Recalled Sunlight

Morning found me exploring
around the old chapel again.
The walls, at least, started in the right spots,
though broken plaster had long since yielded
to insistent vines and wings claiming shelter.

Finding my favorite boulder,
I sat, and stretched,
drinking the water I pulled
from the well earlier in my pilgrimage.
It held up to my memory:
sweet and restorative after the journey made,
fortifying the spirit for what lay further ahead.
The sun dappled boulder was a more congenial spot
to enjoy my libations,
than the hard backed pews,
softened somewhat by the spread of moss.  

The water finished, I went around back,
to find the spot I enjoyed hiding in
when I was small.
A sea of violets greeted me,
more dazzling under the stream of sunlight,
than the cold glitter of the stained glass windows,
once whole in the crumbling walls,  

My sketchbook came out.
I lost myself in translating petals and leaves
into lines and letters
until the results pleased me.

Only afterwards, I noticed
that although I’d outgrown my hiding spot,
I still had my sweet tooth.
I gathered the violets for candying later.
They would delight my children as well as myself.
Perhaps I would tell them the stories
I found along the way.  


This poem was inspired by two prompts: A Dash of Sunny's Prompt Nights - A Drop of Sunshine and Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads - Tax Day (use words from T.S. Elliot's The Waste Land. I used violets, wings, well, chapel, memory, broken, and glitter).

44 comments:

  1. Such a sweet and enchanting poetic narrative. This unfolds so beautifully.

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  2. I lost myself in translating petals and leaves
    into lines and letters
    until the results pleased me.

    Oh Rommy this is such a splendid piece of work :D I am so honored that you chose to share this beautiful poem with Prompt Nights. Powerfully expressed.

    Lots of love,
    Sanaa

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  3. vines and wings claiming shelter.

    Love this


    I prefer boulders, too.

    This:

    lost myself in translating petals and leaves
    into lines and letters


    Really love this idea...

    Beautiful writing.

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  4. Ohhh, lovely. Candied violets! And of course that boulder is more welcoming than the pew. Wonderful.

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    Replies
    1. I would love a taste of them right now! I haven't had those in ages.

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  5. I love this excursion.. how you can sit there, and bring a treasure of candied violets with you.. I bet they taste of sunshine.

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  6. "I lost myself in translating petals and leaves
    into lines and letters
    until the results pleased me."

    Penned like a true word artist - I love this. And you did it so well with this write, I was drawn in to this tiny portion of a world drawn so beautifully detailed with your words.

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    Replies
    1. Those were my favorite lines of the piece too.

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  7. I, too, liked the lines "I lost myself in translating petals and leaves
    into lines and letters" You have struck a beautiful chord with all of us today.

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  8. Love this journey... seeing that although so many things change, at the core we really don't... we just become more of ourselves.

    Now I want candied violets. Or just candy... and sunlight. ;-)

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    1. When things get knocked to their foundations, we can see the roots much better and get a feel for how things were meant to grow.

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  9. I love this:
    "The sun dappled boulder was a more congenial spot
    to enjoy my libations,
    than the hard backed pews"

    I relate, so well.

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  10. A beautiful, reminiscent poem you've created from these prompts.

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  11. This was so visual for me, so sweet! Wonderful imagery, Rommy!

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad I was able to succeed at creating a good visual.

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  12. What a beautiful relaxing poem filling us with your observations and telling of your past.

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  13. Absolutely delightful!...specially loved your translating petals and leaves and candying violets...

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  14. You have described a special place, both within and without, which all creative people need to inhabit in order to feel whole.

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    1. We should all have a violet strewn sanctuary, even if it exists only in the mind.

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  15. Perhaps I would tell them the stories I found along the way. I love that line. Creatives see the world in a much different manner. Beautiful

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    1. It's wonderful to find stories, but it is an even lovelier thing to share them.

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  16. Wonderful, cheery words to use from the Wasteland. Your poem is definitely sweet and restorative. Thanks!

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  17. It is good to have our own spot in the world to go to..and as we age perhaps we don't need it physically but we can still go there when we need to and dream - I lost myself in translating petals and leaves into lines and letters - a beautiful line and one of the best things to be lost to

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    Replies
    1. Anything that inspires us to continue to dream is good thing.

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  18. A super sweet poem, even without the candied violets--thanks! k.

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