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Wisteria Vines

Sometimes I have to remember
How gently the wisteria trees
Sway in a sunshower.

How the gossamers built with patience
Must sometimes be built again,
And again, and again without complaint.

I have to listen for the laughter
The one you'd almost miss if you were
Too worried about the symmetry of the seams

On the dress your mother sewed
And you re-sowed. “Be at ease.”
That lithe voice whispered, smiling.

I imagine there on the front porch
A child with golden hair and
Sapphire eyes, planting a huge basium

On the family pup’s nose, and they both
Turn shyly and grin at my future.
“Mommy, let's play,” she says, and I know it's everything. Everything

I ever wanted. To play. To delight
In words dancing on pages and
Make the dirt at my feet into ballrooms.

“It's not a tempest, my dear, only
A little rain, swaying the wisteria
Blooms.” My mother again holds my hand.

The hand that would one day
Write about what howls in the depths
Of silence, penning softly.

I taste the brackish thoughts,
Salty on my tongue, of the Sea,
The Sea that takes all.

And then I imagine those
Precious gem eyes, interpenetrating mine
With an interference of calm.

I feel light, almost pneumatic.
Nevermore will I worry about perfect lines.
This life, I live like the vines.

Play, and sway, and grow again.

--

Mad Words List 4.17.18:

Howl
Gossamer
Lithe
Sunshower
Nevermore
Serendipity
Brackish
Interference
Seams
Suffice
Symmetry
Basium
Gold
Interpenetration
Pneumatic
Wisteria
Tempest

--

Writing, and life itself, is all about the choices we make. My first attempt at writing this poem with this word list was going to be a very harsh poem. I focused on the words "interpenetration" and "howl" and "brackish" at first. It was going to be called "Mind Rape" and I promise it sounds exactly like it sounds and you don't want to read it.

I did not want to write a harsh poem today though. So I wrote something softer. A reminder of gentleness and being yourself. Of casting off perfection and expectations. Of appreciating who you are, who has helped make you who you are, and who will in the future. Today's poem is a tribute to the connection between the past, the present, and the future, to play and imagination, and it's about our choices and perspectives and how they help us to grow.

Happy #MadPoetryTuesday! Enjoy reading. :-)

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