i have long been enamored of you
only lately have i found
atonement
with you
at
onement
i have always been with you
for a long while
many times
before
i have found
many selves
by your side
lost
at the base of you
tangled
in your hair
resting
at your feet
beating
in the heart of you
basking
in the heat of you
toiling
in the sweat and
the grime of you
I did not come to you
late in life, but I
have only just
come to
my coming
to you
lately
and now
—just now—
we have only moments
and still
I find my self
and you have named me
A Prayer Like Gravity 
Beautiful JCC
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Thanks, mums!
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The wordplay is just gorgeous here.
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Thanks, T–
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Brilliant stream of consciousness. Your self-awareness astounds me – you know exactly how you tick and tock 🙂
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Thank you Natalie for your kind words. I am afraid (always) that I am never as self-aware as I think I am…..(some kind of strange paradox/conundrum in that, no?).
Learning to hear the ticks, and maybe, hopefully, seeing some of the tocks coming before they arrive (again! yet again!) is often the best that we can hope for.
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Beautiful. Atonement at onement. Amazing how we grow and define with one person and you have captured it perfectly.
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The “you” of the poem is not actually a person at all, but in some ways much bigger than almost any person could be for me. And it could certainly apply, anyway. I was thinking of Poetry (yes, with a capital P) personified, and how our relationship has changed over the years. She is like the perfect love that I did not deserve, and still, I am not certain…but I get closer every day, with every poem–more to the point, with every poem-making.
Thank you Aud–always good to hear from you–
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Even better. I like your explanation. But I also like my reaction to your poem. And that is the beauty of it all. Thanks JCC
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Oh, yes–did I not mention that I like that as well?
My bad!
Thank You–
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No need for that sir. Smile.
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Beautifully done – and not easy to be so elegantly spare and playful while alluding to complex philosophical ideas, I think! I found you through Bussokuseki and can see some common ground there.
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Thank you so much. Your words are very kind.
Bussokuseki is greatly respected.
I am flattered that you see common ground shared.
I think that I am not nearly as mindful, not nearly as in the world. I have had a hard time finding a still-point lately. Life and business muddy the pool sometimes.
Thanks–
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Gritty and lovely. Perfect.
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Thank you so much, Karen–
I appreciate you words.
I had not thought of this one as “gritty,” but come to think of it, I suppose there’s a bit of grit in all my work.
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That last line… such impact.
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Thank you, Dieu–
As so often happens for me, I thought this poem was almost done for a long time….until that line came to me and I said, “Aha—now, that’s better.”
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If a poem’s never finished, but only abandoned, then this one has been set by with great care.
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Aha! One of my favorite quotes.
Thank you–“set by with great care”–love that. Makes me think of poems as jars of canned peaches, pickled green beans, apple butter and black raspberry preserves.
Always good to save some for spring.
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