with thanks to Andy Schoenborn for the invitation to write on “what we have taken and what has been taken from us” in today’s #VerseLove on Ethical ELA – a reflective poem using the words take and taken.
A double etheree, on Day Thirteen of National Poetry Month
New
morning
brimming with
yet unwritten
possibility
asking nothing of me
only offering itself
for the things I shall make of it
once the ribbon of light releases
this present day; what shall I take of it?
This present day, what I shall take of it?
Maybe just isolated fragments
to hold in pockets of silence
little treasures worth saving
moments of loving like
the ones yesterday
has not taken
away from
you and
me.
lit bits and pieces 
I haven’t been to the prompt yet today and here you are with such a beautiful response. Don’t you love the way this poem looks like an hour glass. What a profound question, What will I take from this day?
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It’s a play on another post I wrote recently on what the day has given me and what have I given it; “take” fell right in line, for gifts that each day brings. Thank you, Margaret.
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I have read your poem a couple of times and am going to print it out. So many lines I want to linger over! “yet unwritten possibility” “isolated fragments to hold in pockets of silence” Love it!
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What a lovely response – delighted that you want to linger over the lines! Many thanks, Kristi.
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“Once the ribbon of light releases” is the line that has stuck for me. Musings at day’s end, at life’s end…I just finished reading Other Words for Home, and Jude, the main character, quotes this Arabic proverb more than once: She cannot give what she doesn’t have. We have to take perhaps, in order to give–especially love. It makes sense, if you think about it from the perspective of raising children, the giving of love which they take and learn to give as they grow. A wistful smile on my face this morning from this post.
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Chris – that “ribbon of light” line came late in the writing and I liked it for the connotation of the gift of a day… deliberately tied to my use of “present day.” I am rather proud of the line now that I know it “works”! Makes me want to write a collection of poems called Ribbons of Light or something. Always love your connections to current reading – yet another compelling book! “She cannot give what she doesn’t have” – that will stick with me. How true. It does apply to love… thank you for this incredibly reflective response that I will be carrying with me for a long while.
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💕❤️
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I love concrete poems and yours is masterful. The lines “ pockets of silence/little treasures worth savoring” resonates with me. Thank you for this today. So much to connect with for me c
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Diane, I am so grateful for your words and to know the lines resonated with you! I didn’t even realize until I centered the poem that it would take this diamond shape. Then, that if I flipped stanzas, it would take an hourglass shape – intriguing! May play with that. Poetry beckons endless creativity!
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This is so gossamer light and yet so deep with meaning, I love it! And the photo is perfection, nothing can take that away!
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I am so glad you think so re: the poem being both light and deep. I didn’t write to the photo this time – but in searching for one that might work, I thought, this one pretty much encapsulates it! Gifts of the day, small moments to treasure, for sure. Always grateful for your thoughts, Celia.
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To ponder on what we shall take from any given day is such a powerful thought that turns into a prayer of thanksgiving, Fran. I loved how to wove your thoughts and ended with a beautiful picture of your little grandchild.
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Yes, a prayer of thanksgiving, Carol – many thanks to you for your insightfulness and your feedback!
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That photo at the end is pure love, “little treasures worth saving.” You make me want to try this form again. I wrote an etheree about my OLW once. Hmm? Maybe I’ll try that again.
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I love the wordplay you’ve given us with the present/present. A gift that requires no reciprocation, just that we take of it what we will. And the pockets. Of course the precious things we carry in our pocket. Those little treasures and moments, they are wonderful and wondrous, and they will hopefully outweigh the heavier burdens we drag along. Oh, the things we carry.
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Thank you for catching the wordplay ❤️ Yes – it’s up to us to take the offerings of the day, maybe the precious moments as talismans against those heavy burdens – indeed.
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Just beautiful – Fran! Ribbon of light releasing – so vivid – wonderful reflection! Brightened my morning. Thank you!
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So glad you like that line “ribbon of light releasing” – I was pleased with it and it kind of makes me want to write a little collection called Ribbons of Light. Please know your words have brightened MY day ❤️
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