I’ve decided to follow Horace
after you,
Dear.
So I’ll try to remain
a little bit here
in the middle
in order to return
the favor to my
cloud-hidden future
that will come
off the mountain
when it wants to,
when it wants,
when IT wants to.
Sudden or slow.
And
remember
that, my only heart.
Saragun Springs 
Hello Dale
Your thoughtful, lovely work often describes the odd mixture of “chase” and “wait” that occupies our lives. That, when you consider it, is a contradiction in the logical sense, yet since when have people been logical.
Leila
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Thank you, Leila.
The Roman poet Horace’s most famous quotation is “Carpe diem,” i.e. “Seize the day,” one of the most famous quotes of all time. Odd to think that so many know the quote and so few know where it comes from. Remaining “in the middle” for him was a way of walking the wire and avoiding life’s excesses without avoiding its excesses, the exact same kind of contradiction in terms you mentioned. The cloud-hidden future that is coming off the mountain comes to everyone, of course. Civilizations as well as individuals.
Horace also said, “A picture is a poem without words.”
Walt Whitman said, “Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself.” He also said, “I contain multitudes.”
This poem was STRANGE to write and it’s STRANGE for me to reread (which I have done hundreds of times, until the voice truly lingers) because it has two speakers. One who literally is an ancient Roman, and one who has somehow appeared as our contemporary (before fading back into his ancient Roman persona again). “Who” he’s speaking to is also key and it’s surely a she.
For me, explaining one’s own poem is a perfectly natural thing, but only up to a point. There should always be a point beyond which the writer CANNOT GO, even if she or he tried.
That is one sign of a good poem.
Dale
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Hi Dale
Marilyn the misunderstood goddess. You know how to find and make the most intriguing photos!
I like the lean language. There’s an edge to this poem. Relationships are a kind of warfare.
I used to avoid romantic films. I’ve come to realize there is high drama involved especially for one’s heart and sometimes their very life.
Christopher
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CJA
“Marilyn the misunderstood goddess” is a beautiful phrase. Truly a heartbreaker, they say she loved poetry and had an instinctive understanding of it, including the more difficult things. Many have scoffed at that notion before, but it says more about them than it does about her. This woman was one of the smartest and most creative individuals America has ever produced. And she came face to face with none other than America, which was probably her downfall. There’s always something about her that reminds me of other people. It would be hard to find anyone who was more ALIVE. She must have been utter hell to live with!
DWB
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