Knowing the Road and Taking it

My satisfaction comes not from blanket-warm tranquility --

I hunt for deeper oceans, as fingertips walking a globe

and tracing the static shapes of might-have-been, stuck

in the cross-hatched network of latitudes and longitudes.

 

I should be content with it: the view from this window,

the garden beyond in mid-growth, the sage hills

that roll toward a blue expanse of angel’s tears. 

 

                        because you have the life, my dear,

                        so many voices mouthing the words,

                        what more could you possibly want for?

 

A backpack and a road map -- perhaps -- a way out --

the courage to see beyond these walls and know

the texture of European masonry, the taste of neon

filtered through dilated pupils on the arteries of Shanghai,

and the crayon bright swatches of Holland’s tulip fields,

where flowers are more than decoration for dirt mounds.

 

I ache to be unburdened, long for wandering contemplation --

my ivory tree will bloom again, but overzealous pruning

has left it in a state of temporary stasis -- it needs time to breathe. 

 

                        but you are rooted to this place --

                        and it will always be the home where

                        my shoes are most comfortably kicked off,

                        but my soles need to be worn a little first. 

Reviews

[Dana Alsamsam]

" because you have the life, my dear,
so many voices mouthing the words,
what more could you possibly want for?

A backpack and a road map -- perhaps -- a way out"

so often the happiness or satisfaction of a person is judged immediately by their assets. just because someone lives in a happy functional home with enough money doesn't necessarily mean that they're satisfied. this piece showed a deep desire to just travel and be free and feel the love of the earth!

traveling is one of the things i value most in my life so this piece rung very true to me. i also love how at the end you come back to appreciating the home and how that will always be comfort. the feeling of sleeping in your own bed after a long journey is always a lovely one. great work!

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you so much, Dana...you know how much I value your thoughts.

[Hana Saemon]

I ache to be unburdened, long for wandering contemplation --
my ivory tree will bloom again, but overzealous pruning
has left it in a state of temporary stasis -- it needs time to breathe.

but you are rooted to this place --
and it will always be the home where
my shoes are most comfortably kicked off,
but my soles need to be worn a little first.

this totally touch based. I left my home town cause i have been in "temporary stasis", and travelled miles away from "comfort zone" and ive never been happier. having said that, my home town will still be home. the place where my heart is, "but my soles need to be worn a little first".

great write!

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

I'm so glad you could relate to this one, and more than some of the other amazingly kind reviewers, it seems as though you've seen into the heart of this one. I really appreciate your words and comments.

[kublakhan27]

The grass is always greener on the other side it would seem, especially the other side of the world, which I long to see someday, though not banking on it any time soon haha I always wonder what I would write if I did make it to some of the places I long to visit...would it change my voice or the way that I write? Would I sound differently? Happier even? You never cease to make me reflect with your words my friend...you have this way of just taking me to these places in the way you evoke them.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you, my friend...once again you have expressed what is running on a loop in my head--all of your questions are my own questions. Sometimes you just feel the need to run away, you know?

[kublakhan27]

The need seems to come to me in 3-D these days my friend...I grew a year older last month, and not an inch closer to any of the utopias that crowd my head...dystopia feels so much more real, and consequently, easier to articulate...

[Clara]

What a delightful poem.

I enjoyed every line, and wished that I too, could run away to taste adventure with the freedom to live without a care in the world.

Well penned, my friend.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you so very much!

[Electric Scribe]

This is beautiful thanks for sharing. My heart and mind also wonder outside these doors, into the mysteries of the world. Longing to see what I haven't and craving the companionship of those faces yet not met. I long for it, my soul is envious of those whom have it. Yet one day I would finally like to find a place that I call home.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you so much...I'm glad you could relate to this one!

[Aethereal]

Your poem seems to have been inspired by Robert Frost's poem " The Road Not Taken". You wish to leave your ivory tower for a while to take "the road not taken", and that makes "all the difference". Your ivory tree road shall recover from the pounding of your footsteps. Robert Frost would have enjoyed your poem too.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you my friend...I hadn't even thought of Frost before writing this one, but now I can see the relation. I loved that poem in high school. Thank you so much for the compliment.

[Aethereal]

Your subconscious mind was a work when you wrote this poem. Your subconscious mind never forgets what impresses it. It reaches back to high school; it reaches deep into childhood; it has grasping tentacles. It tells you who you really are poem by poem. It tells me who you really are in the same way. Poetry is a journey of self-discovery.

[MsJewel]

I can relate to the feeling of wanting to see new things, experience new adventures..though home is home and loved. I love the line 'my ivory tree will bloom again....it needs time to breathe". Yes take that time to breathe...

Your poetry is lovely and always a delight to read. :) Julie

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you so much, Jewel!

[Frieda P]

Seems I've taken quite a few wrong turns but your poetry is always right on track. Love your reflections in this one...

I ache to be unburdened, long for wandering contemplation --
my ivory tree will bloom again, but overzealous pruning
has left it in a state of temporary stasis -- it needs time to breathe.

Breathe, yes....love this safe place to fall Friday!

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you so much, dear Frieda! Your words always make me smile.

[Frieda P]

As does reading you Friday...my pleasure always.

[Tom]

What an impressive, imaginatively expressed poem! The human desire to wander and explore new lands is entrenched in all of us and goes back to the very dawn of civilization when our ancestors first left the security of the camp fire to breach the sometimes dangerous divide of foreign unknown planes.

A yearning that still hankers in mankind today and you so exquisitely describe this desire in your splendid poem ! Kudos to you fine lady !

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

THank you so very much, Tom!

[Tom]

You are welcome !

[DJ]

Fingertips walking the globe, the desire to see the world, to travel, to taste, to experience and see other cultures, other backdrops that awaken all the senses. Knowing that you have a place in the world where you call home, but perhaps your soul needs to be worn first? Beautiful write dear friend, so much beautiful imagery, so many ways to interpret it. What I got was the desire to travel and experience something beyond the familiar, regardless of people thinking you have the life and want for no more. A traveler never feels satisfied until their soul has been worn. But I could be completely wrong, a great write.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you so very much...you are very perceptive in your interpretation :)

[DJ]

you're welcome :)