poem: Note 1 penned for a friend in the rain today: reserved

 My friend:

    You ask for a note to fill the space.

        Please forgive my initial hesitation;

      it's that I come from a long line

             of reserved women.

   We may not be Jewish, but

       we also hold grudges on shirtsleeves

             and love in locked boxes,

   thinking a lot more then we say-

 New England serenity, to its logical fault.

 

I can tell you this:

    my own quietness, with you...

       is a prayer of inhalation-

 for I do recognize the incredible value

        of the gift

     laid at my feet by your hands.

 

Consider, I am quietly absorbing

    impact and weighing options carefully

        maybe not seeing yet

       what I have to wrap, or anything

     to wrap it in, for giving back.

       These things are important

           to me, too. And then Doubt

         raises her snarky voice, says,

 you tried this once before,

   do you want to appear the fool yet again

     in front of everyone?

 

Even as advocates are telling me

    pick it up, do not be afraid, open it...

   see if it fits, I say, from here,

       it does appear exactly my size and style

 but that I would need your hands

           to set it gently about my shoulders

      and fit it to my body with a caress

    before three generations of reservation

  will wear off completely.

 

Be patient with me, and I will

  fill blank pages with scrawled notes

     for you, too.

 

for G.

 

 

 

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

this is amazing...the way you present this...the slow dissolving of reservations...the giving in and giving to that doesn't come easily...

so well expressed...the last stanza is such a clincher...the analogy of giving the notes, meaning giving of self.

beautiful poem , marie!

[Marie Anzalone]

Thank you again, jacob, for your wonderful support and reviews. You perfectly reflect the essence of what I was trying to capture in this review. A slow unfolding, and slow letting in, a slow wearing down. Thank you so much for that.

[Holly Mason]

this is the most beautiful thing I have ( yes) ever read...
sorry to have called it a thing...
WOW
thank you for sharing

[Marie Anzalone]

Thank you, Holly. I am glad that my work reached you in this way. When I write for people who are special in my life, I try to reach inside and pull out the right words. I so often miss my mark... it is truly to hear that sometimes, I do not. Your time for reading and reviewing means a lot to me.

[Georgia Gypsy]

Lovely.
Perfect pictures of complicated feelings.

GG

[Marie Anzalone]

When have feelings, especially those for other artists, ever been Uncomplicated? Show me, and I will eat my boots. :-)

Thanks for the review, dear friend. And thank you more for the friendship and understanding. Means so much to me.

[Emily B]

i love this, feel a little like a peeping tom, i'll just sneak out quietly now :)

[Marie Anzalone]

I would say the caring eyes of a genuine friend are always welcome to peek in some windows- and would not be an intrusion.

[Emily B]

love to you both!

[Marie Anzalone]

back atcha'