Places

I went to the mountains

With its floor of pine needles

And where the squirrels

Were doing their final pilfering of the season

The mountains never change

Except the fawn you saw is now grown

And a few generations of pine cones have passed

I went to the mountains

Without knowing why my steps

Should lead me to the small clearing

 

We always had “our places”

The long sloping hill beside the River Po

Where we laid claim to the space between the elms

The bench beside the Castello Fountain

Where we ate bruchetta toast and searched our pockets

For enough money to buy wine in a straw-covered bottle

Testimony to its appeal to the winos and the poor

And the clearing where the last flowers grew below the tree line

 

I go to these places as the mallard obeys its annual instinct

I am drawn as the salmon leaps upstream

It is the place indelible within my genes

And I search to see if something of you remains

Within the scent of elderberry and junipers

The frantic rush of the serpentine stream

Or in the quiet where I close my eyes in wonder

 

You said we could cut trees and build a cabin

We could hunt and fish and plant a garden

And no one would know or ever find us

And I should have listened to everything

I considered to be folly and childish ramblings

Because everything else was never meant for us

Except the places we deemed as our own

In a world where we did not belong

Reviews

[J. J. Nightingale]

Oh those tenacious salmon .. ..

I look back to places that we shared, and choices that I made

And it seems so much clearer now, what should, and could have been .. .. ?

You are so good David , you always speak MY mind ..

And I hear your heart ... Jazz xx

[DrD]

We share a message, J. Somehow I like that.

[David Scott]

I think I see more in this poem knowing a little about your past. None of us belong in this world. We create the "places" we need from the raw material of the places we have been. What a gift to share those created places with one we love.
I don't know for sure what you intended, but this poem spoke to the old voices in my soul.
Thank you for this creation!

[DrD]

Thank you, David, for your visit and your kind words

[victoria]

a most pleasing read, so vivid the memories and imagery, the third verse for me exquisite in the detail of the elemental draw of love and nature. Fine lines herein this beautifully crafted poem.

[DrD]

Thanks, Victoria, for your words and your visit

[luviva]

thios is just so good the immagery you created can easily be related to./... u r a great writter and what a great write!!!

[DrD]

Ah Luviva, you are so kind. Thank you very much for your visit.

[Anu Biswas]

The first space I visit on this site is your page each morning. You can never disappoint me. Your poetry has a dream-like quality that makes me sing inside.

[DrD]

What a nice compliment. Thank you so much, Anu.