New poem – here I am…
Posted on Sep 5, 2014 in Blog feature, Recent Writing | 107 comments
Here I am,
As if to confound myself,
Just as I ever was.
Seemingly little more
Than an excited dervish,
Forever chasing shadows,
Knowing that,
Come what may,
Beauty will continue
To throng around me,
Till I am no more.
What was it I never told you?
For isn’t it true that,
Without fear,
We are capable of anything…
The smell of fresh rain,
Like gunpowder on the lawn,
Embellishes the day,
As the summer rips on.
And we can but wonder
As, flawless,
Early morning moisture,
Stranded on a leaf,
Glints in the sunshine.
The world watches
And waits for us, it seems…
As if to suggest tis best
To have an unquiet response
To the nature of things.
So drink deep of your sorrows,
Drink deep of your joy
And then love and live restlessly
For as long as the charged ache
In your spirit allows.
I raise my glass…to a charged ache ,zest for life beauty and passion..YES!
Wonderful poem which has made my day. Cheers !
BaBoomBa . .. ! I’ve gotta think on this one. My first take is “beauty on a razor’s edge”. Great, rich, worth reading and digging deeper into it. Thank you, Scottie. Never stop writing . . . love the composition of your personal photograph on your home page. Dancer-like, painterly, expressive
peace,
m
Beautiful, loved these lines: ‘So drink deep of your sorrow/ Drink deep of your joy/ And then love and live restlessly’, what an anthem. Made my day!
Without fear,
We are capable of anything…
Yes yes.. this is exactly my sentiment… I love how you put that in the middle of the poem, letting this sentiment bridge into the imagery of the last stanzas, the first of which are probably the most stunning I have read in quite a while.
My fav part is: drink deep the sorrows….joys, as it is counter cultural… We all want the joy…and not the sorrow but they both have something for us and both have their place in life, and perhaps if we drank deep of both we would live better // Restlessly… I like that.
Oooh! ‘Like gunpowder on the lawn’ – how unexpected – how wonderful! 🙂
To drink deep . . . oh yes.
That last stanza is great!
I think the last stanza is where everyone would love to park.
Now if life could only stay that way. Someday. Very hopeful
reading here. Your pic looks like you a thinking about your
next adventure.
A lovely and uplifting message Scott ~ Thanks for sharing ~
I always appreciate writing that respects the value of every single word. You do that with this piece. Nothing frivolous. No fillers. Just the essential. My favorite lines, likely because dovetail so nicely with my own perspective: Without fear,
We are capable of anything…
Lovely write, Scott!
I’m with Cressida…so often it is a charged ache in the soul and we just go on…
These whole lines are brilliantly captured.
To have an unquiet response
To the nature of things.
So drink deep of your sorrows,
Drink deep of your joy
And then love and live restlessly
For as long as the charged ache
In your spirit allows.
You know and understand the essence of what nature is and how we should treat mother earth gracefully.
Beautifully writing my friend. 🙂
Fear surely holds us back and robs us of many things…and i love the scent of rain – and the freshness that comes with it… Cool part with drinking the sorrows and joy as well
Your words are elegant and the gentle musical rhythm of this piece shines through when read aloud as a poem should be read.
a fine poem on how we should live to be really alive. Fear really holds us back, and lets others control us too.
Greetings… thank you reading my illness induced words, normally my topics are of a very different nature.
I have lingered here for some time now, soothed by the rhythm and flow of both your thoughts and images. Thank you, it has been good medicine.
Sharonlee
” tis best
To have an unquiet response
To the nature of things.”…..and drink deep…..how beautiful and uplifting the poem is!!!…
Scott, this is a poem filled with soul. That last stanza really speaks to me! I like ‘love and live restlessly.’
Beautiful, wistful, yearning all encapsulated here. There is always a little ache in our souls, I think You captured the elusive quality of life well here.
I love the notion of living and loving as long as the ache exists. Great idea.
Congratulations on your forthcoming book, Scott. Hope all your sales and promotional events are a huge success! All the best, Leilanie 🙂
Fabulous!Thank you,Scott,for sharing this with us. Your poems are unforgettable, I believe. They’re profound, meaningful, and full of literary sensibility.
So drink deep of your sorrows,
Drink deep of your joy
And then love and live restlessly
For as long as the charged ache
In your spirit allows.
I just love this part and will try and hold onto these thoughts. This is another exception peice of work from an exceptional poet!!
There is a wonderful sense of optimism in this poem Scott. There is great beauty and it will surround you…In this crazy, mixed up World of ours that sounds pretty good to me right about now. The changing of Seasons does make one think of one’s mortality,,,the fleeting nature of our existence. With Beauty by your, or my, side that is a wonderful way to pass through this life of constant change. It is with this resilience that we all can muddle through and do the best that we can to make our lives worthwhile and leave this World better for having been on it for a while. Best wishes to you for a wonderful Autumn and much success to you on your new book,’Angel Voices’.
“The smell of fresh rain,
Like gunpowder on the lawn,” loved the simile! Your words are always filled with wisdom and passion. Exquisite poem, you are well and truly brilliant! Gorgeous Scott
What a great description of life.
Thank you!!
Scott that is beautiful. I’d like to put it in the Nov issue.
Myra
As I try to live, Scottie. This is great. A wonderful affirmation of life as it should be.
Peace and love,
Pamela ox
“Great Scott, you pen marvelous mind lifting poetry.”
Beautiful words Scottie as ever !
Wonderful heartfelt poem Scott!!
Amen!
Beautiful for the soul
Would that the world WOULD wait for us to respond; unquiet or no, perhaps we have something they need to hear.
Scott says: Hi Robert, thanks for your thoughts – in the context of this poem, I was really referring more to the physical world – fluid and organic yes, but in contrast to the poems protagonist essentially an inanimate presence…
Scott, you are one of the best contemporary poets. Your work is a feast for the senses.. 🙂
That was beautiful, Scott.
How absolutely lovely how you put the sensitive soul’s “being-in-the-world” into words!
“Here I am,
As if to confound myself,
Just as I ever was.
Seemingly little more
Than an excited dervish,
Forever chasing shadows”
And deep, I will drink of my sorrows and my joy!
The moment I began reading this poem I saw a canvas being painted before my eyes. It contained beautiful images that gave my mind a jog to view great imaginations as though I was there – this is excellent!
Can I just drink deep. Period?
How essential it is to have a “charged ache in your spirit”, may mine keep digging me in the ribs.
Without fear we are indeed capable of anything – but my ability to chose wisely is not strong.
So drink deep of your sorrows, – Love this lines that deep inner feeling of the heart. This really works.
“The smell of fresh rain,
Like gunpowder on the lawn,
Embellishes the day”
I really love the gunpowder on the lawn as an image, but it’s probably really bad for the gunpowder. 😉
Beautiful..love the sense of everything coming to an end.. and that wisdom in the end, it really is the essence.
Well said!
Yes, humans are capable of anything, from the sublime to the ridiculous to the downright vicious.
‘Beauty will continue to throng around me’—Yes!!! This is the reason for that ‘charged ache’ you write about so beautifully.
“for as long as the charged ache in your spirit allows”……I resonate with that charged ache….it gets deeper with each decade. Beautiful, Scott.
the beauty thronging around you…that image just gripped me. the mainstay, even once we’re gone.
stacy lynn mar
The last stanza is my favorite. ‘love and live restlessly’ – is anything more essential?
Lovely poem addressing the idiosiyncracies of ife, its pains and joys all of which we should drink in. Enjoyed this so much.
Very poignantly, sensitively portrayed Scott sir.
we all get drowned in the mirage of life, regarding it as real or true; but Life is a passing dream and all us souls are but, Actors in the Theatre of Life…striving for perfection; evolving emotionally, mentally and spiritually, with the passage of time.
Another creative , sensitive piece of profound poesy.
Well done sir!
Great going as always..
Bless!!! 🙂
Fond regards
Neena
A very good write. I like the questioning voice I hear through out. Wondering at things trying not to be confused.
Such wonderful wording for the way to live. Beautifully expressed poem here. It’s amazing how much we allow our fears to rule us. There’s so much beauty in the world that we should focus on instead. What a great reminder you’ve given 🙂
‘The world watches
And waits for us, it seems…’ ~ For sure…. And the winner could be anyone who knows how to use the beauty of nature, how to find it inside yourself in all that experience or ‘aches’ as you put it… x
Really like that ‘charged ache in the spirit’…very emotive…
Elizabeth
Bravo!!! love all of you that’s expressed in your poem. Very thoughtful and very deep. Good job!!!
A lovely and deep message in it…without fear, everything is possible..reminds me of Tagore’s lines ” Where the mind is without fear “
Scott, your talent is amazing and I am honoured to read your work. Much love and light to you always K.C.
Yes I read and read again the imagery powerful and then the last part, such a punch so true… to drink in the sorrow… Such is life and we must embrace both sorrow and joy…
I enjoy the tranition from rain “like gunpowder on the lawn” to a single drop of moisture clinging to a leaf. Beautiful piece.
Great poem. It was reassuring that an unquiet response to the nature of things might be best. Unquiet it is, then! The last stanza is absolutely beautiful. An anthem for living. Well done!
Loved the flow…
And the last stanza is etched in my mind.
Words worth remembering:
For isn’t it true that,
Without fear,
We are capable of anything…
Wonderful Scott!
How refreshing to read this on this beautiful morning in the PNW! Your writing always reveals a keen sense of understanding of the human condition; the inner ache, the hope. I love the “excited dervish chasing shadows”!
There was a day that fear ruled my life..and one day it disappeared as that it had never lived..and since then i have lived a thousand years in one year of life.. as i was never even living..with fear…
To live without illusory fears..is worth any price..
i paid the price..
and now i2 reap the reward….:)
Very inspiring words..glad i came by this way…
today…now.
Yes – agreed – Live, Love, & Dance…beautifully said.
Loved this Scott –especially the last stanza!
“So drink deep of your sorrows,
Drink deep of your joy
And then love and live restlessly”
Keep the urgency—the zest for life, for love—alive. How true this is. We should never be complacent in these things that should hold such an importance for us! Wonderfully captured, indeed.
Yes, hear hear! Our themes were quite similar this week… I especially loved
“As if to suggest tis best
To have an unquiet response
To the nature of things”
Fabulous.
I liked the simplicity and deepness of this
I sigh with pleasure from reading your poem.
Your poem is joyous and very positive. Live life with passion, to the fullest…life is not a dress rehearsal…it is the one and only performance, so it is important that it is a good one 🙂
Quietly we must gather our sense of self and find a place in the world.. Here I am.. I hope for a day when that will happen too..
Quite beautiful. A delight to read.
We all find what we seek or have in ourselves in this poem, don’t we? (That’s what a good poem is all about). I found myself particularly resonating with the verses:
little more
Than an excited dervish,
Forever chasing shadows
That’s how it feels like when you are trying to capture impressions, reality and experience in words.
I loved the ideas contained in the final stanza, very well done Scott.
A wonderful inspiring poem!
Sometimes our inner soul depresses and encourages us both at the same time and its up to us which way we want to go.
And then love and live restlessly
For as long as the charged ache
In your spirit allows.
Great ending Scott! Yes live and let live. Let things move on their expected inertia!
Hank
What a lovely write. I enjoy the wisdom in it, the recognition that life can be happy but there can be sorrow and that fear prevents us from fully living.
I thouroughly enjoyed reading this. Thank you.
This has a lovely resonance to it. My favorite stanza is the one that says:
The smell of fresh rain,
Like gunpowder on the lawn,
Embellishes the day,
As the summer rips on.
You can hear the beat in this, and at the same time it paints a picture of both sight and smell.
Additionally, great picture next this. It has some whimsy which is really nice.
“So drink deep of your sorrows,
Drink deep of your joy
And then love and live restlessly”
One can not underestimate the power of embracing our sorrows – loved this and yes, restlessly live 🙂
Lovely writing and the point about fear is so apt. Fear is our biggest enemy.
Someone once said but I can’t remember who so ‘author unknown’ Fear went to the door, Courage answered, there was no-one there.
Lovely Scott, as always, thank you!
Such passion for life in this one! Well done.
Very nicely stated. It does ring true, unfortunately for me, I seem to have more sorrow binging than joy lately. Hope it’ll change soon. Well done.
I came across your poem (forgetting where and when, but today I fully understand who the author is. I believe that since the poem talk to souls there must be difference in interpretation and thoughts about it. Here’s what I have to say: I generally consider the poem as inspiring…or quite motivating? in the first stanza the persona expresses his stand… as if confusing oneself as never before… ” forever chasing shadows…in the literal meaning is not far from fruitless effort, but in metaphorical sense can be a goal similar to shadow in the sense that it cannot be touched or caught yet it’s there. “knowing that…(when achieved) beauty will continue to throng (gather) around me (persona of the poem) “Till am no more”…(here no more does not mean death but rather the persona is no more confused or confusing). This stage in life can be achieved through struggle … “without fear, we are capable of anything”…showing strength in character and hope or certainty. “Smell of fresh rains” signifies the hope… and whatever one does… ” The world watches.. and waits for us”…(for heroic cheers? ” to have an unquiet response”. The last stanza celebrate the success yet cautions the bearer of the success… ” Drink deep of your sorrows, drink deep of your joy, love and live restlessly, as long as, the charged ache, in your spirit allows”… for as long as one absorbs the tension or pressures as well enjoys the fruits of his struggle… the struggle continues as far as he is alive.
Scott says: Thanks for the time and trouble you’ve taken your detailed take on this poem, Nura – I think on your notion of ‘heroic cheers’ my take here is that I feel a discernible presence which is standing by somehow – as it must… Waiting, hoping for us to do the right thing… If that helps at all? I did take care of the amends to your comment, as requested – Thanks again for your interest in my work – much appreciated…
Hi Scott,
Your elegant poem is beautiful as always. I love it!
Yours,
Loi
Scott this is beautiful and inspirational….
“Without fear we are capable of anything…” How perfect this is, Scottie. This entire piece rushes through me like fresh summer rain, makes me want to whirl like a dervish. One of my favorites now…. xx
What a wonderful poem, Scott! Thank you!
Especially love this:
“Beauty will continue
To throng around me,
Till I am no more.”
Here I am! Ready to confound as well as astound.. There aren’t enough raindrops that pour through the hole in the sky to express the sentiments of such metaphors. Autumn seems to inspire as well as motivate me also. it’s a sense of elegance and sophistication that makes us wonder. You write for the soul… Restless as we are, it is the questions of the universe which we rarely discover the equations. So continue to grace us, let us too use our imagination to seek out within.
Deep and moving. Very specific and interesting visuals, especially the dervish.
Hi Scott,
Anyway, this is lovely as usual. The final stanza is particularly strong; the challenge to drink deep of our sorrows is one we need to hear in a world where we seem to do all that we can to anaesthetise ourselves against sorrow and pain. Sometimes it is only by experiencing setbacks that we can grow.
Scott, I think voluptuousness with the acrid smell of gunpowder. Personally I know, with you, that the spirit can expand to the limits of almost anything. Keith Moul
Very beautiful. So much feeling and rawness. Well done.
Scott, you exhibit this delicate touch, each breath between scenes caught in the pines, the caress of a feather while the quill, suspended from animation dips drunk into the well of the moon, it’s always too soon when this poem is done.
I hear echoes of Li Po, of so much breath baited, pregnant pauses . . . I can’t wait to devour more of your verses, good Sir.
What intricate work you make! This is fine nourishment, and I’m starved.
J.
Your work is lovely. I was drawn into your words immediately:
“So drink deep of your sorrows,
Drink deep of your joy
And then love and live restlessly
For as long as the charged ache
In your spirit allows.”
Beautifully written and I particularly love this last part.
This poem really speaks to me and it is so true. Thank you so much for sharing this.
HI Scott, I read this and liked it. Will look out for more.
Best
Christopher
Our journey in life is but “once” and people must enjoy and be happy with every thing they have on a daily basis for life “holds” uncertainty of another day. Live life to the utmost as long as theirs will and the energy. A great poem to leave the reader wondering.
The smell of fresh rain,
Like gunpowder on the lawn,
I love that line. Powerful, evocative. Best, Dillon
I rather believe we are kindred souls fine sir. To drink deep both of sorrows and of joy and to live restlessly is timeless. Your work draws me in and opens my soul. I care to dance a little more with your words. I shall look deeper. My perfect find for 2015 xx
Love ‘Here I am’ Scottie. You pick out the things that I have noticed in my subconscious but need your ‘thread’ to draw them to the consciousness Thankyou old friend x