Hello all. I hope wonderful Sundays are being had. I almost didn’t have a response. I forgot to copy the words when I got them, which starts my process. I’m not thrilled… but I am here.
pulled for revision
See you on my rounds, or yours.
Poem in Response to Wordle #44
19
Feb
annell
19/02/2012 at 12:29 pm
I loved every word!
margo roby
19/02/2012 at 12:30 pm
Aw… thank you, annell!
siggiofmaine
19/02/2012 at 12:47 pm
This is grrreat . Love it. The Wordles are so fun to read … and this one is no exception with the metaphor tossed in for good behavior…ok, writing.
Peace,
Siggi in Downeast Maine
margo roby
19/02/2012 at 5:41 pm
I don’t know, Siggi. I like ‘for good behaviou’r!
viv blake
19/02/2012 at 12:50 pm
But this is really good, Margo. I was expecting the worst, from your comment on my blog, and your preamble, but this is one of the best!
margo roby
19/02/2012 at 5:42 pm
Thank you, ViV. I found myself reworking the poem to remove anything that sounded cliche, so this draft is much better than my previous.
m
wordsandthoughtspjs
19/02/2012 at 12:56 pm
I with Viv, Margo. This is one of the best I have read today. Nicely done.
Pamela
margo roby
19/02/2012 at 5:43 pm
Thank you, Pamela. You all are making me feel good.
m
JulesPaige
19/02/2012 at 12:56 pm
I liked how the last line pulled it all together. Ghosts like doctors – perhaps some do help to heal?
margo roby
19/02/2012 at 5:43 pm
I think so, Jules.
m
b_y
19/02/2012 at 1:23 pm
I really like the bizarre/heart-searing combination.
Don’t put it down–it’s just quiet.
margo roby
19/02/2012 at 5:44 pm
Thanks, Barb. I like that. It’s quiet. I will come back to it.
m
Marianne
19/02/2012 at 2:09 pm
Great writing and a great poem, Margo! I loved the line: “where it has worn sores on my soul.”
margo roby
19/02/2012 at 5:45 pm
You and I seem to like the same lines, Marianne. That’s my favourite, too.
m
Marianne
20/02/2012 at 8:40 am
Thanks for the Edward Arlington Robinson link! I loved: “I was not here until you came;
And I shall not be here when you are gone.”
margo roby
20/02/2012 at 8:57 am
Marianne, I know. Talk about a smack upside the head. My students found this one tough but they liked the poem.
brenda w
19/02/2012 at 2:40 pm
This is beautiful, Margo. The similie comparing sores on your soul to straps digging furrows in your skin is exquisite.
margo roby
19/02/2012 at 5:45 pm
Thank you. Brenda. I am happiest with that simile.
m
Mary
19/02/2012 at 3:05 pm
I didn’t wordle today. Just couldn’t find the words. I like yours, Margo. From your poem, I understand that the only way to deal with one’s ghost / ghosts is to face it / them. I concur with that. Otherwise it is up to too much mischief in those ‘dark places.’
margo roby
19/02/2012 at 5:47 pm
Exactly, Mary. I like it when you tell me what you understand from what I have written. It helps a lot.
m
Julie Catherine
19/02/2012 at 3:18 pm
Wonderful poem, Margo – I also enjoyed the comparison of ‘worn sores on my soul’ with ‘straps diffing furrows into my skin’; very, very nicely worded. ~ Julie 🙂
margo roby
19/02/2012 at 5:50 pm
Thank you, Julie! Question: Are you going to let me know when you need reminders posted for your blog? If you are completely on schedule now, I can make it a regular thing, myself.
m
Julie Catherine
19/02/2012 at 8:42 pm
Hi Margo 🙂
Yes, every month I will be having a ‘guest blog’ feature on the first; every month I will do a Medal of Humor post in the second week; those will be on a regular schedule – and I really appreciate your posting them for me, thank you.
I will email you about a notice I’d like you to put in for next Thursday for a special contest. The ‘special’ stuff I will always send you an email for the week before.
You are so kind to do these things for us, thank you!
Julie 🙂
margo roby
20/02/2012 at 9:01 am
It is my pleasure, Julie. If you don’t see yourself in the Friday list for your regular features, yell. I may confuse the calendar. We’ll see ^–^.
Yousei Hime
19/02/2012 at 4:03 pm
I like best that you never name or identify the ghost, only describe it as it pertains to you. I feel many can relate to having such ghosts.
margo roby
19/02/2012 at 5:51 pm
Thanks, Yousei. I was hoping that would make the poem more, rather than less, personal. Glad to hear that’s how you see it.
Yousei Hime
19/02/2012 at 6:04 pm
Yes, more personal for the reader, which includes the author as the reread it. Nicely done.
Laurie Kolp
19/02/2012 at 6:25 pm
I love the flow of these words nestled, restless, recesses and:
it has worn sores on my soul
like tight straps wearing furrows
into my skin
margo roby
20/02/2012 at 9:05 am
Thank you, Laurie. I am learning a lot about using sound, from Joseph Harker.
margo
markwindham
19/02/2012 at 6:57 pm
I like the idea of summoning our ghosts, facing them and what they carry.
margo roby
20/02/2012 at 9:04 am
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Mark, that seems to be the best way.
m
whimsygizmo
19/02/2012 at 8:12 pm
Love this. We’ve woven some similar phrases and themes with the same words, yet also very different. Love when that happens.
Adore the phrase “redress the balance of my heart.”
margo roby
20/02/2012 at 9:02 am
Thank you, whimsy g. I love when that happens too. It’s such fun to come across while wandering the poems.
margo
Diane Belleville
19/02/2012 at 10:26 pm
Excellent response to the wordl, Margo.
margo roby
20/02/2012 at 8:59 am
Thank you, Diane!
Irene
20/02/2012 at 1:10 am
The last line gave me a sweet lump.
margo roby
20/02/2012 at 9:03 am
Thank you, Irene. It’s a shame it can be only for a time 🙂
Tilly Bud
20/02/2012 at 5:05 am
A great use of the words, Margo. I loved this: worn sores on my soul
margo roby
20/02/2012 at 8:58 am
Thank you, Tilly Bud. It sounds painful, doesn’t it.
Cathy
20/02/2012 at 6:00 pm
Very good, especially the flow of the poem
margo roby
21/02/2012 at 7:44 am
Thank you, Cathy.
tmhHoover
20/02/2012 at 10:21 pm
Here comes the straggler ghost “seeping in through the shadowy recesses”. I find that your words went where mine tried to go initially. It seems too often, if I let these writing prompts write themselves, they wander into much darker places than is comfortable. So what am I trying to say? Hmmm — that I am thankful you wrote what came to my mind. Why? Because it was nice to take a break from those heart-searing ghosts and because you wrote it so well. Also, I can see what others are writing, better than what I can see, what I am writing. Does that make any sense?
And thanks for stopping by my place and leaving comment. I must say it took a garden full of words for me to write a piece that was not dark. I enjoyed thinking about the startled mourning dove as he lifted into flight, but I felt the moss description most closely. xo teri
margo roby
21/02/2012 at 7:43 am
Teri, It makes complete sense. I have writers I follow because they can articulate what I feel better than I can.
I’m curious. What happens if you let the poem write itself then tell your brain firmly that you are now going to write what you want, and write a second poem that goes deliberately in a different direction. It might work, although I hate to think of you in those dark places 😦
tmhHoover
21/02/2012 at 9:17 am
Margo- I am sure if I focused long enough I could stay/write into a brighter place. Taking the time to do so is another story. Isn’t that a slip of the tongue? I am not as dark as all that… like most of us I find ways to stay upbeat. Writing leaks the stuff out of me though… and it is probably why I am a bit leery of the whole writing thing. I know structure and discipline- to keep those ghosts in their place. Thanks for being so sweet- xo teri
purplepeninportland
20/02/2012 at 11:33 pm
Wow! “worn sores on my soul like tight straps wearing furrows into my skin” amazing line
margo roby
21/02/2012 at 7:37 am
Thank you, ppip!
Mary Mansfield
21/02/2012 at 9:50 pm
The images in this are so vivid, takes the reader right into the scene. I think we all have those stubborn ghosts who continue to reappear no matter how much we’d like them to nestle into the corners of our memories. Wonderfully written!
margo roby
22/02/2012 at 9:17 am
Thank you, Mary M. The ghosts rarely play fair, do they? I find they tend to ambush!
Mr. Walker
22/02/2012 at 9:10 am
Margo, I really like how you used “whistle” to call out the ghost – a good use of that wordle word. And “straps wearing furrows” is such a great image.
Richard
margo roby
22/02/2012 at 9:15 am
Richard, thank you. I like that part of the wordles, trying to integrate the words so they sound as if the poem were written that way rather than in response to a word list. I have your poem sitting open in another tab. That’s how I talk sternly to myself when I want to comment and haven’t quite gotten to it!
margo