Poetic Bloomings has set us the task of writing a Rubàiyàt This sample verse from the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam translated by Edward Fitzgerald leapt out at me:
Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring
The Winter garment of Repentance fling;
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To fly – and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing.
so my own tentative attempt wishes I too could fling the winter garment of repentance!
***
Oh, how I long to fling
away the scarf and hat and gloves and things
along with winter boots.
to show the world the glory Spring can bring.
Why are we so affected by the seasons?
Introspective winter supplies a reason
to recoil from the world and snuggle down
under a quilt to nurse my grievance.
Spring brings us to unsettled times
when poets search for subtle rhymes
of joy and angst, romantic stirring,
striving to avoid the clichéd lines.
Summer comes to drive us wild
with weather sometimes wet and mild
at others feeling far too hot;
or sunshine’s benison withheld.
The colours of Autumn bring beauty
but also remind us: back to duty.
Holidays are over, work to be done –
that’s when we sulk and go all moody.
Before you know it year’s end comes
to send us back into the doldrums
Searching out our winter warmers
to accompany those Christmas songs.
Shivering before the wild wind
dreading the usual cold pre-destined
trying not to wish away the time,
stay positive, determined.
I enjoy this for the same reasons…the inner/outer response to the shifts in our realities due to the seasons. This pulls each together and to be honest makes me a little anxious…to say the least, it resonates with truth for me!
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Sorry to make you anxious. There are compensations to each of the seasons, but they do seem to affect our mood – maybe it’s a question of the amount of light at different times of the year.
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I don’t think there is any doubt that people are influenced differently by the seasons. I love them all and having lived so long in Africa and India I miss the change of seasons we get in southern Australia. I love a proper Winter, well, not northern hemisphere, more Mediterranean, and Spring, Summer, Autumn.
I think and feel if you grow up with a lot of sunshine as Australians do you miss it more than those who have not done so but I also wonder if those who grow up in the northern hemisphere and who are affected by the lack of sun, are so affected because their cellular heritage is from ancestors who grew up in sunnier climes.
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An interesting thought.
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Oh, that’s okay Viv, it’s kind of how I’m feeling today…had a great and peaceful day yesterday and today seems hectic and too short! I think for me, the mention of any holidays triggers that feeling – while it should be happy and fun it always means work and planning and trying to make it all work out. It’s tiring. Now I’m sorry…I sound like such a bah-humbug!! 😉
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But you are an absolutely normal mum!
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You know how to reach through and pick up on those unsaid thoughts, Viv…I always feel guilty for feeling that way but you’re right…that is normal. Thank you!
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I’m glad you added this to the mix. I enjoyed your seasons [hmmm, a seasons prompt…].
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I so agree. Winter is so hard. I wish it could be September/early October all year long.
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I would prefer it to be eternal optimistic May.
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This chat about the seasons was fun and loved the rhymes.
Tis true that we change with the seasons — why should it be different? You painted the picture well!
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I like the form and your opening lines so resonate with my mood 🙂
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I just love that you explore each season, ViV…of the emotions and inner-world of life, (especially a poet’s life)! Your subtle rhymes are a joy and I really like what you used in your first stanza… grievance and seasons! Excellent!
P.S. I received and enjoyed your last email…talking about the process and the one on one aspect of it…the workshops and books!! I’m so grateful for the tips and I look forward to checking those out. Thank you so much…I got behind in emails and comments the last couple of days but I just wanted you to know I got it and appreciate you! 🙂
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Very nice form. I really like it, goes well to describe the seasons.
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And here I’m again visiting your poem.. and I had forgotten about this.. I still like this.. and hope to see a new entry tomorrow 🙂
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Whoops, Viv, there goes another year! Good poem.
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this is quite cute, i have never attempted this form putting it on my list of things to write! you took us thru every season’s emotional turbulence all in one fell swoop!
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It’s like a board game wheel we spin around. I write the most poems in Autumn. I enjoyed this one.
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Lovely, Viv. Would that I do half as well on my first attempt of this form.
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A keeper for sure! LOVELY rendition, Viv!
Marie Elena
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This one is most definitely a keeper!
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A good one, Viv!
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