Monday, July 8, 2013

Poem of the Week ~ If Even Wings Are Limiting.....?

Kids, I was surfing around the blogosphere trying to "catch up" on commenting, (does anyone ever??), when I stumbled upon a poem so good in its import and execution that I had to stop what I was doing and make it our Poem of the Week. 




Ruth at Turtle Memoirs, describes herself as  "a lover of words and of silences. I write with at least one foot in memoir, most of the time, and I seldom argue with what wants to be written."

I wouldn't argue, either, with a poem like this :

if even wings are limiting…? (taste-testing freedom)



even birds don’t fly
beyond the limits set by
wings
yet i
D R E A M
of sucking air enough to leave this
lumpish body on its lying bed, to taste (at last!)
the verity of tall-told tales that we are free to soar past pre-
determined bounds & definitions, to pierce↑ the sky
of anything that gods or words can say
and i who’ve always only flown with words for wings
float wordless through this heavy-sleeping world and waking, try
to translate what i hadn’t known i knew into a tongue that i’m no longer sure
of, for dreams insist that is
is isn’twon’t,
necessity; while can’t WILL
dance with pure potential
what if, awake, we dropped all definition of what is or isn’t, who we are or what
life tastes like – as if defining renders real when we all know, words lie
as easily as speak the truth and every language, learns to clip
our wings…
must we resign ourselves to languages’
delimitations or
shall we leave this heaviness
of words behind
and soar?
if even wings are limiting let’s
shrug them off – let’s!
throw off mind that screams you can’t, LET’S!
taste the boundless skies of
YOU ARE FREE
__
Ruth's message of soaring and freedom is so uplifting, it made me raise my own droopy wings and point them at the ceiling. Thank you so much, Ruth, for your wonderful writing, and for your loyalty and long-time membership at Poets United.

Kids, be sure to come back next Monday, for an extensive interview with our very own shining star, Ninotaziz, who is blazing comet-like trails all across Malaysia, with her books based on Malay legends. 


18 comments:

  1. ..aww, well done Ruth... & great choice Sherry... i've just commented on her page re: this poem when i did my catching up for verse first & no wonder you picked this... though i said this there i still would love to shout it out here again: 'this is a perfectly hard punching piece!'.... loved it... smiles...

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  2. Very nice pick. The word play here is delicious!!!

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  3. This is SO fantastic! Sherry, thank-you for bringing it here. Thank-you Ruth.

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  4. This is wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

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  5. This is beautiful, Ruth. A wonderful choice, Sherry.

    I love:

    "If even wings are limiting let's
    shrug them off! let's"

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  6. Yes!! A perfectly transcribed poem from thought to words - and having spent so many years with squashed wings, I LOVE this :)

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  7. nice...this was an excellent verse by ruth...and she is such good people as well...smiles...

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  8. ...
    yet i
    D R E A M
    of sucking air enough to leave this
    lumpish body on its lying bed, to taste (at last!)
    the verity of tall-told tales that we are free to soar past pre-
    determined bounds & definitions, to pierce↑ the sky
    of anything that gods or words can say
    ...
    Yes, Sherry, Yes. What a marvelous poem, examining the words that limit time and space, and even questioning the wings. This poem comes from experience and it touches me deeply, touches both the pain and the merriment of soaring thoughts.

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  9. Oh wow! such a lovely piece, perfect to shake off and fly soar touch the clouds feel the breeze....

    I have been out of here for sometime but hopefully will be back catching up. well yes sherry you have a partner ' in crime' of coming in late to comment so take heart and well must say you have a wonderful job at hand!! :)

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  10. Wow! Very nice expresssion of how I sometimes feel about my oral and verbal language limitations.

    Gracias for sharing Sherry and Ruth.

    Off for a few days

    Don't forget to throw each other ((hugs)) while I'm gone.

    P.S. save me one, por favor

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  11. A painting needs more than a nice frame to be a masterpiece, and she just made it possible..Love the pictures painted.

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  12. Sometime we have to be reminded that we are Free!!! What a wonderful piece!

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  13. Beautiful! I love the air she has lifted under my wings :D
    Wonderful Ruth!

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  14. Thank you, Sherry - you did an amazing job of magic-carpeting my poem to its home away from home. And thanks to all who read and/or commented - I feel honoured to be here, with you.

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  15. ove the way she twists her words for a flow, a puzzle for the mind to understand fully. Intresting

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  16. Yes, this pulled me in from the very first lines as well! I enjoy a well used metaphor and this truly is. I might even remember that as an explanation to my children "even birds don't fly beyond the limets set by wings..."

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