Saturday, September 19, 2015

Two Chairs--poem



Two Chairs

My new friend walks before me
on the woodland path
one amber-cast summer day.
Points out a cave of stones,
an old lime kiln, a granite totem,
talks of sugar maples, yellow birch, hickory.

“What do you like about the woods?” she asks.

The light, the way it filters
through the trees. The way leaves capture
its brightness or cast shadows into the dark.

We walk through a graveyard,
leaning mossy stones, trace fingers
over carvings worn,
then amble up a dirt road
to a small cabin beside an old brick house.

“Anyone here,” she calls.
A bearded face appears
in the upstairs cabin window.
My friend requests permission
to cross the lawn, ponder the view.

“Hartley Hill,” she tells me,
as we gaze over soft hills and valleys,
drink in the quiet..
Before us wait two wooden lawn chairs
where you might sit in the late evening,
talk through the day with your beloved.


I could live here, my dreamy self says
as if hypnotized by some heady wine.
But still I would be isolated,
still alone.


s.pope   2015

6 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Sounds like an idyllic walk.
I hope that with your son living with you this winter won't feel so lonely.

Mystic Meandering said...

Suki ~ I would actually love to switch places with you ;) I crave "alone" times - the solitude, the silence and the simplicity of life and living. Seems we always want the opposite of what we have... Such is life. :) Love your last stanza. We are all "dreamers" of sorts living in our own dreams... Me the "cosmic dreamer" :) Wishing you Peace...

sukipoet said...

Mystic, I like the silence too. Lots of it. But I crave human interactions and that is what is lacking here. Hmm. wonder why the typeface is so odd. Can't remember how to do some of the things on the blog. Thanks for your comments. You are still here!!!

kj said...

suki, i am by opportunity (and choice) more social more of the time than you are, but i understand the balance of solitude and connection. as winter approaches i look forward to time to do little else besides cook and write. but i have a partner here and i think that must make a difference, even the quick morning 'hellos'

your poem is lovely. you are one of my favorite poets. what you observe you somehow translate into inner feelings.

so: are you headed to the cape?! :^)

love
kj

sukipoet said...

Karen, thank you for your empathy. Yes, if i had a partner it most likely would make a difference in my isolation feelings. Even if we just chatted now and then through the day or at dinner or whatever. Although I must say in the past I chose partners who seemed to be always creating chaos, or maybe it just felt that way. LOL


Mystic Meandering said...

Suki ~ Oh I do empathize! Yes, needing the "balance of solitude and connection" as kj said... I need "connection" too :) As a therapist once told me - "connection without CONNECTION" - meaning finding connection without the entanglements of "connection" - as in chaotic relationships :) I understand those too! :) Yes, I am still here :) Needing "connection" LOL