Saturday, April 4, 2015

ONE LIFE, LIVE IT



THE SLOW ROAD

My own dreams
have been my waking day wander
through the wonder, done in ways
when my legs were much stronger,
my stride longer,
my head always telling my feet to move slower.

Many a watershed crossed both in time and over.
Chasing slow breezes to cradle me,
teaching me to use the wings I have,
sing the songs only my ears could hear
that others may share the beauty,
the poetry found everywhere.

Safe and secure never got me
anywhere worth going.
I had to see, dare, touch
to come to the knowing
of being a shadow,
a ghost to them who sped on by
that I live but a moment and that’s alright with me.

Fortune brought me slowly
to all the worlds I have seen,
some filled with people, others but a few,
all though, looking for
some peace in their being that is faithful, true.

There is no answer
that is right for me that will
exactly solve a question
for another it seems,
all must trust in the strength
of their own soul
to come to the waking wonder
of their own dreams.

© M Durfee
4.4.2015


43 years ago at 0500 I left my parents house to begin a life long journey. Every journey begins with some fear and the courage to take that first step away from the known.

18 comments:

  1. I remember when my stride was long, when my feet came down with authority, when the ground where I walked knew it had been walked on. Now I shuffle, barely above a whisper, and when I pass the earth never knows

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    1. There is only one question to that statement Charles, are you comfortable with your stride now or do you pine for the days when concrete crumbled at your passing. Personally I like the whispers of the wind as I move.

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  2. ... me ouw ... on the other hand ... have 8 more lives to live after this one ... smiles ... Love, cat.

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    1. Meowmomma, you live 80000000000000000000 more if you wish, as long as you have you own hands firmly on the wheel--I say go for it!

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  3. Everybody seems to notice when I roll by and I don't apologize for taking up space in the world.

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    1. e--There is a necessity for you to be physically visible and there is no need for you to apologize for that need. I like being mostly invisible to the world around me. Even though my skin makes me stick out like a sore thumb, I still am given my solitude. I earned it.

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  4. Such a peaceful poem for such a violent start.

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    1. Alice, the violence in my life when i was young got sorted out many many decades ago while i was still young. Faith is a great thing.

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  5. Yeah, walking away from one's childhood home at 16 [me] shapes one's whole life story - or at least kicks it off colorfully. This has to be my fave of your poems. All the way through. My legs were stronger, and now I do walk and drive patiently like I never could before. I refuse to let that overpower me with sadness or regret



    ALOHA from Honolulu,
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=

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    1. Cloudia it is best to not forget the errors of being young, when forgiveness comes easier from the cosmos yet, like you, I have no reason to lose sleep and have very few choices i would have made differently.

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  6. There is so much truth in this. Safe and secure don't get you anywhere worth going. We must have that hunger to discover and risk. And nothing that you've lived will solve anything for me and vice-versa. We are one life to live. Not anyone else's. Just our own.

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    1. Myriam I can but view your life and maybe take away from it a hint that appeals to me to try to put in my world but anything more would me trying to be something I am not.

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  7. I dig! This is another of several of your poems that would make a good song, too, when set to music.

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    1. Thanks Erik--some friends of mine have tried with different pieces but just couldn't pick up the rhythm shifts *meh* it's poetry anyway.

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  8. Never stop looking, questioning, wanting. I know we get 'programmed', and our road gets 'mapped', but like you, I never wish to follow that road. I have my own mind and my own story to write....

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  9. Shadow I have tried few times to live the life others laid out for me, I failed every time. That when i sleep I sleep in peace, means walking my road my way was the only way.

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  10. Mark-I would have been scared to leave home as early as you, but my circumstances were different. You walked, observed and now the experience has made you who you are. xo

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  11. I like that last stanza, so much honesty in your reflection ~ I believe in marking one's destiny and making the best of my choices or situation ~ As long as I have peace, then I am fine with it ~

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So Walking Man I was thinking...