Sunday, May 26, 2013

Yet Love Remains



"When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep"
                       William Butler Yeats "WhenYou Are Old"

I think about the sweet days our youth,
the world was spread before us for the taking--
invincible, we weathered many storms
safety found inside each other's arms.
Discovered life together, you and I…
rappelling over cliffs and chasms deep;
wary of the monsters in the darkness--
learning that my strength resides in you.
Will love remain inside where memories steep,
when you are old and gray and full of sleep?

So many years between have come and gone
the passion found in youth not often held;
yet on occasion universe aligns--
amazing how a kindred spirit bonds
once it finds the niche where it belongs.
We couldn’t know this when we undertook
to forge a life together, you and I.
Yet over time, my love for you remains.
I hear you breathing softly while I look,
and nodding by the fire, take down this book.

The one that holds the stories that we’ve shared
well-chronicled and inked to stave our memory;
each page presents an instant froze in time,
designed to be reviewed in quiet moments…
a lifetime kept in images we’ve saved.
I scan the scraps and photos that we took,
and settle once again on favorite image--
given to me after we first met.
On cushions soft, I settle in this nook,
and slowly read and dream of the soft look...

in contemplative moment it was captured--
in graying skies your eyes shown cobalt blue;
from that moment, I was captured too.
And so we came to know each other well;
to compliment the other; to complete.
I turn the page, and now it seems that sleep
beckons me to close and come to bed.
I stretch out in the hollow of your arm
to slip away and dream of white-hot heat
your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep.

 © Ginny Brannan 2013


Sharing at d'Verse Poets Pub Open link Night Week #98.

Trying my hand at a glosa, introduced to us at d’Verse Poets Pub Form For All: Paying Tribute, Page and the Glosa by Samuel Peralta/Semaphore.
The glosa is a form of poetry from the late 14th century and was popular in the Spanish court. The introduction, the cabeza, is a quatrain quoting a well-known poem or poet.

The second part is the glosa proper, expanding on the theme of the cabeza, consisting of four ten-line stanzas, with the lines of the cabeza used to conclude each stanza.

Lines six and nine must rhyme with the borrowed tenth.
There are no rules governing meter and line length, except that traditionally, they emulate the style of the lines in the cabeza. Because of its structure, the glosa is ideally used as a poem of tribute. In writing that tribute, you weave your lines with the lines of the opening cabeza, collaborating, as it were, with the spirit of the poet you honour.
I honor William Butler Yeats, "When You Are Old"

20 comments:

  1. i like the gentleness of your verse...and you work the form well...nothing jumping out at me right away to play with that rhyme in S4, if it comes i will let you know though..i hope my love ages well...it does become different but still it lives...smiles.

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  2. Beautiful love poem..sweet and gentle. :)

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  3. This is just lovely Ginny. What a beautiful sentiment, beautifully expressed.

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  4. I love that poem from W.B. Yeats that you mined for the cabeza, and so the rest of the poem unfurled for me like a wondrous dream from that kernel. The beauty of this glosa is that the theme parallels the cabeza so closely, it feels like your souls have travelled through time and are the reincarnation of Yeats and his love.

    About that fourth stanza and the rhyme you had a question about? I use slant rhymes all the time, and there's no reason to change what, here, works well. And by works well I mean: your glosa transported me to a different place, and I thank you.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words, Sam. And also appreciated your expertise on the rhyme. Thank you for teaching and inspiring us with your Form For All. So glad you enjoyed my poem.

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  5. Ginny, this is so perfectly written...I can see why you made it late to Form for All, but I'm so glad you did it. I often end up linking my prompt responses to OLN for that very reason. It's good to see you. It seems like it's been a while.

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    1. Between not feeling well for a few weeks, and the crazy hours I have been working,it really has been a while. Good to catch up with you too, Victoria :-)

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  6. This is so beautiful and you have done such a marvelous job with the form.

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  7. smiles...wonderful to see you tonight mrs ginny...smiles.

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  8. What a lovely glosa Ginny ~ There is grace and strength in the long journey of love ~ That quote you selected is beautiful as well ~ Thanks for the evening treat ~

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  9. Ginny, this is so well done. You worked your poem perfectly around the Yeats quote. The glosa flowed so very naturally and spoke to anyone 'of a certain age.'

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  10. This was beautifully written and hopeful of the graying future steeped in memory. Thank you for sharing.

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  11. So gorgeous, Ginny. I just love it... especially your second stanza.

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  12. Ginny, I read this earlier today and left a comment on FB. For some reason, my cell phone doesn't always let me comment blogs.

    Tender and beautiful. I planned to try my hand at this form but life had other plans for me. You met the challenge wonderfully.

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  13. The feel and style of the quatrain echo perfectly throughout the rest of your fine composition. Very nice job on this, I enjoyed it much!!!!

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  14. Wonderful job... very challenging; this style of poetry, and you superbly mastered it! :)

    Penny

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  15. Tender, beautiful and melancholic...lovely poem, Ginny, and written in such a challenging form. Great job! :)

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  16. Ginny, this is absolutely breathtaking. Not only is it a wonderful tribute to a lucky man, it is beautifully written. The link between the cabeza and your glosa is seamless; almost as though both had been written by the same poet.

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  17. The story of love here is positively inspiring and beautiful.

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Thank you for reading my poetry and sharing your thoughts.