Wednesday, February 20, 2008

On Intimacy

I can be gentle, understanding and warm

It seems.

Yet also distant, reflective

In dreams

Of what I thought my world should be,

Though lacking support and not led.

And didn't I wish I could keep it so,

In spite of what others have said.

I've spent many years thinking, obsessing,

Believing I knew a truth

Which would strengthen, protect me and guide me

O'er the countless days since youth.

But assaults have come on my borders,

So they've been somewhat drawn in;

A little close but comfortable,

Secure, once solid; now thin.

I need, desire and want you first friend

To teach me sustainable caring;

What I need to know and accept, so to be

More understanding, open and sharing.

So please cross over these borders

And share what you're willing to say.

Talk about us and what we've been through,

And why we should not throw it away.

We're so much alike, yet so different.

Can we know that and not make a fuss?

Learn from each other, share with each other,

Somehow be with each other, just us?

And back to my wishing for mendings

Which I hope we can talk about soon;

Our traditions and tendings, beginnings and endings.

Are you willing to give me some room

To be back in your life, so surprising?

I know you found strength to let go

When you thought I had exorcised caring,

But just needed to find new ways to grow.

3 comments:

paisley said...

what an absolutely lovely ode to friendship.. the longing for and the desire to give of yourself in order to be... this was very intimate and i really enjoyed it

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper said...

Dear Paisley,

Poets, and I suspect most people with any degree of sensitivity, live for the hope that someone out there will feel touched, and actually influenced, by what we write.

Thank you for your kind words.

This poem is one of sixty some in my 2001 self-published collection, The Poet and the Pendulum. Recently I've been posting some of them on this blog.

The Poet and the Pendulum was to be a kind of memoir for my four sons and their families. Somehow along the way I was told that I should put them out there.

Your response is a most pleasant confirmation of my decision to do that.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper
Thanks again for

Deborah Vatcher said...

Hello to a fellow Massachusetts poet. I loved this piece. It was very personal and immediate. I'm glad you decided to share it on your blog.