Another month wends itself to a close. Endings. Beginnings. Autumn. Spring.
So it is we walk, wander, run, scamper, scatter, skip - or fall down, for tiredness or relief, or perhaps even from the release of joyous celebrations.
Let us stop to catch our breaths, yes? And consider, perhaps - the meaning of Bliss.
How I Learned Bliss by Oliver de la Paz
I spied everything. The North Dakota license,
the “Baby on Board” signs, dead raccoons, and deer carcasses.
The Garfields clinging to car windows—the musky traces of old coffee.
I was single-minded in the buzz saw tour I took through
the flatlands of the country to get home. I just wanted to get there.
Never mind the antecedent. I had lost stations miles ago
and was living on cassettes and caffeine. Ahead, brushstrokes
of smoke from annual fires. Only ahead to the last days of summer
and to the dying theme of youth. How pitch-perfect
the tire-on-shoulder sound was to mask the hiss of the tape deck ribbons.
Everything. Perfect. As Wyoming collapses over the car
like a wave. And then another mile marker. Another.
How can I say this more clearly? It was like opening a heavy book,
letting the pages feather themselves and finding a dried flower.
"How I Learned Bliss" from Requiem for the Orchard. Copyright © 2010 by Oliver de la Paz.
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Right then, on to Tuesday.
Platform here friends and travelers at the Garden.
Choose a poem. New for old. Old for new. Whatever you wish to share.
Link up.
Then return in the next few days, to dip and dive into what fellow poets have offered for our reading pleasure.
Comment and share some bliss.
📣And be sure to come back on Wednesday - October 31st - for the next scheduled chat, with Susie and Margaret. It promises to be a treat 🎃
There are those details in this poem that reminds me of a car trip in the same area in 1992... love the conclusion, it was really like that dried flower reading this...
ReplyDeleteAdding a bit of Halloween poetry today.
Hi Pat. Thanks for hosting. I am sharing a reworked poem today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder about the Toad Chat tomorrow.
Welcome welcome welcome 😃
ReplyDeleteHello Toads, Pond Dwellers, and Travelers from far and wide - welcome to Tuesday. Hopefully your day and week is one filled with good things -
so, stop for a few breaths here, and of course, share your words and thoughts - and enjoy what others have in store for us too 😁
and remember, it's another transitional week - all kinds of festivals and celebrations happening - so what you decide to share, can be of any particular flare - spooky, kooky, serene, filled with frivolity or perhaps, slight mischief? or Light and Love.
Even as it's 🎃All Hallow's Eve tomorrow, or Samhain - and there are global festivals in celebration of the "day of the dead" - honouring ancestors etc. and it is considered a time when "the veil" is thinnest, I am looking forward to Diwali - the Hindu festival of lights 🎇.... the concept of celebrating "Light over darkness" (even as we are leaving light behind in the Northern Hemisphere) is one to hold close in our hearts, I think, perhaps now more than ever.
So, then - on to Tuesday - and remember, walk with kindness and peace, and light in your hearts and on your tongue. Small acts of kindness, even for all the bitterness, hatred and ugliness in the world, do make a difference, in someone's world, and is a gift to those who receive, as well as the one offering. And remember, follow and find your bliss!
Kerry my pleasure :) and glad to see you - hope you can find a pause to catch your breath and rest up after such a busy month!
ReplyDeleteBjorn - ah, how exciting! Road trip! LOL - always an adventure. Glad that the poem brought back memories - I too was struck by the poem's ending!
Thanks for sharing that poem, Pat. I like that idea and experience of bliss — there is something very comforting about the ongoing nature of the verse.
ReplyDeleteHappy Festivities to everyone! I have never celebrated Halloween; the idea of scary costumes reminds me of school days when we would dress up for something called "fancy-dress competitions". Ha! And yes, Diwali is just around the corner. I dread the entire week because of the pollution resulting from firecrackers — I shut myself in for three days (the day itself, and the days prior to and after it) to keep away from the fumes, even though the light diyas/lamps look beautiful. Hope we could only celebrate it as the festival of lights instead of the noise and air pollutants that are the order of the day here.
Anmol Bliss is such an interesting concept. :)
ReplyDeleteI have never experienced Diwali - and I think it would be safe for me to say, I certainly would not like the smoke and gases from all the firework pollution etc. and I'm really not fond of crowds .... but the lights, all those candles, lanterns lamps etc. etc. - this, I think *is* beautiful. And thoughtful honouring of "light" - mindful awareness of it, as it was once celebrated, would be something to soothe my soul. But I can understand your position. And would not necessarily want to be right in the heart and thick of it, either.
I hope you find a way to find your own light, in celebration/reflection, that may bring you pleasure and comfort. Safely. and in Peace.
And just a question, if you chance upon the comments again?
Is Halloween celebrated in your part of the world, as such? I ask, because for many places, the whole over the top and now extremely commercialized endeavour (apparently it tops even Christmas for the spending and outlandishness here in North America) is looked at with an eye confused and wondering. I remember an acquaintance who originally from here, living in England, saying that it wasn't much of anything there (then - it was about 18 years ago) - and was only starting to gain favour and attention, so I'm just curious.
Evening, Toads! Thanks, Pat, for hosting Tuesday Platform, today! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I'm a bit late again. I wanted to write a Halloween poem for today but haven't been well, so I'm linking up with one about the West Runton mammoth, which I've written about before, but this time it is more a tale than a historical poem to fit in with the prompt over at the dVerse Poets Pub.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting. My poem is up!
ReplyDeleteKB I'm sorry that I'm late returning, but I can't find your specific poem - you need to "Direct Link" to the specific post you have in mind for any and all of the prompts - not just a general link to your blog, please and thank you. Until next time ...
ReplyDelete