Before the music finds a way to end
I hope these faithless fears would take a break;
I hope I’d choose to give more than I take
I hope to trust the present as a friend.
Before I tell a dream it’s time to rise
I hope its vision binds me in some way;
I hope to nourish it throughout the day
Until I find its truth in someone’s eyes.
Before my rhythmic breathing has to slow
I want to say I tried each given task;
I want to feel I hid behind no mask
Preventing any miracle to show;
And if my bucket’s empty when I’m done
I hope you won’t reject an emptied one.
Linked to dVerse Meeting the Bar hosted by Victoria C. Slotto with prompt to write a list poem.
Photo: “Yellow, White, Red and Green” by the author. Flowers on display at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Wow. The words…this poem is a real gem!
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Thanks, Bel! I’m glad you liked it.
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I love the image of the dream’s vision binding you in some way. Like a paradox, we can be freed by being bound. And great flow here as well.
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Dreams are more or less mysterious messages which I unfortunately forget. We can be freed by being bound if that helps to guide and not let us wander in a scattered way. Thank you!
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Beautiful bucket list, Frank, that touches on real values. Needs to be put to music.
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I wish I could write music. I’m glad you liked it, Victoria!
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Well, this is great. What I hope to be able to say at the end – a life well lived. I love the last couplet. Empty that bucket!
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I suppose the best thing to do with that bucket is empty it. Thank you!
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A true bucket list! Just beautiful.
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Thank you, Lynn!
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You’re welcome. I forgot to add that you take some of the prettiest photos. Hope you have a great weekend, Frank.
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This is very good. It reminds me of Emily D.
I love this part:
“Before I tell a dream it’s time to rise
I hope its vision binds me in some way;
I hope to nourish it throughout the day
Until I find its truth in someone’s eyes.”
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I’m very glad you liked that part of the first stanza. Thank you!
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Very nice. The perfect bucket list.
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It might also be the hardest bucket list to achieve. I am glad you liked it, Eugenia!
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A beautiful poem, Frank. True values, nice rhythm, and those last two lines are superb.
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I am glad you liked the last two lines. I wasn’t sure how to end this sonnet. Thanks, Ryan!
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A beautiful list Frank, so lovely when you can spread light and goodwill while emptying your bucket ☺
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I am glad you like it, Xenia! I was hoping to push the old bucket metaphor from kicking it to more altruistically emptying it.
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☺👍
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A sonnet!! I am sooo impressed. They seem effortless for you. Mine come off like I’m trying too hard. Congrats!
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Thank you, Sarah! The first draft is effortless, but that draft is usually uninteresting. Most of the effort involves revising it till it becomes something I hopefully would not be embarrassed to read a year later.
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You kept a beautiful rhythm in this one Frank. Applause!
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I am glad you liked the rhythm, Jane!
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I did. You do it very well 🙂
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That’s a wonderful list Frank. I wish I was that ethereal. It is quite inspiring.
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I wish I were that ethereal also. Hopefully some of that bucket list will be accomplished. Thanks, Walter!
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You can do it Frank
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What a rhythmic and beautifully written list of hopes!
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I am glad you liked it, Beverly!
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SMiLes.. mY friEnd Frank.. oN the
2nd Day beFore Mother’s Day
yoUr LiNe of Rhythmic
BreAthiNG SloWinG
uNTiL the
BuckEt
eMpties
and can no longer
Be FiLLeD FoR NoW
aS hUmaN ForM.. reMiNds
Me of the Doctor while my
Mother was slowly dying..
Cancer Consumed from
Head to tow.. no
water or
food
lAsTinG 8 Days longer
iN Rhythmic BreAthiNG
And the Doctor sAid heR
STronG heART kePT HeR
aLiVe thaT LonG iN
Rhythmic
BreAthiNG
OF LoVe MoRe
to ExiSt iN BeDsIDE
oF LoVinG Children wHo
are/were heR entire World from the
Day we were/are born.. of what may come neXT..
ALL thAT LoVe and a Last Breath oF SiLence.. a Poignant
Moment as great as a BiG BanG to Me.. as she Breathed Love
into me
thennow
that lasts
forevernow
iN a SMiLe
that WiLL
NeVer
end NoW
as A Cheshire
sMiLe that Lasts NoW
forever NoW iN more than
A KA Memory as PreSent NOW..
saDly.. Egyptians Pharaohs Built Pyramids to
spRead tHeir soUL not much different reALLy
than Golden Trump Towers.. Meanwhile.. oTheR
Artists buiLt Hieroglyphs to BeTteR TaLe tHeir SoUls..
thing is.. Pharaohs could have beCoMe PoETs and sPreAD so Much more..
than
Bricks
and mortar
down the road
as a bucKeT sTiLL
oF LIFe continUes
to DancE and SinG SoUL foR NoW..:)
By the way your last few
Poetic Efforts
are Stellar..
i don’t often
Rate poETry
but tHeRe
are a
few
that beg stellar..;)
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I am glad you liked these, Fred. I like your comments about the Pharoahs. Their tombs are like Trump Towers and their souls would spread better had they been poets. I look at the human form as the bucket. We give away its contents. I can see how your mother’s last breath would be like a big bang, but her love remains “forevernow”, as you put it. My parents have both died and I visited my aunt yesterday in an intensive care unit. She was unable to speak, but her children, my cousins, were waiting with her there. I will be seeing her tomorrow as well.
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sMiLes.. my FriEnd
best wishes and hopes
for your Aunt to have
a smoothest transition
possible.. and the Love
that survives
continues
on
no
matter what
my friEnd..:)
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Amen, brother, to an honorable desire to have strength to empty that bucket!
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Thank you, Lynn! Life’s gift the the opportunity to give.
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Wonderfully done! And the photo is so lovely.
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I am glad you liked the photo, Jill! It didn’t have much to do with the poem, except for the brightness of the flowers.
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“The safety of that is pain, you know.”
Nice. Perfect pentameters are good to read, and the subject of the poem makes it special.
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Thank you! A poem needs both sound and meaning. I am glad you enjoyed it!
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True. 🌷
INDIA
The feeling got of being new,
appearing in the morning dew,
to flower is a gift from her,
who will as water proud occur.
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Thank you for the flower and posting the poem, “INDIA”!
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This is a wonderful list, I know how well Shakespeare could use lists, but here I especially love the end… marvelous volta
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Thank you, Björn! The volta did come at the last two lines as a Shakespearean sonnet would although I was trying for a Petrarchean one.
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I enjoyed this Frank. i think it is one of my favorites of yours.
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I’m glad you liked it, Paul!
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Oh I just loved this….something straight from a true heart!
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Thank you, Sreeja! I am glad you liked it.
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This is really beautiful. Empty is the best sentiment!
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I liked empty also with a hope to modify whatever the original meaning that bucket had. Thank you, Mary!
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🙂
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a bucket list worth striving for – well done
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Maybe not achievable, but worth striving for. Thanks, Candy!
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Nicely said loved how you expressed yourself. Amazingly executed
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I am glad you like the technique. Thank you!
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Lovely and wistful.
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Thank you, Imelda!
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A beautiful sentiment, Frank. If you have emptied your bucket in this life, you will be most sorely missed I am sure.
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Thank you, Robbie!
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Awesome use of words and feelings. Great read!
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Thanks, Matthew! I am glad you liked it.
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What a wonderful poem! So glad I found it
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I’m glad you found it. Thank you!
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Truly a classic, Frank. What better hopes can there be?
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Thank you, Sara! Those are the best hopes.
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Love the title and the poem poem a gem.
I’ve read this as a music lyric poetic beauty. 🙂
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Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed the sound of the poem. I strive to make that work even if I can’t get the content to say exactly what I want.
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