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Open Poetry #32
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icebox
Member Elite
since 2003-05-03
Posts 4383
in the shadows

0 posted 2004-06-12 11:51 PM



The dreams still come,
like clockwork running
on stored power from the sun;
on good days I can laugh at my own foolishness
thinking I was done with a life
that never ended when it could,
by now you'd think I'd know a pattern,
some predictor,
pointer,
cue,
the way craving chocolate is an easy clue
that tells me when a migraine's due,
but I guess the dreams are always there
running on the time stained walls
somewhere in the rooms
back in the fortress of my mind;
last night they played on center stage
and I had front row seats
watching all my ancient victories
my soul's karmic defeats;
I've gotten philosophical with time
in the decades since they'd first begun;
no one ever ages
and the dreams all run the same
as back when I was young.
A shadow asked me recently
if I am still as fast as I used to be,
as if it all had been a simple game;
I said no I'm older now (except in all those dreams)
so I just have to take more careful aim.

©2004 by icebox

© Copyright 2004 icebox - All Rights Reserved
Kahlil
Senior Member
since 2003-04-12
Posts 1881

1 posted 2004-06-13 12:09 PM


yeah, I do this, too.  I wake up enough to write them down in the dark and try to read them the next morning.  sometimes I figure out something new, but I don't know if it really matters.   I think the shadow is you.  ~K~
iliana
Member Patricius
since 2003-12-05
Posts 13434
USA
2 posted 2004-06-13 12:16 PM


"A shadow asked me recently
if I am still as fast as I used to be,
as if it all had been a simple game;
I said no I'm older now (except in all those dreams)
so I just have to take more careful aim."

Made me think of Shakespeare:

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep—
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to; ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause—there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th’oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despis’d love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th’unworthy takes
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.

*smile* Can't say I agree with everything Shakespeare said here, but I recognize your philosophy and writing certainly touches upon his ponderings.  


Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
3 posted 2004-06-13 12:17 PM


icebox

"by now you'd think I'd know a pattern,
some predictor,
pointer,
cue,
the way craving chocolate is an easy clue
that tells me when a migraine's due,"

Pain is an indicator also....and I would rather have chocolate.  You know I wish your life peace.  

inkedgoddess
Member Rara Avis
since 2002-11-19
Posts 7392
Ohio
4 posted 2004-06-13 12:36 PM


we really dont know much,afterall, do we?
good and thoughtful, made me think a bit

VAS
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-11-16
Posts 7450
Oregon
5 posted 2004-06-13 12:52 PM


Excellent!  From title to signature, a great read!  I may have to use the "out-of-season" phrase. This reminded me of thoughts I held yesterday while driving through a freeway section that is more than 30 years old. It has had so many repairs done to it in that time, yet it seemed so odd that it should need so many, because, surely, it was just yesterday they were building it. I lived in the area at the time and it does not seem so long ago to need so many repairs...but then, what of my needed repairs...alas, I don't want to think about it.

Whether on the shoal or on the shore,
I'll seek the lighthouse evermore.

Bonnie j
Senior Member
since 2003-06-27
Posts 1588
Ohio
6 posted 2004-06-13 12:57 PM


Enjoyed the read Icebox. I understand the feeling of not being as fast as Iused to be.
Also, if I may help I'll eat the CHOCOLATE then you won't have a nasty, nasty headache.
Sounds like a plan to me.
See Ya
BonBon


Kevo
Member
since 2004-06-02
Posts 466
Navarro County, Texas, USA
7 posted 2004-06-13 01:13 PM


Attestation to the idea that God really does have a sense of humor.  My wife competed in gymnastics for 9 years at extremely high levels of competition.  She still does her events in the well of her mind; however, the last time she attempted a "round off - back handspring, shen hurt her shoulder and nearly broke her elbow.  Our minds have a bad habit of not keeping up with us.  I feel young and invincible until I walk up a 10,000+ foot mountain at 30 below zero on some crazy elk hunt.  It is always then that I succumb to the realization that my "eyes are bigger than my stomach".  You have found a great way of constructing your thoughts on this and penning them in a way that captivates me.  It is brilliantly done and forces me to acknowledge that I have the same problem.  In dreams I'm still a firecracker.  When I awake after years of factory work and two stints in the Marines, I feel a little sore.  I still have good health but by no means am I a formidable candidate for Olympic deer hunting.  It is through sheer determination and passion for life that I meet success in this area.  Remember, to do it always gracefully and earn some points for style.  This was a profound and true collection of words that left their mark on me.  Thank you for sharing.

Kevin  

passing shadows
Member Empyrean
since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577
displaced
8 posted 2004-06-16 12:50 PM


after I read you, my eyes always turn to the window to stare out on the grass and trees and sky

and the highway cars going by...

and there is where I drift to sigh

Pilgrimage
Member Elite
since 2001-12-04
Posts 3945
Texas, USA
9 posted 2004-06-16 04:59 PM


As usual, a truly personal write that makes me think about life. Well done.

Nan (Pilgrim variety)

Earth Angel
Member Empyrean
since 2002-08-27
Posts 40215
Realms of Light
10 posted 2004-06-16 05:39 PM



Dear Poetic Philosophizing Box of Ice, you cause me to ponder as I wander through your poems!

Love & Light,
EA

Susan Caldwell
Member Rara Avis
since 2002-12-27
Posts 8348
Florida
11 posted 2004-06-21 03:18 PM


"I said no I'm older now (except in all those dreams)
so I just have to take more careful aim."

Amen.

Let's go to the range together?

"cast me gently into the morning, for the night has been unkind"
~Sarah McLachlan~

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