Anchored as you are to a destiny,
Which is not nearly so temporary
As all you experience,
It is what it is, this impulse still to act.
Knowing for sure that
Some things are more precious
Because they don’t last forever.
Sometimes, caught in the thrall,
There’s no option
But to just stand and gape in amazement
At what you can discover,
And all that has still somehow
Found its way back to you.
For here you are,
At a fixed point
On a grid of possibilities
That is the architecture
Of happiness itself.
Knowing that, at any one time,
It is only for you and you alone,
To decide to stay or move on,
To pause, or to reach out
And clasp something new
Close to your heart,
Wedded as we are, quite rightly,
To an ambition to luxuriate fully
In life’s rich promise.
And the truth is you are indeed
As wonderfully and perilously free
As this suggests.
All this and more you may taste
And explore,
With the best of intentions
And, as if none of it will leave
Even a fleck upon you!
Knowing all the while,
Of course,
This is not really
How the story runs.
Give not honestly of yourself,
And you will corrode the core
Of much that matters.
Shine true instead
And you may well linger
In the light of love,
Maybe even longer
Than you feel you have a right to.
And of course
There’s so much in between.
Muddled by prescribed faith,
Morality
And the ever shifting tolerances
Of others that will hasten to judge
Or condemn you.
No reliable arbiter of choices
Before you then,
Save your own inner voice,
Should you take care to listen.
But surely
As just one seeker
Of souls harmony,
Netted but never quite landed
In this world,
To catch even one glistening moment
Of sweet release,
As full, as fine, as pure
As ever could be hoped for,
Would be bounty sufficient to last a lifetime?
Now there’s the rub…
Dear Scott, you appear to be seated among the youth of the field and offering your poetic wisdom to nature’s bounty, carried softly across the grasses swaying freely to the rhythm of your words.
Really lovely poem…positive, thought-provoking, and full of wonder. Well done!
Beautiful and true.
Its Amazing, Scott!! Your thoughts take such fluidity and depth..It really catches the verve of the artistic pulse!! Its absolutely brilliant. Loved it.
Such beautiful, truthful writing! Yes, all I can do is gape in amazement at all that has somehow found its way back to me because I shall save my own inner voice to listen.
Hey Scott, this is an awesome poem. I had to read it over and over. It is really moving. Great job!
Love this poem. It conveys great feeling and emotion and remids us of what is important.
Brilliant!I enjoyed reading this wonderful poem.Thank you,Scott!
“Some things are more precious because they don’t last forever”
Beautifully said and so, so true.
A very wonderful effort Scott!
Love this poem
Hi Scot
I must commend you on your beautil work of art, it is indeed so realistically true, brillantly done.
Such a wealth of perspectives here! Your poem encapsulates a moment in eternity, a timeless zone of truths. One can draw strength from each line, such is the wonderful content in this brilliant write. Kudos!
All of us have an individual goal or purpose of life but at the same time we are all seeking the quest for truth and salvation in our own very preferred ways. So very beautifully framed in verses- Hats off to you Scott!
“No reliable arbiter of choices
Before you then,
Save your own inner voice,
Should you take care to listen.”
Particularly like that verse. 🙂
WOW!! A poem I want to linger with in silence and let it continue to speak to me!!!
The relationship between the poem and photo is really beautiful. The blending between yourself and the grass relate to your poetic concept of anchoring and the in-between. Although there is permanence, there is the ephemeral, a mix.
You poem is thoughtful and brings us to the task of reflecting while experiencing the beauty of your words/images, love it!
Awe inspiring. Living life in amazement of nature’s richness has given me great peace, yeah for many years. It is moments when reading verse like this, I rejoice at others’ appreciation of the gift of life. Thanks Scott.
“Some things are more precious
Because they don’t last for ever…”
That really stood out for me, Scott, from among so many enjoyable lines.
It is only for you and you alone,
To decide to stay or move on,
To pause, or to reach out
And clasp something new
Close to your heart,
What awesome power and responsility in those lines….that we are free as you say in this…but freedom always comes with a price as well…and in this it how you make those decisions….
I too like the lines that Brian quoted but these lines resonated best with me:
And the truth is you are indeed
As wonderfully and perilously free
I wonder how many of us really know and embrace this ~
Fine work ~
Excellente!
This is a poem of huge scope and thought, but I take away the concept of freedom and choice. A Gather ye rosebuds kind of poem.
Thought provoking piece…!
Thought provoking poetry and beautifully expressed….Life is a conundrum and all of us are on a journey of sorts…good to meet you, Scott 🙂
loved these lines especially:
“For here you are,
At a fixed point
On a grid of possibilities
That is the architecture
Of happiness itself.”
Strong writing.
I’ve rarely seen such deep truths and challenges to the reader in spotless poetic form. The aesthete and thinker in you transpires every single verse. I cannot pick out a particular line or stanza; the poem is a perfect whole to be apprehended as such. Thank you for such beauty.
Yes, well described – it is exhilarating
“Knowing that, at any one time,
It is only for you and you alone,
To decide to stay or move on,
To pause, or to reach out
And clasp something new
Close to your heart,”
but then also talks about context and judgement.
Today the poems make me think of how flimsy we are. How momentary. perhaps sometimes even waiting is a choice?
Scott: I so agree, Lucy – waiting is indeed a choice and one we sometimes opt for too often – and, at other times in our lives, too infrequently… Again paradoxical!
Oh My Goodness! Your poem spoke directly to me. I needed to confirm what I’m presently doing or to let go and try something new. I now know after reading your poem, that’s it’s time for me to walk through the door that has been open for me. All I have to do is walk through. Thank you for timely poem especially during my three month of pray, fasting and mediation on hearing confirmations on moving forward. Got it!
Your poems always speak to me, I truly enjoy them. I await your next one.
Wry, thoughtful, philosophical and I especially liked the lines …And you may well linger
In the light of love,
Maybe even longer
Than you feel you have a right to.
I’m speechless!!!! Scott, that is beautiful to me, beyond words, absolutely beautiful!!! Thank you!!! You have an amazing talent. Once again, I am in awe of your beautiful poetry!
Original and full of depth
“Save your own inner voice…”
— Thoughtful, meaningful and impressive as always.
Keep on Scott!
– Shardanand.
To me this is almost a meditation:
“to catch even one moment…”
and to contemplate
“the architecture
Of happiness” ~ Truly wonderful Scott …
Thank you!! ~ RL
Scott: How intuitive of you Robyn, I do exercise and meditation each morning, before I settle down to write
“No reliable arbiter of choices
Before you then,
Save your own inner voice,
Should you take care to listen.”
I needed these words today 🙂
So often are we lost in these varying version of what is right…where all we have to look to know the truth is within.
Thanks.
Wonderful poetry 🙂
Wonderful poem!
Amongst the many, this is one of your most profoundly moving poems yet. The sensation of Anchored is in itself, a clear and distinctive discovery of the NOW. “on a grid of possibilities, that is the architecture of happiness itself”……speaks to the soul’s awakening, the heart’s vulnerability for freedom, the mind’s desire for righteousness and accountability; being true to what matters and what to make of what is…and could be. So much love. So much light. Thank you for sharing you.
This poem is so beautiful. I need to do this poem every day that help me to forget about people who change and so that I learn to keep moving on…
Hi Scott,
I took a few minutes to read some of your new work and connected immediately. Hope you receive the attention you deserve! However, at the end of this piece (Would be bounty sufficient to last a lifetime?), I was puzzled by the question mark since even in rereading I couldn’t find the question.
Scott says: Thanks so much for your response to my work, Paul – I’m glad it touched you in some way – as a writer that is all one can ever hope for… Interesting you queried the question mark – You are not the first to do this and some readers are also not that happy with the last line of this poem either – ‘now there’s the rub…’ I suppose what I’m suggesting here to the reader is to consider the question for themselves of whether one truly ecstatic moment of spiritual release (were it possible…) would be worth trading in the rest of your mortal life for? Hence the question mark and ‘the rub’…
My poems don’t usually end in such a challenging way – but this notion of how some lives (rightly of wrongly and as if pre-destined…) seem to go off like a short-lived firework was something I didn’t want to let go off – having found myself surprisingly there towards the end of this piece, as it seemed to be leading me towards this dilemma – without, as you say, posing a direct question that required a definitive answer… And, of course, it is often these very same people too that can inspire and leave behind the warmest and most lingering glow in our hearts and souls – isn’t it? Which brings one on to the notion of issues like ‘sacrifice’ which I am exploring more now, in my more current work.
Hope all this ramble makes some kind of sense to you and others?? Hey! Ho!