Thursday, January 8, 2009

Born to Leave: a poem




Born to Leave


I listen to Lightfoot
to recall that summer

how I pushed and resented
and fought all
even me
for the power
to leave that womb of a town,
or
sucking ever,
it would tear at my hem
and winning
would have me
forever.

Reno beamed and glistened.
Warm neon buzzed dares
that I leave her.

But there was a place
Northwest in shade
under clouds
amongst great trees
all in the perfect gray rain.

I ran there to my fantasy
drove there to the land
melted easily
peacefully
with my destiny.

(c) MLM (Lydia) 1976 Revised 01-08-09


`

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful poem, and thanks for the reminder of Gordon Lightfoot, one of my favorites of a time gone by...oops, am I sounding old!? Let's face it, the music recording business has changed over the years. :o)

Yolanda said...

I just wanted to clarify that what was so funny about what she said was that I am not any of those things. I am a democrat,open minded and am pro choice. I thank you for your thoughts and your honesty.

Don't Feed The Pixies said...

There's bits where this reminded me of hard-boiled gumshoe/Ray Chandler, then there were bits so picturesque that they seemed to jump out. I loved the stanzas:

Reno beamed and glistened.
Warm neon buzzed dares
that I leave her.

But there was a place
Northwest in shade
under clouds
amongst great trees
all in the perfect gray rain.

Almost like lyrics to a song, or like stepping into a painting. Thanks for sharing xx

sharryb said...

Oh, Lydia. That is so beautiful. I'm so happy for you that your found your right home.

Hugs,
Sharry

Unknown said...

That man can sing to me ANYTIME...makes my insides warm:>)

I could see those rain glistened streets as I read the poem and see why you longed for them. Also love Pixie's comments about the noir-ish quality of your words.Good call. Me??...I'm yearning for Reno:>)

Steve Morozumi said...

beautiful poem! what a great and artful form of your self expression. wow. :D

Lydia said...

Mibsy,
Yer welcome about the reminder of Lightfoot. Yer right that music has changed, but it's all good (well, most all of it)!

Yolanda,
Thanks for clearing that up. I have a goal to very soon read back into your blog, something I've not done since discovering you. (You do feel discovered, don't you?) :)

DFTP,
gee, thank you for the kind words on that old poem. The revision included a title renaming and a variation of the line breaks in those stanzas you liked. I didn't touch the first part (the gumshoe part) because I didn't know what to do with it! If ideas come I'll definitely rework that part. I so appreciate your critique.

Sharry,
You're sweet; thank you. I'm glad I'm here too. (It's early in the morning on my birthday and I'm STILL saving your package for when I wake up later!) xoxo

Distracted,
Agree about Lightfoot. He is indeed the Minstrel of the Dawn. And I appreciate your comments about the poem.
I do yearn for Reno at times, but the parts of old Reno where I lived as a kid.
Love your new avatar!

Steve,
Thanks so much. I'm happy that you liked that one and appreciate your comments, as usual. :)

Fireblossom said...

Woohoo, the Link Within worked this time! I am a huge Gord fan, and tried to follow this link before, but it kept bringing me back to the current p[ost, that time.

Anyway, what a journey. Not just geographically, but a trip from restless dissatisfaction to an easy belonging. Just wonderful, Lydia.

By the way, the video doesn't play anymore. would be keen to know what the song was, if you remember. So much of his music takes me right back to where I was when I first heard it. Plus, he is one of us, as I'm sure you know. I saw him in concert just a few years ago, and he was good, but somehow I like his music better, alone, on a quiet rainy afternoon, with a hot cider or coffee in my hand.

Lydia said...

Fireblossom~ I sure appreciate your returning to read this old post, and I love knowing that you are also a fan, and I envy you that you were able to see him in person. No, I did not know that he is one of us...and that makes him all the more special to me.
Thanks for letting me know that the video had been removed. I found another and had to fiddle with it to make it work, so hopefully it will stick with the post for awhile. :)

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