Tuesday, June 7, 2011

avenues



all my beginnings
pass through eyes
that like green avenues
unfold inwards
so like the sudden
pale light
of a lantern's glowing shafts
across dusk's river

all my beginnings
pass through ears
that feel the world
as the gentle cadence of
songs without words
so like the wavering
of a lantern's glowing shafts
across dusk's river

all my beginnings
pass through my fingers
and my mouth
sweeping the vibrating planes
for the trembling gifts
that are so like the soft quelling
of a lantern's glowing shafts
across dusk's river

.


our stories tell themselves
all about us

11 comments:

SG said...

Are you referring to God being aware of all human edeavours through these lines?

SG said...

typo - the word in the comment above is "endeavours"

steven said...

hi SG, this poem is about my own very human experience of the surface of this world. steven

Valerianna said...

Great one! I love all my beginnings.... just so simple, but profound - the never ending spiral, beginnings again and again and again....

Shaista said...

Yes, it is all about 'all my beginnings' here in the Tayabali household! A baby is poetry in motion... I understand now the similes, the metaphors... Why babies are described as starfish... Their ears mollusks... Conch shells... Did Sylvia Plath write something like that?
Do write a blog post about fatherhood memories!

Reya Mellicker said...

I have so many different beginnings, too. Indeed! xx

steven said...

valerianna - i think it was when i began this blog and i rediscovered clouds that a much larger beginning began. so much was ending at the time that it made sense for there to be some beginnings! those beginnings have gathered momentum and are propelling me onwards into many other new beginnings that are revisitings of places i have already been but this time round my senses and presence are wide open. steven

steven said...

shaista - a beautiful comment and inspirational also because i have written a little bit about being a father but not enough to reflect the depths of my love for my children. there's a quality to the depth of love i feel for them that is unparalleled in any of my experiences with love. it is entirely unique. thankyou so much for lighting that candle. steven

steven said...

reya - beginnings contain endings: the one left behind and the one coming. they arethe quintessential swelling and contracting, the ebb and flow, the give and take, the surge and retreat, the taking on and letting go. whenever something presents itself, i look at what it is displacing and often realize that the displaced had been leaving for some time, while the newly arrived had been displacing it for some time also. steven

Tess Kincaid said...

Our lives are full of beautiful beginnings, are they not? I have a Greek angel very much like this one you've included.

steven said...

hello tess! they are, they are! i am sorry i didn't post a credit for this angel image. he is very beautiful. i looked and looked for a male angel. steven