The Spell that Binds Us

Eloquence never seemed so elegant
As the words he said, so benevolent
And effortless and sweet, to the point
I lost my tongue from tasting it- 
The words on my lips made them
Crease and pucker and possibly fall off
For being at a loss; the beauty of his
Makes my words seem weak,
Weak as my knees-

I swim in a sea of fantasies
Each night, tossing and turning
In the wake of waking in
His arms or thinking past
These fathomless phantoms
Of reckless Romanticism
That have left me flooded
And full of poetry and music
And possibilities and hopes
Such as I have not known
So fully for so long, so pure-

He whispered in my ear, and I swear
I think he cast a spell on me, to hear
Melodies new and inspiring, and share
New chapters and verses, songs that
Don’t need to be rehearsed, just felt
By the soul; yes, I believe his words
Have warded my heart, given me wings
To fly across mountains and rivers
And oceans of love, to arrive to his smile
And taste the fruitfulness of hope’s labor-

The spell that binds us is powerful
And with time, will bridge the distance.

Reviews

[sithlordjp]

This feels diffrent form your earlier entries, Really shows your talent and diversity as a writer. Words here are a bit more elusive, they require a bit more from the reader, I like that! I mean, it can go in one direction, and yet, it could go somewhere else. " With great lines like: "These fathomless phantoms / Of reckless Romanticism", all bets are off! You took of on a most intriguing journety with this one, thanks for sharing!

[Amanda Granger]

Thanks, JP! I feel like my poetic voice/style has a tendency to change pretty drastically depending on what's going on in my life. It's very seldom static. At the time, I was trying to capture the uncertainty and excitement that comes with falling head over heels for someone very quickly. You don't quite know what's going to happen, but you want to hope it's as beautiful as you think it is at the beginning (and lucky for me, it was). All bets certainly are off haha, well put. I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

[Lonesome Traveler]

The first two verses are particularly easy on the tongue, sliding along in a fluid, dynamic flow. And all while sustaining the use of polysyllabic utterances that I find are often more difficult to craft together coherently. Its certainly intriguing! At first I found the third verse somewhat put out by the preceeding two, but then you read it again and appreciate it's subtlety.
"songs that
Don’t need to be rehearsed, just felt
By the soul;" probably my favourite bit :)

[Amanda Granger]

You know, thinking back on when I wrote it (it's been a few months and I wrote it rather quickly), I really had intended for that third stanza to be different in tone and style then the other two, so that I could incorporate the "spell" motif that all of the magic from the first two introduces. I'm glad it works for you because I realize it may not flow so smoothly, but there is some really nice wordplay I put in there, like that one and "his words have warded my heart", etc. Overall, it was meant to sound a bit more self-aware than the other two, as if realizing I had been caught up in the spell of falling in love...but of course I didn't think all of that through while I wrote it hehe.

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the lovely review. :)

[Antonio Valentino]

oh my..

i was going to highlight the second verse, until i read the third one

what's impressive about this to me is that the theme here is nothing new, but the way you expressed it is

these very special feelings that one gives to another is as universal as it gets and even though its been written about 10 billion times.. this seems like the first

its not easy to combine the gracefulness of subtlety with crushing avidity of desire

i especially enjoyed the thread of water and fluid n your second verse:

sea of, fantasies
in the wake, of waking
fathomless phantoms
left me flooded

you have this in different symbols in the other three verses as well and dont think that goes unoticed by me for a second.. i just so appreciate that quality and effort

another creation of distinction and discipline here

a very appreciated achievment to be sure

[Amanda Granger]

Wow, Antonio! Thank you so much for the stellar review. I always loved to read what you have to say about me work. You put a huge smile on my face. :D I've been meaning to go return the favor, but I've been a bit flakey lately due to school and work and such. I'm looking forward to review you again asap though. I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Really, the words just came to me. There was no effort for originality--it was written from the heart--but I'm really glad it came out so well. :) It was fun to write.

[Amanda Granger]

*my work. Sorry, multitasking=silly grammatical errors. xD

[Antonio Valentino]

Im glad it made you smile Amanda, you really deserve to for this, oh and you didnt even try to write it so good it just came out that way, oh great thanks thats it im giviing up writing then haha.. oh and dont worry about my tired scribbles im not going anywhere no matter what anyone says lol. :)

[Amanda Granger]

Hahaha, well some things take more effort than others is what I meant. I had good inspiration for this so it flowed easier, but some of my other work took a lot more hairpulling and losing sleep. xP You better keep doing what you do! I enjoy your writing too much for you to quit! Haha. I appreciate the kind words and all your feedback. :)

[Antonio Valentino]

yes, 1 percent perspiration and 99 percent inspiration to be sure.. yeah in the beginning it would take me weeks, sometimes months to find the right way to structure particular rhyming schemes.. now i pretty much just ramble along and fling it against the barn.. sometimes i get lucky and one of them will actually stick..

thanks so much for all your kindness and support too Amanda, you're reviews are so helpful as well.. take care :)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i really like this...i do feel the first two stanzas were the strongest because of the word play..."in the wake of waking in" etc.

really liked that...the last two stanzas seemed more common in texture..

but a very strong first two stanzas really engrossed me.

jacob

[Amanda Granger]

Jacob, you've given me something to reconsider, which I love! Anything I can do to improve my poetry is welcomed, though looking back on it, even though it's not as aesthetically pleasing, the tone shift was intentional, as though realizing the change has been brought about by the "spell" more than being carried away by it as before. There's some wordplay, but I agree, it's a lot less melodious and graceful. It might also be that I was trying too hard to stick with the title/theme idea I had at the start and that affected the flow. Who knows? Seeing as I wrote this kinda quickly when I got hit with a wave of inspiration, I hadn't thought about that. I love being made to notice things about my poetry that I otherwise probably would have overlooked. A very interesting review, and as always, much appreciated. :)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

and as always, Amanda...you are the poet and the poem needs to read as you feel most comfortable with it.

[zainul]

Wonderful piece
Thanks to the spell that binds you for a happy life.