While writers of long fiction tend to do all the brain work for the reader when it comes to describing what this person looks like and how that event happened from start to finish, poetry if written properly utlizes key words that trigger the process of association and allows the reader to visualize it his or her own way.
That being said, good poetry is then fuel for other poets.
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by daddysweetheart
Echoes
echoes of you stir in my mind
shadows and thoughts of you
swirl around in my memory
like mental leaves
floating and falling
softly, gently
gliding surreptitiously
and in my mind
images of your face
appear randomly
although it is
hard to remember
what it looks like anymore
the soft timbre of your voice
even though
I have not heard it
in so long
echoes of our memories
coat my lonely heart
making my arms
long to hold you
once again
for old times sake.
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by Magnetron
Poet Trees
Echoes echo
Throughout the willowed hollow
In secret gardens no one else knows of
Like creeping vines that twist and wind
Embracing the branches up above
Interlaced in loving weaves
And laying to rest
Placidly on my ledges and eaves
These faded remnants of your voice
Once upon a time they were
Such bright colored leaves
Still
Your tone resonates
Penetrates the many seasons
Having grown around my core
The more I feel you here with me now
The more reasons I have to cherish
And adore these memories
Ancient
Rekindled
When we writhed in passionate throes
Limbs bent and spent
Together in a rhythmic poetry
Rooted deep from seed so strong
Chambers of my heart emptied
Are daily nourished with new song
I sing along with
Can't help but sway to
These gifts you keep giving back
I will gladly take
As I tremble in the wind
And the echoes of your wake
You may notice similarities between the above poems, even to the point that the second almost rhymes with the first.
This is not only due to mine being inspired by daddysweetheart's, but also because it originated as additional lines accompanying hers and rhyming off of hers.
Her use of leaves and timbre caused my mind to wander about exploring the concept of a tree pining for a lost love. Pun intended.
When "our song" was complete, I then removed her lines and had an unfinished poem of my own that I did not want to go to waste.
None of this was possible without the intersection of a handful of choice words and the unique process of association that varies from reader to reader.
Beautiful integration of your words. I love poetry.
Or simply put: Her words inspired me
Ever met a poet who didn't play with his words at the dinner table?
We're like auto mechanics who spend all day fixing up everyone else's cars while we let the wheels fall right off our own.
Such trivial matters..the man is one of the best writers here in my opinion. ( or anywhere)
I highly suggest reading his work.
"Good words beget good words!"
"EVERYTHING!". Is about words.
Words are the real "Gods" of existence. Without them you, I, everything in existence is nothing more than a collection of "Stuff." Whatever you call it. But it takes words to do that. You can not think without words. Pain, ecstasy, emotions, everything is about them. How you actually experience those things, the intensity, the emotions, are all directed by the words we hear.
"Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it." Is a famous quote but "Those who fail to study words are doomed.", is my interpretation of what it really means.
If you miss the Meaning of what's said you will not understand what happens to you. Politicians and Preachers are masters at it. Listen to them and try to get behind what's been said to what it means. Sometimes they frighten me beyond belief. The absolute arrogance of someone telling me that they are so much better that they can tell me how to live my life. Then I see Jim and Tammy Baker or Jimmy Swaggert and wonder why would all those people chose to listen to a liar and thief. Then the even more arrogant attitude when they tell me they know the mind of God.
The most effective and long lasting control over a thinking animal is ignorance. If you can keep them ignorant you can make them do anything. "The Dark Ages!" Wikipedia has this quote,
"...the concept of a period of intellectual darkness and economic regression that supposedly occurred in Europe following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire."
This is saying that it probably didn't really happen and many will believe that just like the group that believes the idea that Hitler was just misunderstood or that the earth is really flat. What absolutely ignorant bullshit.
Look around you, feel it in your mind. Study.
"Orange Alert", that is a current one. What happens? Everyone who doesn't bother to think starts looking for a hole to crawl into so they'll feel safe. You're not safe, any more than anyone was with, "Duck and cover.", in the 50's during the Atomic Threat posed by The Soviet Union.
"You are going to hell for impure thoughts." Bullshit, if I wasn't supposed to think then why am I allowed to? I love all the dichotomies in the bible and the flood myth is a favorite. God gave man the ability to think then killed all of them with a flood when they dared to do it.
If God is omniscient, as many believe, then why didn't he see that coming? Another myth. If God is omnipotent then why does the Devil still exist and why is it a war? If God is that powerful then the only reason for his continuing existence is to punish us. If he's doing that then why should I consider him God and worship him? Epicurus said that 2,500 or so years ago. Also the concept that God is a male is pure EGO on a level that scares the crap out of me.
Think for yourself, learn everything you can, understand the words being said to you, otherwise you are doomed to do and be whatever someone else wants you to be. That's called "Slavery" in my vocabulary, an absolutely abhorrent idea as far as I'm concerned. That includes the "One step back" concept my Oklahoma, born-again, bible banging brother believes in.
Maybe I just don't have the "Words" to describe it well enough. I'll go study more and get back to you. I'll read a lot of what you guys write too because I like the way you use them. Keep it up.
What a Great Begatsby this thread is turning out to be.
Mwuahahaha
There's always a grammar nitpickerer laying in wait behind the bushes like a Highwayman.
Why, it was just last week that in thread of poetry celebrating the Lord Of The Rings by Tolkien, someone who had nothing to offer but rants about Peter Jackson mangling the movies criticized my use of your[/I] instead of you're[/I]. I didn't have the heart to take his victory away by mentioning it was a tablet auto-correction.