In passing

Where the water dances
With the fountain,
Falling over itself
To reach the rim of existing
Only to plunge into the deep pool below
We sit together
Embraced by trees and trailing vine
Held still by cicada song
Waiting for the next breath
~

Re: In passing

i love this line

Held still by cicada song

and i was holding my breath, felt like i was a shadow on the water
to the voice of this poem

and for some reason I read 'purge' instead of plunge !
my heart is captured and I re-read to hold that moment still

thank you for sharing
xx azyh

Re: In passing

Leigh-Anne, I like this a lot, but don't know if I can comment meaningfully on it. Partly because it's poetry (I love the seamlessness and seeming effortlessness of your poetry) but mostly, I think, because the piece draws me into a deep silence.

We don't have cicadas here but I know them from elsewhere and love their song. Crickets I know better, from growing up on the prairies. They're not as acoustically talented as cicadas, but there's something about the call when you hear it (especially at night) that brings you to now. (I expect I would appreciate it more now than I did then.)

I love being Embraced by trees and trailing vine, and the dancing silences, movement and stillness all held in the same space… The length of the poem to me feels just about right to fit between inhale and exhale.

I read your pages from the secret garden blog this morning and saw that this was part of it, and so much more. All beautiful.

Thank you.

Re: In passing

thank you very much Azyh and Ruth -

Azyh: and i was holding my breath, felt like i was a shadow on the water
to the voice of this poem

this to me is a poem itself :-)

Ruth: We don't have cicadas here but I know them from elsewhere and love their song.

so funny - It never occurred to me that there were no cicadas in the prairies! They only come out in the heat here - and for me their song is synonymous with the achingly hot steamy days of summer (which we are finally having here after months of cool weather and rain). Thank you for reading the blog - I never really know who does… glad that it added to the experience of the poem. I hadn't thought about that possibility either.

thank you :-)