| PASSING THE SALT
Posted: 8/25/2006 4:48:26 AM | The thing is, we've none of us found the stranger yet,
with whom to open the perfect conversation.
Faces we take to be unknown, glide
into sly familiarity, the warmth of once particular skin,
phrases that appeal to us now
because they did then.
There are things we still haven't said.
That we are frightened sometimes,
though there's no reason for it--because
there's no reason for it. And,
in a certain tone of voice, "I love you."
It takes everything to say "I love you"
in just that way, as if it were nothing
--'Please pass the salt,'
or a belch in easy company.
Again and again, behind some face
that pretends to be new to us
there lies hidden that other
to which we answered dutifully once,
"I love you,
too." The face of an aunt who died young
of self-pity or an uncle
who rested his hand on your shoulder
and left it damp to the bone.
Or a lover, known, who became unknown.
But still we believe in him or in her
and whisper, "Come. Feel free. Speak,"
in voices that haven't yet grown familiar even to us.
We believe in the stranger's inarticulateness
as we believe in our own.
Which of us has learned already to speak?
J. Newman Sudden Proclamations copyright 1992 | |
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om
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Joined: 5/28/2006
Msg: 2 | |
| PASSING THE SALT
Posted: 8/25/2006 6:58:25 AM | | Just Loved it! Man, I'll be watching out for more of yours! *Bows | |
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| PASSING THE SALT
Posted: 8/25/2006 7:37:15 AM | Thank you so much, Dude. It's a poem that means a lot to me and I'm always grateful when any one of mine touches somebody else.
Jer | |
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| PASSING THE SALT
Posted: 8/26/2006 8:25:16 AM | There is a fine flow to your words, Alyosha .... Hope we see more of you around here.
breathing... | |
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| PASSING THE SALT
Posted: 8/26/2006 8:44:47 AM | in a certain tone of voice, "I love you." It takes everything to say "I love you" in just that way, as if it were nothing
"who has yet learned to speak"
Your poetry is delicious.
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| Thank you Drea and Breathing
Posted: 8/26/2006 3:30:49 PM | and here's another one I hope you'll like:
Touch
Touch is the noun and verb of the heart.
Not all the words that you or I
can murmur, sing or shout
-–hoarse with eloquence, mad
with truth--words that beseech
or beckon or command,
can equal the touch,
in passing, of a friendly hand.
J. Newman copyright 2006
P.s. I misunderstood about keeping all one's poems in a single thread. I have others under "Pummeling"
ô¿ô | |
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| Thank you Drea and Breathing
Posted: 8/26/2006 4:13:03 PM | Yes, Alyosha I read the others too..part of what I referrred to.
Your poetry has the kind of depth I often relate to,
but can not seem to capture myself, but dream of doing..
but, there are others that do this on POF...
Thank you all.
kudos
edit: i should point out sometimes it is hidden and veiled...the depth....
you must look for it to see it..
namaste
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| Thank you Drea and Breathing
Posted: 8/26/2006 4:35:47 PM | alyosha
Comment ca va mon ami??? Bienvenue a POF
Love your poems and I suspect that some are published....McGill?????
In fact I think alll your poems in all their threads are awesome.
Love Montreal...my daughter is at McGill..4th yr....and her condo is Sherbrooke and McGill College.
I look forward to reading more......
Pickles | |
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| Thank you Drea and Breathing
Posted: 8/26/2006 4:52:43 PM | With apologies to you alyosha :)
As you reach out I look at your smile
Knowing that your touch will sustain me
Wrap me in calm for a while
Soothe my soul help me regain
My equilibrium, my sanity
Words can be hollow, full of false promise
But touch speaks volumes to us
The caress of lips on lips
The butterfly touch of fingertips
Touch cannot lie, does not lie
Essential as breath
To you and I. | |
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| Thank you Drea and Breathing
Posted: 8/26/2006 6:15:08 PM | "Alyosha" When I saw the 'name' it captivated me
Your writing fits well with your name (gentle smile)
And thank you for feeling to come here and share it with us
It has a gentle rhythm to it, like soft seas lapping against the sides of the boat, lulling me into a gentle thoughtful slumber. Musing.
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| What You Can Do with Love
Posted: 8/27/2006 3:26:08 AM | With love and a two-dollar bill
you can ride the subway.
Without love but with a two-dollar bill
You could still ride the subway
–but it wouldn’t be the same ride.
With love and a round-the-world airline ticket
you could fly to the ends of the earth.
Without love but with a round-the-world airline ticket
you could still fly to the ends of the earth
–but who would be waiting there?
With love and a winning lottery ticket
you could build your dream house!
Without love but with a winning lottery ticket
you could still build your dream house,
–but how would you live in it?
J. Newman copyright 2005 | |
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| Thank you Drea and Breathing
Posted: 8/27/2006 3:30:31 AM | Drea, what you say you cannot capture yourself but dream of doing... allow yourself to dream as deeply as you can, let go of the conscious (ego) wish to achieve or impress, allow yourself to be wooed by the music in language - even the sometimes harsh or lonely or longing music - and draw on images that come to you from actual dreams.
Jer | |
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| Pickles
Posted: 8/27/2006 3:33:55 AM | Ca va bien, chou, et avec toi?
Yes, some of my poems have been published in a book called "Sudden Proclamations."
Next time you're here to visit your daughter, let's get together for a coffee... (But, whoops! I'm a smoker. )
Jer | |
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| "Essential as breath /To you and I"
Posted: 8/27/2006 3:48:00 AM | Essential as breath
To you and I.
Is the touch of another.
The deep,
Deep touch of a mother,
The soft, malleable hand
Of an infant, a lover’s caress
On a waiting cheek.
The fingers, the palm
That bids one “Speak...”
The skin that does not fear
But cries out in return:
“I am here, I am here...” | |
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| Essential as Breath
Posted: 8/27/2006 4:15:28 PM | You're very welcome Alyosha
Loved "Essential as Breath". Yes. That touch...contact
The thing we crave and need as much as life itself
And yet mostly shun
Is it fear perhaps?
Socially incorrect?
No stiff upper lip?
A show of weakness yet?
A simple touch
A brush of hand
Smoothing someone's hair or forehead
Cradling a baby instead of teaching it 'brave like' to cry alone in its cot
Taught from infancy its crying, craving to be touched, will go unheard
Wonderful write :) | |
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| Essential as breath /To you and I
Posted: 8/27/2006 8:45:15 PM | I breathe in and hold my breath
Waiting for that initial touch
As you stand there
I look at your face, expecting to see
Love
I see instead a glassy stare
An "I don't want to be here" look
As I reach out my hand
You flinch, withdraw
All I feel now is raw emotion
Heart torn apart
Your turn to reach out
I flinch too, silently I shout
Rage
Cry
Ask why
Love dies | |
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| Essential as breath /To you and I
Posted: 8/28/2006 3:38:40 AM | Aw, Pickles, take my word for it, you WILL love again! Here's how I dealt with one disappointment:
PEACHES
Lying in another bed, my lover
dreams of rough-skinned peaches,
plentiful and free.
Around the base of the tree
a ring of children run,
taunting her. Years later
she will lie in anyone's arms,
peach juice down her chin, and wonder
if they were part of that gang.
J. Newman Sudden Proclamations copyright 1992 | |
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| Essential as breath /To you and I
Posted: 8/28/2006 10:41:50 AM | Not sure if I have but who knows.....
There is nothing quite so sensual than eating ripe juicy fruit in bed with a lover....thanks for pulling that memory up for me! | |
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| Essential as breath /To you and I
Posted: 8/28/2006 8:30:47 PM | Could be the first whose name begins with an "A"...............................
Adam and Eve were way ahead
Of the masses
And, although apples
Really lack the prerequisite juiciness
It was a start.
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| Dear Eve (aka Pickles)
Posted: 8/29/2006 8:12:16 AM | We started with an apple
Shall we work our way up?
Bananas in bed let's sup,
Cranberries till our lips are red,
Dates, Etrog of Biblical fame,
Figs until our hearts are fed
with joy! Gooseberries to further inflame
our lust
and Honey Locust
...and more, and more until,
fearing a glut,
we end up with a Zulu Nut. | |
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| I Want to Let You Know
Posted: 9/16/2006 7:51:57 AM | I want to let you know
that I am here.
If you should want me
I am here.
If you should need me
I am here.
If you wake up in the middle of the night,
trembling, and cannot remember
the time before you were alone,
I am here.
I am always here.
J. Newman © 2006 | |
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| I Want to Let You Know
Posted: 9/18/2006 10:02:13 AM | We wax and wane
like the moon,
and somewhat like the moon
our hearts reflect
a sun that is always far,
far away...
J. Newman © 17Sep06 | |
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| When Love is Dead
Posted: 9/19/2006 3:23:15 PM | When love is dead
we note the lie
that is blatant in the corpse.
Limbs that once appeared to dance
are now seen to have been
twitching their last, long twitch.
That which seemed once
to have been an eternity
is now revealed as a spasm
between the spank of life
and the last cough before the grave.
J. Newman © 2006 | |
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