We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage / And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die, / We Poets of the proud old lineage / Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why ... (James Elroy Flecker)

27.5.20

Dreamer Rearmed

Dreamer Rearmed

Who is it peels the sleep from my eyes?
What slid the drowse down off my lids?

A gentle pat to tap me awake,
and I feel that other world vanish, flee.

Oh, dear dreams I can no longer read!
They race away in spite of all my care.

Frail as a trampled reed, swifter than deer,
their arcs of light fade to a shadowy scar.

To file the wild unknown inside ordinary life
I never aspired; this is despair.

                          ************

Reality will alter, but how much later?
Meanwhile I live this side of the veil.

Sad and silent, I learn to listen,
to rediscover the recent centre.

Not a naiver leap back into the ravine —
feet on the ground, I can still begin being.

I search the arts for my guiding star,
ward off conformity by starting to draw.

Or share visions in words, for any who hears.
A siren song, the dream within me is risen!



In Weekly Scribblings #21 at Poets and Storytellers United, Magaly invites us to play with anagrams. I have matching pairs in every line of this poem and also the title. Way to go with the mixed metaphors, lol! Making some kind of coherent narrative was challenging, and fun.

18 comments:

  1. You really went to town with anagrams, Rosemary, and had a lot of fun with them! The title set you off on the right foot and then you just took off! I especially like the lines:
    ‘Frail as a trampled reed, swifter than deer,
    their arcs of light fade to a shadowy scar’
    and
    ‘Not a naiver leap back into the ravine —
    feet on the ground, I can still begin being’.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Kim, glad you enjoyed. Actually the title was the last thing that came to me,.

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    2. Oh, she didn't just go to town, Kim. Our Rosemary pretty much flew to a new realm, lol! And how deliciously she did it.

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  2. What a delightful collection you have here Rosemary. I loved them all.

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  3. This poem feels absolutely magical with the version and inversion of words.

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  4. Beautiful poem and clever as hell as well!!!

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  5. The first thing I love about this, Rosemary, is how well the title describes the poem's content and tone. The cadence sounds like a march, a well-armed march to arms for the times. I enjoyed how the first portion reads like a journal and the second part feels like all the lessons the journaled living has provided. The last two stanzas made me cheer.

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  6. Wow! Line after anagrammatic line! Thanks for this great read.

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  7. From the title to "A siren song, the dream within me is risen!" this poem is full of passionate power and an "I will not give up" attitude. I adore it!

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  8. "their arcs of light fade to a shadowy scar."

    Luv this line, especially since i also used a shadow motif in my poem

    Muchđź’–love

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  9. You nailed it with every line. I loved how the dreamer was rearmed!

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  10. This is masterful, Rosemary! Impressive, sustained use of anagrams that not only makes sense but is profound.

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  11. Wow! You are a wordsmith! Amazing skills. I liked your take on the prompt. Good day/night!

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  12. Interesting . I like the way you saw sleep as a place to enter and to exit

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  13. Rosemary, you have no idea how appropriate this was for me. And with the liberal application of anagrams, each very appropriate for bringing your message.
    Sleep, and its lack, has become a medical and social issue here with us.
    I won't amplify.
    A really nice read that you wrote for us.
    ..

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  14. Wow! What a wonderful poem and collection of anagrams. I love, naiver and ravine.

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  15. Many thanks to everyone for the kind comments!

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