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Open Poetry #33
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Ratleader
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Member Rara Avis
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026
Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass

0 posted 2004-09-08 12:41 PM



In The Back Yard

I was a boy
            I mean, just now a boy
playing man in the back yard,
            and the swing did it.
It was only a rope
            around the tree branch,
not even a real swing.
            I learned the knots in Boys' Life;
They looked so good, man, so tight.

I learned to swing
            right here in the back yard,
learned to take that rope
            so high, man, so high;
could even have learned to fly,
            I mean just now, if I’d had time.
I could even have learned to die
            before my Boys' Life knot unraveled
right here in the back yard.

© Copyright 2004 Ed Ratledge - All Rights Reserved
Margot
Member
since 2003-10-04
Posts 154

1 posted 2004-09-08 12:45 PM


Excellent, I love the flow of the poem and how it takes me to that backyard, right now with the man that became a boy.

Margot

Love is something eternal, The aspect may change, But not the essence.- Vincent Van Gogh

ecrivan
Member Elite
since 2001-12-10
Posts 3923
my own state
2 posted 2004-09-08 12:48 PM


a juvenile caper to exact a thrill...good one


Dark Angel
Member Patricius
since 1999-08-04
Posts 10095

3 posted 2004-09-08 01:20 AM


This is kinda happy and sad at the same time.

to you Mr Rat

The clouds never expect it when it rains, but the sea, changes colour, but the sea, does not change.
~Stevie Nicks~

BluesSerenade
Member Patricius
since 2001-10-23
Posts 10549
By the Seaside
4 posted 2004-09-08 02:09 AM


we grow so fast to be men and women,
and only then do we consider hanging onto the rope.

And that's just the beginning.

Miss you,  Ratleader~

ShiningWindHaze
Member
since 2004-09-06
Posts 138
California, United States
5 posted 2004-09-08 02:24 AM


sweet. It makes me want to go swing on a rope just like that.

- Haze

iliana
Member Patricius
since 2003-12-05
Posts 13434
USA
6 posted 2004-09-08 02:27 AM


Whoa -- maybe I'm interpreting wrongly, but I felt a whallop with the last couple of lines.  Enjoyed the poem, RatL.   ....jo
A Romantic Heart
Member Ascendant
since 1999-09-03
Posts 5496
Forever In Your Heart
7 posted 2004-09-08 05:03 AM


I love bringing out my inner child from time to time, I think we are forever young in our hearts...

~love and hugs
~ARH

Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
8 posted 2004-09-08 07:14 AM


That flip/flop of brain/heart entered mind/soul.

Excellent!

LeeJ
Member Patricius
since 2003-06-19
Posts 13296

9 posted 2004-09-08 07:17 AM


sheesh, now you've gone and made me want to fly off to Never Mever Land!  Smiles and hugs...good one Ed..it's all in our minds...where we want to be...sometimes being men/women...long as we never forget to sometimes be children...

Great write and good morning to ya

Gentle Spirit
Member Patricius
since 2000-10-09
Posts 13989

10 posted 2004-09-08 09:19 AM


I learned to swing
            right here in the back yard,
learned to take that rope
            so high, man, so high;
could even have learned to fly,
            I mean just now, if I’d had time.
I could even have learned to die

just darn incredible.. Time, is sometimes a gift we have to give ourselves. Fly man, fly!
Enjoyed immensely!

miscellanea
Member Elite
since 2004-06-24
Posts 4060
OH
11 posted 2004-09-08 10:39 AM


Good morning, Ed!
   It's good to read your writing again!  The rope swing and its ups and downs, freedom and feet upon the grounds... I always liked ours, too, it transported me into a wannabe composer or playwright or something or other! Catch ya later...
   I can't help thinking there is more to this.  Take care.  Expect an e-mail.  
              miscellanea
  

miscellanea
Member Elite
since 2004-06-24
Posts 4060
OH
12 posted 2004-09-08 01:42 PM


Whoops.  I did it again!  I am the world's worst librarian!  
Ericc
Member Elite
since 2003-01-31
Posts 4178

13 posted 2004-09-08 01:47 PM


It is always a pleasure and a gift to be greeted by your words Ed.

Eric

suthern
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Seraphic
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723
Louisiana
14 posted 2004-09-08 02:06 PM


Oh, my friend... I agree with iliana... this one packs a powerful punch!!! *S*

You write of a swing... and give us a rollercoaster ride... from the soar of innocence and its boundless horizons... to the depths of a now where both feet and head can barely lift... from lighthearted to heartbreaking.

And as we step off, we're reeling with sadness... as well as the knowledge that we've just read perfection. *S*

Pilgrimage
Member Elite
since 2001-12-04
Posts 3945
Texas, USA
15 posted 2004-09-08 05:23 PM


Ed, you can learn everything you ever need to know in the back yard.  I can see forever there.  Mmmm, that might get to be a poem someday. Thanks.

Nan (Pilgrim variety)

soul drifter
Senior Member
since 2004-09-08
Posts 711
Colorado
16 posted 2004-09-08 05:29 PM


This makes me really miss my childhood, especially since we so rarely had a backyard. Wonderful poem.
littlewing
Member Rara Avis
since 2003-03-02
Posts 9655
New York
17 posted 2004-09-08 08:02 PM


Ed,

you had me thinking of the joy
I experience when I take my son
to the park, thinking of simpler times -
then you bring me right back to present
(because I tried to jump of the moving swing thinking I was ten)

*grin*

I love this . . .

milkweed
Junior Member
since 2004-09-07
Posts 42
fields of gold
18 posted 2004-09-08 11:18 PM


There is a comment above by suthern that reflects accurately the feelings this piece left with me.  You have a unique style of writing and I like it.
Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
19 posted 2004-09-14 11:51 PM


Ed

I think instead of jumping from the garage roof, I should have learned to tie knots.  Enjoyed this bit of boy/man!  

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