Free

Windy Lake Michigan

My heart felt peaceful but constrained.
The wind blew over me.
The waves hit hard. The land complained.
I wanted to be free.

Eventually through darkened night
The waves revised their song.
I assumed it’s now all right
Though some say it’s still wrong.

Text: Linked to dVerse Quadrille. De Jackson here (WhimsyGizmo) is hosting and the word is “free”. For what it’s worth, I don’t understand the poem I wrote.  I just thought it had a nice enough sound, but I might be wrong.

Photo: “Windy Lake Michigan” by the author.

Author: Frank Hubeny

I enjoy walking, poetry and short prose as well as taking pictures with my phone.

90 thoughts on “Free”

  1. Frank, I absolutely loved hearing this, as well as reading it (ALL poetry is meant to be read aloud, really).
    My favorite:
    “Eventually through darkened night
    The waves revised their song.” — I have friends and family in Florida, and am happy to hear that damages weren’t nearly as bad as predicted, so far.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. We might seek a prison. We do seek enough safety to exercise the kind of activities we want to perform. Freedom is relative. I am glad you liked the sound of the poem, Björn!

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  6. Excellent work again, Frank, with these tetrameter/trimeter lines.
    I’m not sure whether it should be ‘assumed’ or ‘assume’ in the penultimate line. I heard you say (not say?) a comma after ‘all right’. Not sure if you want or need it though.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Good point about “assume” or “assumed”. I originally had “assume” and then changed it to the past tense just before making the audio to make it look as if I am now also questioning my previous assumption. I was hoping to add deeper doubt perhaps because I am also in some doubt right now about what I wanted the poem to say.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I like personifying parts of reality that are not normally viewed as conscious to suggest there is more consciousness going on than we might imagine is possible. Thank you!

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    1. As I think I saw it, the waves would calm down and the song would become gentler. This does involve a personification of the water so it can “sing” which might not be true of water but might be true in some other context. Thanks, Maria!

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    1. Freedom isn’t absolute. We do have the ability to make limited choices which sometimes don’t seem like much of a choice, but each choice does introduce something new into reality that did not have to be there. I don’t really know what I was thinking when I wrote this anymore. Thanks, Margaret!

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  17. Thank you for the picture of my Lake, Frank! Perhaps your poems simply channels what we in FL experienced last night, or perhaps that is my most prominent filter at the moment. Love this poem!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I did have the hurricanes in mind, but it wasn’t exclusively about them. The crashing waves were a sense of oppressive constraints that needed to be ameliorated with a revised song which eventually is sung. I am glad you liked this and the reminder of Lake Michigan, Jilly!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I don’t think it needs to make sense. The sound can carry it along with hints that it could mean something of value. It is true that the art or poem only becomes real when another person subjectively experiences it. It is not on the page nor in some memory storage. However, when a reader does not understand what a poem means that could also feel like verbal abuse to the reader. That sense of abuse is what I want to avoid. Thanks, Mary!

      SoundCloud is one place to post audio recordings like a blog post. I think one could store these recordings on WordPress as well, although I’ve never done this. Eventually the initial space that is free runs out and one has to purchase an upgrade.

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  24. Beautiful sound and stunning rhyme and rhythm. Flowed through my brain like honey.
    And the sentiment behind your words is heartfelt

    Liked by 1 person

  33. I think the first stanza describes the human situation. Even in the midst of contentment or happiness, there is still that little bothersome voice that says that something is still missing somehow. My two cents. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  35. Before i went to hell..
    i visited purgatory in
    a new office job for a day
    Saving Grace Navy Station on Beach
    reneWed
    by salt
    air sun
    and sugar
    white dunes
    on lunch break
    waves of life flow
    infused come back
    life out of fear again..
    Life Long Milestone
    then
    always
    now
    be beach
    iLife now..:)

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Life can be a challenge. Many inconsistencies with one’s own reality. I get confused in my own way. I just wrote a poem where someone saw more than I did. Interesting!

        Liked by 1 person

  37. Since you said that you were not sure what your poem meant, I tried to analyze it for you. This is what I came up with.
    You are relaxed, but you are holding something back.
    You are outdoors feeling a gusty wind, maybe a storm.
    You are on the coast in hurricane Irma. Branches breaking off trees and telephone lines coming down.
    You hope that you would survive.
    You are in the eye of the storm now
    The ocean has settled down a bit.
    There is hope for survival
    Oops, maybe not.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I think that would work as an interpretation. When I wrote it I had something in mind I wanted to communicate, but then I lost what it was. I thought the sound of the poem was still OK. Thank you, Aparna!

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  41. Pingback: Free (Revision) – Poetry, Short Prose and Walking

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