A Poetry Moment III

I equate poems to paintings. They are short – usually one page – and they form a specific image or feeling in your mind. I think they can also be more difficult to write than prose. The writer has to be very precise with their words, much like a painter with their brush on the canvas. Every brushstroke counts for something, but too much blue here or red over there and the image is ruined.

I’ve always tried to convey a mix of imagery and emotion in my verse. I’m not sure how successful I am, but I try. The thing about writing poetry, at least for me, is that I need to feel the emotion as I write. The imagery comes easily enough, but it’s the emotion that can be difficult to get onto the page.

For this poetry moment, I’m sharing a poem I wrote one day after meditating. I felt so peaceful, my mind was clear, my heart untroubled, and I wanted to capture that feeling on paper.

—–

Transcendental Musings 

I recline on a grassy hilltop and inhale

the sweet scent of cherry blossoms.

A gentle wind stirs the branches and

white petals drift like snow.

I close my eyes as they fall around me,

covering me like a soft sigh,

pushing my body back into the cool earth

as my spirit drifts upward,

slowly,

cautiously,

  into the blue unknown.

A gust of wind comes along to reshuffle my 

house of white blooms.

It catches my spirit and carries it aloft,

higher and higher,

further and further,

until I am once again back where I started

but I am not the same.

I am cleansed,

renewed,

reborn.

Om.

—–

While I think this poem gives the reader an idea of the feeling I had when I wrote this, I’m sure a talented poet could do a better job of capturing that sense of emptiness and fullness that comes from mindful meditation.

If nothing else, I hope I painted a nice picture for you.

RB