As I bask in the sun
Watching
the grandkids
Chase
Each other with squirt guns
on a warm March afternoon
I think of another birthday chase.
Sitting in the backseat
Watching
Grandpa
Racing
down Main Street
Chasing
Mu favorite red tights
That blew out of the car
On a blustery March afternoon.
As I check out the flowers
Peeking
Out of the ground
Celebrating life
I think of other flowers
Standing at attention
Honoring the dead
As I bask in the sun
Memories
Chase
Through my mind
Intertwine
With the present
Taking me back
Reminding me of
Life's Circle
Great memory! Love the line...Reminding me of Life's Circle.
ReplyDeleteI like this image, Deb: "I think of other flowers/Standing at attention/Honoring the dead." It's a beautiful poem, showing the quiet thoughts on a warm afternoon, moving around in your head. It's neat that you showed that movement in your poem. Our mind connects to memories in interesting ways, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI love the repetition of the word "chase" as you use it for kids chasing one another and then for the memories chasing through your mind. Powerful. Makes me wistful, makes miss my dad, gets me chasing my own memories...
ReplyDeleteChasing red tights down the street... funny image of a grandpa.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful poem with wonderful reflection and memories. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI chuckled when I visualized Grandpa chasing those red tights on a blustery March day! And I love your words, "Memories Chase Through my mind Intertwine With the present Taking me back". This one will go in my notebook! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful poem chasing the memories of the past and the present reminding all of us of the circle of life. (Loved your word choice!) Enjoy the beautiful day!
ReplyDeleteI like the way your poem showed how sensory moments in the present can trigger such powerful memories! (Michelle said your post was related to mine and she was right!) I love the image of your Grandpa chasing your favorite red tights down the road -- so cute and funny! :-)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful poem and picture to go with it too. I loved, "As I check out the flowers, Peeking, Out of the ground, Celebrating life." I love the idea of flowers, when they bloom, that it is a celebration. Like they are saying, "I made it, here I am, look at me and my beauty!"
ReplyDeleteLove the use of the repeating line and the verbs...
ReplyDeleteI love the intertwining and the reminder at the end.
Deb, I loved that this poem 'marinated' in your mind before it poured out...
ReplyDeleteI also loved the way you connected the past and the present so seamlessly
This is so well-crafted! It fills me with questions about the choices you made as a writer. Did you know where you were headed before started? Did you have that brilliant conclusion all figured out before you jumped in or did it emerge as the poem was being crafted?
ReplyDeleteI am happy to hear you still think of your relationship with your own grandfather. I often think of myself in the child role with my family and wondered if that was because I do not have children of my own.
Christie--as often happens with my poetry, I didn't know where I was going when I started. It started with the memory of my grandfather chasing my tights up main street of my home town. I was going to write a piece about the memory, but when I sat down to write, it came out poetry. Lines here and there--I didn't even write the stanzas in order. I got done writing it down and realized it wasn't finished--it needed an ending and that's when the flower part came in. My mother-in-law died five years ago, the day after my birthday. A dear friend's mother was being buried on my birthday this year...it just all came together...
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