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Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666
California

0 posted 2013-04-08 12:36 PM



The Angel's Frame


An angel came to me one night...
A soft outline in the moonlight
That might have passed me unaware,
Had I not heard that voice, so fair.

So bright, it made the stars seem dim;
Singing a gentle, soothing hymn.
She sang of love and peace, and I
Slipped to dream in the lullaby.

A dream of ten years, soft and true,
Aloft in shades of purest blue...
By feathered wing brushing the skies,
As I fell deep into those eyes.

Till one day, in that antique store
We never had entered before,
We browsed, playfully, the décor...
The ancient and forgotten lore.

'Twas there I saw it, on the wall,
Set in plain view, for one and all...
An angel, holding a small bird,
That said so much without a word.

A single tear, in her eye,
Told me the bird would never fly.
Though love, so vivid in her face
And within her tender embrace,

Resonated serenity
Not just to the bird, but to me.
And so I called my angel fair,
To show what I'd discovered there...

And there she stood, before me, still;
As I couldn't help catch a chill,
For within her eyes tears welled, too...
Feeling what I felt, through and through.

*******

Priced too high for me to afford,
My spirits fell into discord...
Yet save ev'ry red cent I could,
For my angel's angel I would.

Till she came home from work that day,
And there was naught for her to say...
Her angel, on wall in oak frame,
I barely heard my whispered name.

She cried, and held me tightly then.
Just when she stopped, I can't say when.
The years forced on us many things,
And unprepared for all life brings,

'Can't begin to count the mistakes
An aspiring man like me makes...
But 'remember waking up to find
It must've been all in my mind.

No angel there!  No angel fair
For a man fallen to despair.
An empty frame upon the wall
That holds not an angel at all.

Now, it's taken some time to tell,
For her, what must've been pure hell...
To nurture wings that just won't fly,
Despite the ambition to try.

An angel, trapped within the frame
Of one concerned only with name...
I see it now, pain in her eyes
As she came home to realize

I could not see her as she was...
Who'd loved me always, just because
I never would fly on my own.
'But see it now that I'm alone.


Michael Anderson

4/08/2013



[This message has been edited by Michael (04-13-2013 10:54 PM).]

© Copyright 2013 Michael Anderson - All Rights Reserved
JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
1 posted 2013-04-08 04:08 PM


What a beautiful poem, Michael. Beautiful, but very sad. Still, it wouldn't be Michael if there wasn't sadness within the lines. You are going in other directions with your poetry, and I, for one, am very happy to see it.

~*~ Jokes about German sausages are the wurst~*~

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
2 posted 2013-04-08 04:13 PM


Michael, this had me in tears - even right from the beginning, but especially from about halfway through, and they are still flowing.  It is very, very, very poignantly beautiful.  

Owl

suthern
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Seraphic
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723
Louisiana
3 posted 2013-04-09 03:31 PM


No angel there!  No angel fair
For a man fallen to despair.
An empty frame upon the wall
That holds not an angel at all.

When I only have a moment online, I know I can open one of your poems and feast on your words. The tenderness & longing you've written here is both powerful and poignant... Beautiful work!

JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
4 posted 2013-04-10 12:37 PM


Fine writing...James
Lighthousebob
Member Elite
since 2000-06-14
Posts 4725
California
5 posted 2013-04-10 02:09 PM


I enjoyed the visual and emotional connections made in your poem by you being the bird and the angel being the angel. Very gripping. Enjoyed!  
jwesley
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-04-30
Posts 7563
Spring, Texas
6 posted 2013-04-10 09:16 PM


Michael, as usual, expected and got, the best. Beautiful piece.

j.

ebonygirl
Member Elite
since 2011-07-14
Posts 2000
California U.S.A
7 posted 2013-04-11 02:35 AM


It's a blessing to read your work, Michael.
E

Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666
California
8 posted 2013-04-14 02:14 AM


Jer, I wrote this with the intent on focusing on the beauty of what I once had, and I what I miss so much, rather than focusing on the hurt and emptiness I so often focus on.  Sadness and bitterness being the two extremes of my emotional pendulum for the most part, I couldn’t steer clear of all the negativity, much as I wanted to.  I don’t know if the change in tone will last, or if it’s something I really even can control at all, but we will see what the future brings.

Diana, thank you.  To receive this compliment from you means so much to me.  I know to drive you  to that response I was in fact able to leave out the negative aspect that tinges so much of what I write.  Thank you.  

Hi Ruth, Good to see you here.  I’m glad you still look for my works.  

James, jwesley, ebonygirl, thank you for the compliments.  I’m glad you enjoyed this one.

Bob, the painting I detailed in this poem was one I bought for my wife of ten years in the first year we were together.  She very much was my angel.  I haven’t seen that picture in years.  Every detail in this poem is true, though.  The connections I never saw until I thought about that picture upon waking the morning I wrote this...  and again, the beauty of such a revelation I would not dare taint with my usual self-pitying, dark and mopy style of writing.

For everyone who read this with the formatting errors I did not see and was not able to correct until this morning, I offer my sincerest apologies.  I posted this originally from my cell phone, which is not Passions friendly apparently, and likes to turn all my apostrophes into question marks.

Thank you all.

Michael

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