked from the first Sonnet I read. Now, this. Oh my goodness!!! So, loving the English Sonnet!...I know ( because I know you)..everything as far as technique is spot on. Well, now..subject. Ah you touch on a good one! All those choices in life!...what's the saying? "You're free to make a choice, but not free from the consequences?" or something like that.But the twist in this little beauty...is that forgiving ( understanding) soul that accepts decisions ( perhaps not one they would themselves make) with grace..and chooses to acknowledge what was...and more forward..BUT yet a gentle little tug at the heart with "you'll always be my first breath...everyday". What more can I say?...ya, you did it again!.. ps. one typo 2nd sonnet V2L3 poems of love...I think I should get a A++++ ( on next poem) for even finding that!!!!!! just say'in :-P

[Richard🖌]

"AAA+" for your keen eye!
Thanks for having my back, Susan … you're a true gem. ; )
All sorted now.
Yes, the English Sonnet is certainly a beautiful form … one of my favorite, and it's the first form I learned as a 9-year-old kid … glad you like it, too.
So many wonderful forms to learn, enjoy, and be challenged by, the art of poetry is endlessly-varied and depthless. Free Verse is another wonderfully versatile forms that allows for infinite expression of feeling, emotion, thought, metaphor, flow, and all around poetical magick … every form has its equally valuable place in the universe of poetry.

Your expressed understanding and appreciation of this piece in homage to wanderlust tugs at my heart warmly, too … hugs to you! ⁓ Richard ; )

[Susan 🦋]

yes yes yes... i can read between the lines.. it sounds like this, " get working on that free verse".. right? lol

[Richard🖌]

Well, a teensy bit of that might have been in there, but not exactly all! ; )

[Susan 🦋]

teensy bit! ha.. ok :-)

[Cryingkate]

My first read of yours since I have returned. It points directly to my writing friends I have missed while away. I often feel the guilt when I'm away for seemingly abandoning you all. When i return the welcome arms are so wide welcoming me home though I have left you all with my silence... this write helps make some Peace within my guilt knowing that friend's Love is still always alive and welcoming us back as we travel on life's road. Thank You for writing this Richard it is a Good thing :-)

[Richard🖌]

I missed you immensely, Kate!
How marvelous to see you're back and haven't lost a smidgen of charm along the way … you still know how to make me warmly blush with the depth you share in a myriad of sensations and feelings.

Big, happy hugs of thanks,and in welcoming you home … warmest smiles! ⁓ Richard

[Cryingkate]

Your words bring a smile every time> Thank You sweet Richard. Your Chivalry is unending/ Sir Richard

[tanmay7551]

Tho, those new roads may take You far away,
you’ll always be my first breath ~ every day.

Touching lines! At first wanted to share this one with my collegue whose last day in our organization is approaching.. :) But now I know with whom to share!

Thanks.

[Richard🖌]

With my most ardent gratitude, Tanmay, I thank you most sincerely for selecting one of my humble Sonnets to read and comment on.
Here's hoping your use of it suited your choice in recipient well.

You are most welcome … happy blessings! ⁓ Richard