Thursday, August 16, 2007

Inhale and Exhale: A Poet's Words Breathe

And then there are moments when words are a vessel,
carrying forward their meaning in sound.

Beyond that, they carry no meaning at all,

for words can be worthless when feeling is bound

to the meaning imposed by reality. Better

to leave them until some emotion is found.

And when that emotion appears, it is better

to write the words up without reason around.


Days like today, I can't seem to escape the poetry. Words flow through my head like water, a shifting tide but ever present, seeping through to anything and everything I do. I see the world differently, as a world to be read and translated and somehow shared - somehow, in a way so people can see and hear and feel the way that I do, with these words that never stop. It is at once tragic and hopeful; filled with possibility while falling in upon itself. This is the world I inhabit when the poet's heart takes over.

I wonder, at times, how I will ever find a lover for my poet's heart. My poet's heart is the soft insanity of my life - the heart that bleeds tears of compassion for others and suffering for self. My poet's heart is the font of all the words that seem to make no sense, because their sense is in their sound, and in their feeling, and beyond that the meaning is transient and useless. My poet's heart is why I hold my hand to the window late at night, to feel the cool glass and sit watching for a change that might only come if I can push through to my own reflection. Because my poet's heart believes that kind of thing is possible - that all things are possible if I feel them enough.

Who, but a poet, can ever learn to love such nonsense as I do? Who else can learn to believe in my magical world, have faith in the wondrousness of the impossible, yet mourn with me the loss of innocence and purity and all things imagined? Who will see the extremes that I see - without judgment, without scorn - yet anchor me to the firmness of center?

Who will love the breathing words that make up the core of my poet's soul?

17 comments:

flutter said...

Oh man. A poet's heart, indeed. What a blessing this, getting to know you. Also? The new template? Stunning.

BetteJo said...

I can't help it.
I tried not to say it.

You remind me of my daughter.

That's a good thing.

BetteJo said...

Oh, and I agree. The template is beautiful!

jittacatgirl said...

i do. and nora does. and tenny does, too. we're all here for you until you find the lover who you choose to replace us.

but you can love us back until then.

Lindz said...

Inspirational missy! I can't write a poem to save my life and I so wish I could. Secondly, I really like the template and don't have the skill to come up with something of my own. Heck, I can't even come up with a title I like.

jittacatgirl said...

and i meant WHOM

Lady M said...

It will happen dear, it will.

Lara said...

flutter - yes, i feel the same about getting to know you. we have blog antagonist to thank for that, i suppose.

bette jo - i'm honored by the compliment. :)

jitta - i will love you back until then and long afterwards as well. no lover will replace you. he'll only add to what you've already given.

lindz - ha! skill! that's funny. trust me, this took no skill whatsoever. just some time to go looking around online until i found one i liked, then following the instructions to implement it. just google "free blog templates" and you'll have tons to browse.

lady m - i know. deep down, i really do know. but sometimes, i still worry. you know how it goes.

Natalie said...

Someone, dear girl. Wish them goodnight on the first star of the evening until then.

The lines are very well done. I'm a sucker for line structure like that.

Anonymous said...

Angst. Gotta love it! Beautiful words.

Anonymous said...

Your poet's heart is one in a million. And Lady M is right - it will happen. Exactly the way it is supposed too.

I am really loving the new template Lara

Lisa said...

I believe that one day you will find someone who will speak to your soul and understand your poet's heart as well. With all of my heart. Hang on until then and for god's sake, keep writing. You are an amazing writer...Amazing isn't even a good enough word somehow.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps on occasion you might try to write a post in which you aren't totally adorable. You know, just for shiggles.

By the way, I like the banner you made up (w/ some adjustments for font visibility) much better than the fish bowl one, unless you came up with the fish bowl one yourself. In short, I'm partial to originality.

Lara said...

anon - i'm sure if you dig through the archives you'll find plenty of non-adorable posts. :-P as to the original banner, it's up at the photo blog now, where it seemed more appropriate.

Anonymous said...

Yep, nice banner on your photo site. It might be worth taking another shot at saving the image: from looking at the lettering, I'm guessing you saved the image as a jpg at less than 100% quality.

You're right about finding non-adorable posts: what's with all the shoes? Dude!

Trina said...

A heart as deep and clearly full of untapped and barely discovered beauty as yours is meant to be found like a treasure, by a seeker worthy of its magic and complexity. Never let your wonder go. It is what people spend a lifetime searching for, and few truly find. Your poetic words are incredibly powerful, keep using them :)

dancing dragon said...

This is one of my favorite posts so far, along with the photograph which you also have on your photo blog. A great post to start off the new look for your blog!