I no longer remember
being undecided
between one place
and another.
Copyright 2012 by DM Denton
Except for tonight
in the lateness
and earliness
of the small hour,
a glance at the moon
past and promising
though I turn off the light
at my hand,
a desire for sleep
more than life
until I wake
to the black-necked geese
flying home to home
and above suspicion.
In honor of my mom’s 83rd birthday today, here is a card she painted for me a few years ago, a bouquet of love for treasuring and sharing.
Copyright 2012 by June M DiGiacomo
©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.
bardessdmdenton - author- artist 
This is so so so lovely, Diane–truly wonderful!! And I finally got smart and clicked to follow you–now I won’t have to “think” to remember!! God bless you today, and always.
LikeLike
Thank you! And for following. Blessings!
LikeLike
“a desire for sleep
more than life” I don’t know if there is any better way to describe that.
LikeLike
Thank you so much!
LikeLike
A beautiful poem, I love your artwork too! Gorgeous! 😀
LikeLike
Thank you so much! I so appreciate your visit and kind comment.
LikeLike
Diane, I have so missed your work. I hate missing a single stroke of your brush or pen.
This poem and painting are beautiful and have cheered me no end. And your mother does “whispery” too! What great talent between you. A very happy birthday to her.
IT s good to be back but I am very tired yet.
much love
christine xx
LikeLike
Hi Christine! How kind you are. So wonderful to see you here and hope you soon feel better and get some energy back. I know the bug mom and I had a few weeks back really left us listless for quite a while.
I’m so glad the poem and paintings lifted your spirits. That always means so much to me. And my mom thanks you for the birthday wishes. She certainly enjoyed herself.
Love and hugs,
Diane
LikeLike
How wonderful to see your mum’s artwork! Very beautiful – I hope you do share more of it in future. It would be lovely to see it on your blog, along with yours. Fascinating to see your two different styles of painting, too.
I love the subtle unsettling questioning in this poem, which I can identify with very much, especially these words:
I no longer remember
being undecided
between one place
and another.
Except…
And the related ‘flying home to home’. A suggestion, perhaps, of the difference between being at home and feeling at home?
LikeLike
Sorry for the delay in replying to your engaging comment.
Yes, I thought it was time to put my mom’s talent on display! And I will definitely share more of her artwork…and so her delightfully liberated spirit as well. Our styles are quite different–mine more detailed, mom’s more impressionistic…mom is a great free-hand drawer…I think too much sometimes when it comes to art (and writing too…)
‘Unsettling’ and ‘questioning’ are good interpretations…I started off wanting to write something about the geese, having the phrase ‘flying home to home’ from an old journal entry. The rest just evolved as I went to bed around 2am, with a look at the full moon through the window which is always ‘dangerous’ for me! A feeling of unsettleness came over me…with a wondering about where I was and where I was going…and if there was any difference.
Thanks for your visit and insights!
LikeLike
Excellent writing…truly…
LikeLike
Thank you so much! I value that as you are such a fine writer.
LikeLike
Wow,. bardess, I see where you get your painting talent! Happy Birthday to your dear mom! And my parents used to wake us up in the March full moon and the November full moon to see the geese “wedges” flying past the moon! Very well worth losing a bit of sleep over! Loving poem which brings back so many fabulous memories, Diane. Thank you!
LikeLike
Oh, Granbee, I am always thrilled when something resonates with a reader, especially to evoke a kind memory! And my mom thanks you for the birthday wishes. She seems to have had a very happy one (between the senior center, church luncheon, cake, Josh Groban CD and nice dinner out, it extended over 4 days. She deserved every moment of the celebrations!)
LikeLike
Artistic talent obviously runs in the family! Both are very lovely! The poem is wonderful.
LikeLike
Thanks, Fergiemoto! Yes, my mother has given me the best of myself! Thank you so much for your visit and kind comment.
LikeLike
What a lovely way to start my day – beautiful poetry and artistry! Thank you Diane! So your mother is also a talenter painter – the apple does not fall too far from the tree 🙂
LikeLike
So glad it brightened the start of your day, MaryEllen! Thank YOU!
LikeLike
Your poem is lovely, Diane, and I love the metaphor between the geese and home…Your picture is also wonderful and so is your Mother’s card. Her intricate art work is just beautiful. What an amazing gift for you both to have the same interests and talents~
LikeLike
Thank you so much, Lauren! i so appreciate such a complementary comment from such a fine writer as yourself! Yes, I am very fortunate to have such a bond with my mom! I plan on sharing more of her work in the future.
LikeLike
So, art runs in your family. 🙂 I love your poem and painting and your mom’s painting too. And a happy (belated) birthday to your mom.
LikeLike
Yes, it is an obsession I am glad was passed on, Val! (though as you well know, it has it moments…but all in all a great blessing!) Thank you so much for your appreciation and my mom thanks you also for the birthday greetings. I just came back from taking her out for a nice meal and a small glass of wine and she is now sunk into her big chair quite contentedly.
LikeLike
Like mother like daughter.. Detailed and delicate in every stroke and cherished and preserved with such care and love.
LikeLike
Thank you, Savira! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. My mother thanks you too!
LikeLike
Beautiful poem, great illustration.
LikeLike
Thank you so much, dfb!
LikeLike
Hi Diane
this is so beautiful, the painting (how did you make that bird hang still to pose lol) and the poem!
And the card your mother made is also fantastic, what a wonderful gift she gave you to inherit!
LikeLike
Thank you, Ina!
‘how did you make that bird hang still to pose’…I just promised him a post on my blog!
My mother thanks you too! She shows her work to very few and I thought that should change!
LikeLike
Lovely poem – “flying home to home” – there are probably a lot of us who feel at home in more than one place. You and your mom share the inspiration to creativity! Love both your pictures…
LikeLike
Thanks so much, Barbara! I find there is such certainty and uncertainty in birds migrating, settling one place and then another, home wherever they need to be.
LikeLike
I love the tentative, “undecided” mood of this poem – along with the moon, and those geese at the end. This is beautiful! And both you and your mother are wonderful artists. You seem to have inherited her gift!
LikeLike
Thank you for your perceptive ‘interpretation’ of the poem–tentative is an excellent way to describe it. And for your appreciation of my mom’s artistry too. She has given me a great love of all the arts!
LikeLike
Now we know where you get your talent from. Is your mother a writer as well? Again, I love your flow of words and how they dance so musically.
LikeLike
Hi Cindy, and thank you so much for your comment! Glad I offered a little music for your day. My mother is an excellent and insistent VERBAL storyteller!
LikeLike
Wonderful, wonderful poem and the art work and those fragile butterflies, exquisite!
LikeLike
Thank you, Martin! I’m so glad you liked the poem…decided this one needed a free form as it came quickly and begged not to be tampered with. Yes, my mom is a splendid artist and lady! She thanks you for your comment too!
LikeLike
a rose ~ becomes nothing more than a rose ~ yet it is the most beautiful thing in the world.
I like carnations too 🙂 My mom’s favourite were bluebells
LikeLike
‘a rose ~ becomes nothing more than a rose ~ yet it is the most beautiful thing in the world.’
Your lovely words put me in mind of a couple of other quotes (from my ‘Little Zen Companion’ Book):
‘Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose’ Gertrude Stein
‘Life and love are life and love, a bunch of violets is a bunch of violets, and to drag in the idea of a point is to ruin everything.’ DH Lawrence
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin…’ Matthew 6:28-29
Bluebells are my favorite too! (Have you ever seen the bluebell woods scene in the movie Ryan’s Daughter–made in the 60’s–oh, splendid! And I was fortunate enough to have access to a similiar setting when I lived in England. There is nothing like the fragrance that enveloped one there!)
LikeLike