The Way Love Moves

The simple beauties move our hearts to love, despite there distance.

The Way Love Moves

By

Carlos Lorenzo Estrada 

(Nature within Love)

A leaf blows ever lonely in the comfort of a wind

Inspires deep reflection within us to comprehend 

It dances quite majestically through unseen gentle hand

Guided by the force of nature before it falls to land 

A drop of rain reverberates through a puddle of a pond

Expands slowly in all directions before fading till it's gone

Yet its beauty often resonates in brevity of its life

It shimmers almost endlessly before it fades from sight 

A rainbow often paints the sky in hues of multitude 

in vast array of colors which fascinate in graceful view

But in its distant sculpted shape we often yearn to see

The ways of love that move us most are furthest; far, away...

Author's Note

A few days back I happened to spot a squirrel clutching a dried brown heart shaped leaf in its tiny hands and eating away on its edges. It was one of the most perfect beautiful moments I have ever seen. In a distance from me. And I knew if I tried to reach out and touch it I would ruin that moment of perfection. So I just stood there and watched feeling blessed to be a part of that shared moment in life. CLE

Reviews

[W. Barrett Munn]

As I have often expressed I dislike end rhyme and structure unless masterfully done—and I always like your work, CLE.
You most always create rhyme within syntax that is natural sounding and therefore like a cherry or whipped cream on a piece of cake.

Winston

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you kindly Winston. As a fan of your work it means a lot. I've only really started writing poetry since I became an active member here at the Cafe. Almost all my past writing was in short story genre. I just felt more comfortable writing tales of morality and deeply wise messages. This website made me evolve as a writer. Try something new and out of my comfort zone. To be perfectly honest I never thought much about poetry or its significance in the writing genre. But as I read the many artists here in this community I became inspired and wanted to try something that still is unfamiliar to me as a creative. I feel I gravitate to ryhme because of it beauty and challenge in both message and conceptual idea. I'm slowly learning the many other forms of poetry in my evolution as a poet. Even at 57 I'm never too old to learn something new, and profoundly beautiful as this art form is to me. In some ways I still have my training wheels on as I navigate these long prodigious roads in creativity and artistry. These past couple of years have been a journey for me as I work on my voice and aspirations as a poet. As I continue to challenge myself I am hopeful to touch upon other forms of poetry. I used to think I endeavored to write the perfect poem, but as I'm evolving in my art I am sensing I want to write the perfect me. Thank you my friend for sharing your thoughts with me. They help me grow as a poet.

[W. Barrett Munn]

We have much-like a ton-in common.
I only turned back to writing not all that long ago and turned also from prose to poetry.

Winston

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Hearing you reveal this means a lot to me, Winston. There are times I feel unsure about the quality of my work because of my learning process into poetry writing. I've always been effusive and descriptive in my prose and thought poetry would constrict and restrict that aspect of my ability in writing. Instead I'm learning a new type of freedom. One I did not think possible at my age. But I value it so very much because it's giving me more expressive freedom and enlightenment both in mind and heart. To know that I'm not alone on that path and that my peers whose art I admire travel similar roads helps me press ever forward. Thank you my friend for your kind words. I truly appreciate it. CLE

[William Michael Reeves]

The drop of rain is never gone. It changes and moves just as you've written. Eventually becoming part of a rainbow. The leaf nourishes. Sometimes by decay. Sometimes directly as a snack. I didn't know squirrels ate leaves much. I can see why that caught your eye. Then the joy of seeing such a simple pleasure must have caught your heart. I might have to try a leaf, sounds like it would be crunchy and nutritious.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me on this poem. It was a moment of brevity. One that we including myself often take for granted. It inspires us to view the world greater than ourselves. We play a small yet sufficient part in nature. Many animals in this world can love, yet very few understand its meaning and can change from it. I feel that if we were just more intuned with these mesmerizing moments around us we would be a better species for it. That we would love each other more than we could ever hate.

[Shelley Warner]

I like the scenes that you paint, the leaf blowing here and there before settling on the ground, the rain drop landing in the water, and the squirrel (in your author's note) munching on the heart shaped leaf.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you kindly Shelley for your thoughts. I wrote this a while back during a rainy day. I was remembering that little squirrel eating away at his leaf without a care in the world that I was watching. Like I was nothing more to him than just a breeze or branch. A small part of nature watching him in this briefest moment of time.

[Shelley Warner]

Such a special moment in nature.

[Relic]

This should win an award. (like many of your poems). So free flowing and drenced in meaning,

Excellent poetry.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

You are too kind Relic, and I so appreciate your encouraging words. To me comments like yours are worth more than any amount of money or award can ever bring to me. Because what means the most to me is that someone took the time to read my work and found appreciation in its meaning and message. Thank you so much again for your words.

[Lawryie Mh-Lk]

I love your text. While reading I can see the images just like on a screen and it is so beautifully written and expressed!

I hope can write as well as you do. 🙂

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Believe me you do and can write much better than I. Never doubt in the art you have within you. And the profound and aspirational need to express it. Just like walking taking one step at a time the same is for the journey of writing. It takes one word at a time and a brave heart to say them. Especially when one feels not one is listening. We keep on writing. Until we find that one heart we change with our words. So keep on writing, expressing yourself, and evolving in your journey as a writer. CLE

[Stella Armour]

such beautiful, fleeting images are the ones that touch us deep inside our souls ..... something that no amount of wishing or money could buy...

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

I agree wholeheartedly with your thoughts Stella. I feel perhaps they resonate with us so much is because in essence they reflect the brevity of life itself. There are only so many of these moments that will capture our individual attention. Only so many breaths of life we will breathe. Only so many sunsets we will be graced to view. And only so many precious few moments we will have...to love. CLE

[Stella Armour]

we are the lucky ones who recognize these precious moments Carlos ..... many never see these little miracles all around them

[andrew mitchell]

Nicely done Carlos, a dedicated artist you are.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Andrew for your kind comment on this piece. I wasn't sure when I submitted it to the Cafe if it would resonate with anyone. Its ending seemed a bit pessimistic in that love is forever elusive to us. Though near our reach it can't to held for long or even at all. Yet its memory remains indelible and ours in an intimate way. It was my hope and perhaps hubris to capture that essence. CLE

[Joanne Hanscome]

I can visualize the sky and beautiful color. Enjoyed reading this. Keep writing.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Joanne for you kind comment on this poem. For the.most part I tend to write with the idea of painting visually in words so that the reader can be in that moment being described. I try to find something that resonates with them, like a memory perhaps in life. One that we call upon that brings a smile and good feeling in our hearts. And once I accomplish that I sneak in a message or theme that stays with the reader or makes them think about something more than what they are actually reading. But in the end what matters the most to me is whatever the audience takes from the words and meaning they find in it. If it makes them smile then that is more than enough for me. Thank you so much again for sharing your thoughts with me on this poem.

[Joanne Hanscome]

My pleasure. Have you ever written a book with you work?

[Joanne Hanscome]

Writing is a great structure to the heart. It gets meaning and feelings out to share with the world. I enjoy writing and reading other people's work.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

I have not, and in a lot of ways I don't feel my words really have that kind of value. Perhaps it's just a lack of ambition in my part. To me no amount of money can equal the value of a kind comment or thoughtful review from a reader who has found value and resonance in the words. Many of the messages I have written hidden in my poetry and short stories were given to me by the wisdom of my grandmother or others who I valued in life. Those lessons learned from them I can't put a price on, because they have made me the person and writer that I am. And if I can bring a little joy or a small bit of change in a person's heart then that to me is worth everything in the world. I guess I'm just too damn old and can't put a price on love. Because that is where most of these words come from, all those that have loved me and shared their wisdom and hope with me. It's not mine to charge for, but to give to others who may need it more than I do now. CLE

[Ken Simm.]

Very visual. So that is one reason I like it. Very natural so reason two and now why don't I give up on reasons and just say I think this is a perfectly beautiful write.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Ken for your kind thoughts on this poem. I have always found love so elusive, because it is constantly changing. It changes me as much as I change it. And yet life itself is filled with these moments of change. We just don't see it while in the moment, and once we do it slips from our grasps and moves. When I wrote this I didn't know where this poem was going or to what purpose it intended. But its subtle message does speak to the brevity of love and its fleeting moments in our lives. Thank you kindly again my friend.

[Sami Khalil]

"A rainbow often paints the sky in hues of multitude
in vast array of colors which fascinate in graceful view"

[Sami Khalil]

"Yet its beauty often resonates in brevity of its life
It shimmers almost endlessly before it fades from sight "

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Love to me personally has always seemed a distance. Even when it is close enough to touch it feels elusive. Because love does not stand still for us. It moves of its own accord. It changes us as much as we change it. Time is filled with these moments of change. Thank you my friend.

[Sami Khalil]

Wow! You are welcome sir. Whatever works for you.