SHIPS THAT PASS
64
Perhaps we have all experienced passing someone we enjoyed, but it was only that once; then the person was gone and we were on our way away. We never forgot, remembering and wondering what happened to the person, perhaps regretting that the encounter was indeed like ships which passed in the night. Or perhaps it wasn't finished; we may have found each other again somewhere . . .
A few moments
In my life
Are truly precious,
Their glint and glow
As fleeting
As the sparkle
Of a distant star,
Their source
As real.
As near,
As far.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
What is it now?
Vaporizing or solidifying,
Heating or cooling,
Expanding or contracting?
What - - now?
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
Right then I needed it
And you were there.
I miss the song of your voice,
The expression of your face,
The music of your soul.
Though then it set mine free.
Though
I had to go,
I still miss your music,
The timeless gift
It gave me.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
You are Earth for me,
My temporary home,
Asking not
Eternal loyalty,
Content to be
Sustainment
While we need it.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
We'll have to fly someday,
When ready, when it is done.
But I'm glad our wings
Are merely stumps today.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
When you are following
Your own star,
There are no charts,
For it's a first.
Where you are
Is here and now
But moves ahead
On silken tracks
To fill its thirst,
To reach its destiny.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
You know what you need.
I'm happy to provide it,
Even if it is my absence.
I want for you no harm.
If my presence hurts you,
I will withhold it till you ask.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
I need not cling to me,
How much less,
To you.
This does not surprise,
Nor does it distress.
Renewal is the prize.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
I watch,
Entranced,
The bird
Take flight
As wings begin to widen.
And in the quiet
Hours of night,
Their sounds
Caress my ears,
Assuring me
He's safe.
It is my best reward.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
If it is not
What I wish it to be,
Yet it is
What it is
And I am grateful.
Possibly
I'm free
For a new beginning.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
I almost loved you
As a woman loves a man,
But timing was not right.
So I did not.
Instead
I loved you in memory
As one loves a person from afar;
A different kind of love,
Without substance, beginning or end.
You will never know the fullness
Of a love I almost was,
Nor will I know yours.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
To prolong
The song
Is not to make music.
One tune
Must end
For another to begin.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
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Thank you, snakeslane, my friend! I'm pleased that you enjoyed it and that you came first thing! Hugs.
Oh, Nellieanna, your poem is lovely. I am such a romantic and this is a romantic's type of poem. Thank you for sharing your beautiful words of a love that could have been. I so well know this type of love.
Phyllis - yes - those are of various kinds, aren't they? When the timing is not in sync or some other factor prevents the blossoming of deep love or some other enduring relationship, there is still an afterglow. Each instance could inspire a story of 'what might have been'. It's not really sad when one realizes it wasn't meant to be, but there is an imprint on one's heart which lasts and somehow enriches one's experience.
Thank you for the lovely comment!
"Stronger than steel is the sword of the Spirit;
Swifter than arrows, the light of the truth;
Greater than anger is love that subdueth."
In this I add "love's twin emotion of optimism that subdues Thy anger"....
As is your beautiful sentiments are to me Nellieanna.;-))
"I almost loved you
As a woman loves a man,
But timing was not right.
So I did not.
Instead
I loved you in memory
As one loves a person from afar;
A different kind of love,
Without substance, beginning or end."
- I believe this really does capture the nature of passing ships... (and traveling salesmen!) :)
Nice works as usual Nellieanna.. Thank you for your efforts in judging the comp.. that was a lot of reading.. You take care..
PS: ... being a lighthouse keeper's son.. I really do understand the language of passing ships.. and as a child, no matter how hard I called out to them, or pretended to be a Foghorn.. I could never convince anyone on those ships to stop... and come help me milk the cow! :)
I will always be so very grateful that I passed your ship, the memories are ever fresh, more delightful with each day. Your words are the song of my heart and the expression of my thoughts whenever I think of my beautiful Southern Queen. Forever yours - D
Beautiful. I am partial to the stanzas involving music.
I loved you in memory
As one loves a person from afar;
i know you wrote these for me Girl friend !!
jokes apart i am always and without fail taught something every time i read your poetry. short and so meaningful.and the next time i read it am going to just read and pass on and not write a comment or probably leave just a blank comment box because i think even commenting is taking the beauty of you away.
I always love to read your work, and I really appreciate the extra art you put into your Hubs. It makes it even more beautiful. I voted this UP, etc. Goodnight.
Bryan, my friend, all emotions are valuable, if only to remind us we are both alive and human. Thank you for a lovely comment. ~ Hugs.
Rob, thank you for visiting my hub. And yes - it was a lot of reading and an amazing, valuable experience. I was pleased you were one of the top winners with your lovely entry. I refrained from commenting on contest entries during the contest period, but your Ancient Tree touched me deeply and its concluding message reminded me of one of my own little jottings: 'No poet is ever isolated.' Perhaps it somewhat corresponds to the freedom you mentioned which exempts one from aloneness and the way aloneness itself brings freedom.
You submitted several meritorious entries, any one of which surely deserves honorable mention. Your work has depths.
Being a kid in and around a lighthouse surely provided ample time to think and cultivate your individuality, even though the passing ships couldn't be persuaded to stop! :-) In my rather isolated childhood, every summer of which was spent on a Texas ranch at the end of a rocky road which wasn't traveled except deliberately to come there, (a rarity); so there weren't even passing ships for a kid to try to signal. In fact, back then, we'd run outside and gawk if a biplane flew overhead, once in a blue moon!
Dave, I don't go to Fry's or pass by Chubby's without remembering our delightful visit! I'm grateful that our ships passed too! They did pass too quickly, but the memory is long-lasting! Thank you for the comments and your visit here now! :-)
Flora - the references to music were quite real in this context. I'm so glad you liked them. Thank you! Hugs.
Neelesh, - Thank you for the sweet thought! Hugs. You're just about as 'afar' as possible, so the words fit very well!
I'd cry if you didn't comment when you come by my corner here! Your comments are so welcomed. I'd feel mightily deprived without your kind words for me.
Mary, thank you for the lovely comments! I'm always pleased when you visit! I so enjoy assembling the art with the poetry to welcome my visitors as I would to my home.
Nellieanna, as always, I've got to say: Absolutely awesome!
Each and everyone of them.
In Cyberspace, however, you are for me a harbor and not a mere ship - a sheltered corner where I can anchor.
I wish you a lovely day and lots of energy.
My very dear cyber-daughter, Martie. Thank you!
You can anchor here any time you need a sheltered corner/harbor, if you can keep up with me. hehe
My energy is charged by the c-o-l-d temperature! At least today it's accompanied by some sunshine coming in and out, whereas it's been drizzly-snow-mixed for a day or so. Nearby suburbs had 2 or more inches yesterday. Fortunately, here, none. But it's a penetrating cold.
Brrrrr. . . I guess it's becoming summer there! I may pay a cyber visit to you to warm up!
One tune must end for another to begin... Beautiful...
Another glimpse of magic. Thank you for making my night glow.....Chris
Both the inightful philosopher and the hopeless romantic emerge in these poems, Nellieanna. Thank you for sharing your talent.
Chris - thank you, my friend! I'm glad you liked! That little poem is one of my all-time favorites. It is not always easy to end one, but to be aware that another can begin is comforting!
Dear DRBJ - I'm smiling. You're so perceptive. Thank you for your lovely comments. It lifts my spirits when you stop by! :-)
cyber daughter cyber mom good to see you both always.
i wold have to commit suicide if you cried cause of me gf since i am ready to kill anyone that makes you cry-including my self.
Well, Neelesh, you won't have to commit suicide since you've commented, rather than coming by and leaving an empty comment box as threatened. Whew! That was a close catastrophe avoided!
Thank you for those affectionate comments. If it's any comfort to you, know that when I do cry, it's usually for sentimental or beautiful things, more than sad, unless it's a sad movie.
Poignant, my very talented friend. I loved it all. You are so very gifted, but this one is not only beautiful and evocative, it could be the mantra for all those who wish to love and to be loved, but press to sorely on the heels of another:
"You know what you need.
I'm happy to provide it,
Even if it is my absence.
I want for you no harm.
If my presence hurts you,
I will withhold it till you ask."
Ah, Ian, dear, dear friend. Thank you for such beautiful praise. Yes, that one could be such a mantra.
I've long loved a little story in a little book written in the 1950s (and still popular), "Gift from the Sea", by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (widow of Charles Lindbergh). In it she used various shells on the beach to illustrate and to share her thoughts on life and all its facets. For one in particular, though, she used not shells, but sand. (Paraphrased): She was asked by her daughter as they walked along the beach, 'once one has the love of a mate, how can one keep it?'. Anne reached down and picked up a handful of sand and began to squeeze it more and more. Of course, the sand began to trickle through and escape between her fingers, until, when she opened it, her palm was empty but for a few stray grains which had clung to her moist skin. Her daughter said, simply, "I see."
I like those brave little grains remaining. They were put under a lot of pressure, but still they stayed - "...in the hand that kneads us", I heard one say.
I'm not certain that the original story had the brave little grains sticking. But I visualize what I read and write and I 'saw' that some of them did/would stick, unless she'd powdered her palm to make it super-dry. Besides, like you, I admired their determination! And I like the play on words: 'kneads' and 'needs'. :-))
By the way, I didn't tell you that Annie sent me a set of 8 DVDs of the television 'Jeeves & Wooster'. Stephen Fry plays Jeeves and Hugh Laurie plays Bertie Wooster in the adaptation of P. G. Wodehouse's classic short stories of the Drones Club and Formidable Aunts.
Call me sentimental, but if you do, tell me that I know beauty when I see it.
I have just put a text into my poem, so that I can refer to it whenever I feel the need. It goes as follows.:
"You know what you need.
I'm happy to provide it,
Even if it is my absence.
I want for you no harm.
If my presence hurts you,
I will withhold it till you ask."
Well, I can call you a sentimental beauty lover, yes. I'm not sure exactly what-all you mean to do with my little poem, though! hehe.
Formidable Aunts??? They sound like characters from Twilight Lawns!
Nellieanna, my lovely friend, you have no idea how that poem had such an impact on me.I have that lovely poem in my mobile, and it is so lovely to read, and...
You know me.
And characters from Twilight Lawns? I think that I read so much Wodehouse when I was much younger, that it had a marked effect on my writing style. I don;t think I am inadvertently plagiarising, but there is something here. I can't remember who, but someone on HP commented thus. Could it have been Writer on Line? I'm not sure.
Someone, definitely, with writing clout!
Ah-h, Ian - I am pleased, then, that it had an impact on you; apparently a positive one, for you to want it in your cll phone! Thank you for that attention & honor. It truly reflects my attitude toward possessiveness - which is usually counter to real love, in my humble opinion.
I don't know how possible it is to know you - or anyone, actually. There are always new surprises!
I don't know Wodehouse all that well, but I think I should get better acquainted. What I've just read about him and his writings is so amusing! Surely our writing often bears the mark of favorite writers. I know your writing is authentically yours, as is mine, all mine.
I really didn't pay much attention to Emily Dickinson till I'd written many of my own poems. But someone compared my style to hers, both writing and lifestyle. When I began noticing, I felt extremely akin to her in many ways and almost felt I was carrying forth her work as it might have been in the century following hers. Some life-style similarities probably encouraged me to break out of the isolation I seemed to have shared with her, for both our sakes in some strange way.
One of a couple of poems I wrote ABOUT her is the only of my poems someone accused me of plagiarizing, though he didn't attribute it to any particular poet - just evidently thought it too good to have been written by me. haha.
It is my hub:
http://nellieanna.hubpages.com/hub/My-Muse-Emily-D
If you're unfamiliar with ED - here's one of her poems. They seldom have titles but this one is called "A Book":
There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!
_______________________________________________________
This is one of the most famous of her poems:
This is my letter to the world,
That never wrote to me,
The simple news that Nature told,
With tender majesty.
Her message is committed ?
To hands I cannot see; ?
For love of her, sweet countrymen,
?Judge tenderly of me!
____Emily Dickinson
Hi Nellianna, I really like how you've re-done the comments. Looks nice on the page. You are so proficient in Hubs! (and poetry, and art, and music, and life, but that goes without saying!!) Regards, snakeslane. ps. did you ever figure out the enjambements mystery? Funny how these things get started, I love it...
Snakekslane - not my doing the comments re-do. I think that HP has initiated a new comments format! I'm struggling with it, in fact!
Example: There are punctuation errors on the ED poems I posted in the my reply to Ian above your comment, and I cannot fix them. Before, I could've denied my post and reposted it with corrections even after the 5 minutes allowed for editing. Those question marks weren't in my original post and I noticed them too late to edit within that time. boo hoo. There is no "Deny" button on my own posts now. Shrug - I'll have to figure out another method, since I seem inclined to some errors.
Thank you for lovey comments, my dear.
PS - no - I don't know any more about the enjambements mystery than before. Perhaps it is something that shows up only to my viewers and not to me! I admit I'm an iconoclast who routinely figures ways to 'work around' the 'givens', so anything is possible. Perhaps I outfox myself. This is all why I made my own webpage sans web-page-building help. At least I know what causes glitches on it:- it is always something I actually did.
Oh wow! I was wondering about that, darn! That is interesting. Re: emjambements. I will look into that for you. I am a bit of a sleuth when it comes to the written word.
Do your own comments contain 'Deny' buttons now? haha - Maybe mine've been singled out. haha.
I've checked the definition of 'enjambment', of course. I just don't see a correlation with my hubs' arrangements. I'm quite unaware that I often, if ever, continue sentences without pauses beyond their logical ends, and that's basically the definition here in my Mac dictionary. I've not investigated further. I'd be interested to know if there is any application.
Fact is, as short as my poetry lines, are, they're usually punctuated according to sentence-sructure rules. I see many others who use either no punctuation or unique punctuation throughout, and others sans any upper case or punctuation. But poetic license allows for ample deviation. Ah, well. This is the least of my concerns.
Whatever you detect to shed light on the mystery will be valuable! Hugs. :-) Thank you, snakes!
I can't imagine you making many mistakes, Nellieanna.
I made an horrendous punctuation error in a text message a couple of days ago and I wake in a cold sweat at night, and consider ending my poor little badly punctuated life because of it.
I was texting somebody and meant to insert a comma, but accidentally inserted an apostrophe.
Horrors!
And to make matters worse, I was reprimanding the recipient. That made it even more horrific.
I wrote something like “… and I know it was yours’ Richard but I told you not to…” instead of: “… and I know it was yours, Richard but I told you not to…”.
Not only an error, but it looks as if I think that there are apostrophes in possessive pronouns.
Oh the shame! Mea culpa! Mea culpa! Mea culpa!
Now getting back to equally important matters… where have you been snakeslane? I’ve missed you.
Hi again. I haven't found it yet, and hope I'm not belabouring the subject. For me the "emjambements" discussion was a bit of a breakthrough because I had not heard the word before. So I looked it up and I think there was two different spellngs at the time it was mentioned. One would refer to poetry (structure) and the other to the layout of the page. I was using it in reference to page layout as in "free on the page". I love this topic. Anotther hubber, PDXKaroakeGuy has written a hub on the emjamed line of poetry, and that has caught my interest too, but haven't quite figured out what it is yet. I will keep looking. What I have discovered is you are one prolific writer! Will take me awhile to catch up with you, but I am looking forward to reading past writings. And I am sorry if I am making things worse by inconsistent spelling haha, I am bad that way.
I always try to punctuate poetry as if I am punctuating prose. Poetry is sometimes too "obscure" to complicate it without punctuation.
I blame Don Marquis ('Archie and Mehitabel') for the lack of capitalisation.
(Read my second hub on the paranormal, soon to be published at enormous expense either by the new publishing company: 'Lady Nellieanna Linda Plantagenet-Wordsmith: Publishers to the Gentry' or in HubPages)
Hi Twilight Ls, I puzzle over punctuation endlessly. I don't know what to call what I do with it in poetry. It does get complicated I agree.
Ian, I edit myself constantly - always with good cause due to my errors!
I admit that I do it less as a technician and more as an artist, though. Often my first effort at making a sentence is awkward, even though it may say what I mean adequately. It may lack music or flow. Also - believe it or not - I do frequently eliminate redundant, excessive or unimportant verbiage. haha
But I can swear that I've NO idea where those question marks came from. As I've mentioned before, my computer has a habit of erratically whisking away any kind of directly online writing while I'm doing it - and it's lost completely. This happens from my e-mails, to comments, to hubs, to replies and on and on. So I've made it a practice to write offline and then cut and paste and quickly post such things before they disappear from cyberspace forever. At least it provides a start on redoing, though I've also reconstructed from nothing at times. It does provide a checkpoint for seeing how valuable any of it really was, though, and accounts for my former practice of denying my stuff if I find errors after the 5 minute edit interval has elapsed.
I always must edit resultant posts quite carefully after dong this, even though I try to pre-edit before I actually paste anything onto the online window for which it was destined. Somehow, whenever the posts are actually there, they both look different and errors pop out like pimples. So further editing is required.
But in the case of the ED poem, there absolutely were NO question marks in my offline copy which was pasted onto the actual window, plus I copied the poem directly from a Google site and there were/are no question marks there, either. So it is "a puzzlement" as the King of Siam says in the musical!
My fondest hope is that all these oddities going on are part of a HP updating which will be resolved once it's done. If not, 'this too shall pass" and will become another factor to be worked around in trying to write and post sensibly here. I really do self-edit my stuff carefully, but even so, I am aware that errors creep through my filters. I probably have to work harder than anyone to appear half-way knowledgeable! haha. Fortunately, I type rapidly, or I'd never get anything ready to show the world!
Another thing I must watch is that in rapidly typing with a very light touch, there is always a likelihood that my little pinkies will strike a neighboring key rather than the one consciously intended. Also, a slight jiggle of a finger and there appear two of whatever letter I'm typing. There really are 'typos' happening. I frequently notice, back up and redo a lot of errors as I type, but sometimes they slip by notice - or I make another error in the correction phase.
Another glitch of which I must be aware is an overly conscientious spell-check which makes arbitrary decisions and changes in its effort to substitute a rightly-spelled word, whether or not their solution makes a lick of sense in the sentence! So a typo in a word that fits the meaning can become a properly spelled word in one that bears no likeness or relationship to the intended meaning whatsoever! But I've never known it to add random punctuation !! haha
Anyway - not to worry about your typos, so long as the meanings are clear. On the few corrections I've suggested, it was where the error confused the real meanings, I think. After all, even punctuation either enhances or interferes with meanings, if both writer and reader share the same understanding of its effects. Otherwise, we would need none whatsoever, if people had to figure it all out unaided by proper choice of words, their arrangements and the punctuation which gives additional clues.
By the way - I blame e e cummings for the lack of capitalization and punctuation in modern poetr.
- - er - - poetry
Hi again Twilight Ls, I signed up for NetFlix, been watching the tube. Watched three seasons of one show, now on third season of another, it's all or nouthing. I am the worst for typos, I apologize profusely.
Nellieanna, you put me to shame. You write words like they are musical notation. Perfect notes in every line!
Well, almost hahaha!
But I bet neither of you would use an apostrophe in a possessive pronoun.
I thought of throwing myself into the Thames, as a result, and drowning myself, but the water looks freezing, and I wouldn't want to catch a cold.
HA HA!
Snakeslane - not to worry about inconsistent spelling. Ian's British spelling regularly differs with mine. If I try to use his, my spell check jumps on it like a chicken on a junebug. So I just try to appease the spell check so that I can tell when it really catches my misspellings which really are.
I like the look of enjambement, but oddly, my Mac dictionary doesn't even recognize it in the plural form! Interesting?
I can understand that you applied its meaning to my unorthodox arrangements of whole poems on my hubpages, which are done to create a sense of spaciousness and freedom, which feels more like the way I originally wrote them, one per sheet of notebook paper with a great freedom of arrangement of their lines even there. At first when I came to Hubpages, it was possible to set indentations randomly so I could achieve more of that freedom as they became 'in print' for the first time ever. Then that was changed by HP so that there are only limited choices, lined up at the far left border of the page, with one or more lines starting 5 spaces into the capsule or starting at the middle, with or without using the other two choices applied there. So I experiment with those and vertical spacings to achieve the sense of spaciousness. Another arbitrary factor is that the only way to actually prevent poems from slipping into any empty vertical space one has attempted to create, a graphic or video occupying a full capsule, though it can be full, half, or quarter width, is the main cure. There's no provision for placing a photo capsule on the far left, only across and in the middle or to the right. I've worked out some "work-arounds" to get a graphic to appear to be on the left, however, by adding empty space on the actual graphic when creating it with my photo-editing program. Sometimes it requires some further adjustment to make it work! lol
Yes, I do spend time on putting together poetry hubs for all these reasons, in most cases longer than it took to write any of the poetry, which just emerges somehow. In fact, handwritten, so does the arrangement just emerge of itself. On someone else's format, it requires more effort and attention. It's a bit like swimming upstream, in fact.
Good ole prose - so much less demanding in how it's presented and more demanding in what and how it's written! But it's a bit like the difference between a school cafeteria meal and a formal dinner table setting! haha.
That's the teacher coming out in you Mr. Lawns...I suggest you throw yourself into a nice warm bubble bath instead.
Yes - he does come out with the teacher from time to time. I shudder to think what he really must think about the rest of us when he's in that mode! I'm a certified teacher myself but not in the humanities or literature. Secondary level Home Economics. haha. Any teacher could benefit from a nice warm bubble bath, by the way!
No, Ian, I wouldn't consciously use an apostrophe to indicate a possessive pronoun. But sometimes when I am writing 'ours, yours, theirs hers, or his' to indicate possessiveness, I wonder if there are folks out there who honestly think I'm mistaken and leaving off needed punctuation, because adding the apostrophe in an effort to show pronouns' possessive is so commonplace, it seems! haha
Another apostrophe omission which is correct but I wonder if it's understood when I observe it, is the pluralization of various things, such as numbers. Many seem to think that "10's" means more than one 10. Of course it actually makes it possessive, which would fit in, "The 10's function is to group periods into decades." But not in, "There are 10 10's in every hundred." But this latter is how many use it. It gives me the creeps. haha
Alas. These are among the subtleties of grammar abuse which are probably being employed by commonplace/average usage to altar the actual accepted usage, though. It's probably how the language has become so illogical over time already! When someone says - "oh, well, it doesn't matter; people know what you mean anyway." NO - they never know what you mean. I see relaxing the few rules meant to clarify it better as making further room for distorted interpretation and misunderstanding. The whole structure of language and all its rules are to refine what is always a difficulty in verbal communication between individuals. sigh. Oh well. Nice thing about poetry is that it doesn't necessarily aim at being understood by just anyone. It's a bit of an elitist form of communication to begin with I guess. It was one reason I used it as a private kind of code to express myself without being detected easily by someone who meant me no good will.
I have Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage guys, and I promise to read it someday!
Ships passing in the night how spot on for a title to this magnificent romantic hub. It has always amazed me the many of us who have done just that, we crossed paths, we shared, we may have even loved or lusted, turned off the light fell into a deep contented sleep.
Woke up and left never knowing if our paths would again cross. One would wonder how many diamonds were left shining for others to love and we missed our ship, our opportunity to live our life with that diamond. Instead we stumbled on to the next adventure. Oh to have met and stayed with our soulmate/twin for life.
You were so fortunate and blessed to have met George and shared what you did for that window of time. It's left an impression in your soul that radiates here at the hubs with the most heart renderings from your poetry. I am in a trance when I read your work, you leave me spellbound often. Hugs
Snakeslane, I was given Fowler's by a girlfriend years ago. I loved it, and read it expensively for a while. Then, believe it or not, when I realised how many little mistakes I was making, I spend a few days when I wouldn't - or couldn't open my mouth in case I erred again.
I'm not joking, My OCD not only involves numbers and articles of china and cutlery and flatware and and
and
My favorite reference has been for years, Strunk and White's "Elements of Style". Ian introduced me to Lynn Truss' "Eats Shoots and Leaves" which has joined Strunk and White within my easy reach. Now perhaps I need to add Fowler's "Modern English Usage" to make a trilogy of language usage referrals. However, I confess to relying heavily on Miss Carstarphen's and the sisters Williams' early school training and my educated parents' influence, along with a lifetime of reading more than speaking in determining my personal language usage. I'm sure it's imperfect but so far, adequate.
Ian, yours surpasses adequate and you should never feel a pang of self-incrimination on any literary score. My own tendencies toward OCD are to do the exhaustive self-editing I do and then I let it land where and how it may. Someone once said to me, "They can't eat you!" and they really can't, I've learned. What bothers me is if and when I'm one of the "theys" she meant in any way.
Nellieanna, I have a friend whose name might be Steve (and then again, it might not be) who once affirmed that there was no difference between "its" and "it's". He is just as likely to sign a letter with. "Your's sincerely", and will write "'till" which he believe is an abbreviation of "until"... or is "untill"?
But he is all heart, and maybe that is more important/
He once said that he thought I would only gain entrance to Paradise if I spoke correctly and grammatically.
I tend to believe him.
OK. So it's a matter of opinion, not what is correct or incorrect. I abandoned my soapbox quite awhile ago. If it slips out from under the stuff in the garage occasionally, it's easily re-abandoned, emptied, stashed and life goes on nicely. I have my own peccadillos from which someone more persnickerty than I surely cringes.
There really are more momentous matters about which one should be more concerned. Hugs.
Dear Ken. Ah, yes. With the multi-millions of living souls on earth during each of our own lifetime stays upon it, it's inevitable that there are more "near misses" than perfect contacts and countless more unmet unknowns.
It wasn't all that long ago that the possibility of passing very many folks beyond one's own limited home locale was all the more limited. Now that we can actually 'meet' in cyberspace with almost anyone from almost anywhere on the planet, the possibilities are much greater. Add the convenience of boarding a plane and being almost anywhere in less time than it took our forebears to travel to the next county or city, the possibilities multiply.
Whether our meetings today are as mere acquaintances, business associates, friends or loves - there is a higher likelihood that they will be relatively brief compared to those meetings when everyone one would ever possibly meet lived within a narrow radius of one's own domicile. We've hardly adjusted fully to the changes.
Being human, we are geared and tend to cling to those we've been able to know more closely or intimately 'in real time and place', I suppose. When it 'clicks' and sticks, it is a most precious treasure. My feeling is that if it clicks, even if it doesn't stick, it's still to be cherished. Those that don't stick probably shouldn't for some reason.
George really was my treasure, though my 'first love' which began for me at age 7 and finally blossomed in my late teens for several years and was destined to last, didn't. It met with an obstacle it didn't withstand and we lost each other for about 30 years. By then we each had other commitments, mine was just beginning with George but was a deep one. We were able to share a lovely platonic relationship for the remainder of his life, a period of about 4 years. He passed away in 1984. There was always plenty of mutual love and lust, but it was never to be fulfilled. That was just not in its destiny. I value its preciousness just the same. His name was Kenneth, by the way, and it was a name which always had a glow around it in my mind from age 7.
My George knew him, we all visited and they grew to care for each other as buddies during his remaining lifetime. So it was meant to be as it was, not as I had dreamed it to be; - as I believe it always is.
What a wonderful array of poems you've got here Nellie. Inspiring for a lot of virtues are displayed.The emotions being portrayed are heartfelt. Our opinion of the world or about anything is a confession of our character. What a great person you are Nellie. More power!
Patnothe, what a pleasure to see you've stopped by! Thank you so much for the lovely comments and perception. I'm most honored by your good opinion of me and my poetry.
I'll remember this: "Our opinion of the world or about anything is a confession of our character".
So will I, Ian. Isn't my friend wise?
Wise in deed... or wise indeed.
Hmm. Maybe both.
Great and interesting post..nice
Twilight Lawns- I read it somewhere...can no longer remember the book and the exact words... but the message is quite like that.. But i clearly remember the author of that statement, it's Ralph Waldo Emerson...
Ian - yes. I think - both~!
htodd - I'm most pleased that you visited and found it good and interesting! Thank you!
patnothe - Ah, Emerson, - a fountain of wisdom. And yours recognizes it!
localservice 101 - I'm happy that you stopped by. I love your choice of words!
I figured out why I always enjoy my visits here. It is always Spring.
Dear Mike! Oh, I do love that thought! Thank you.
I've just slipped by, and I think you are absolutely right, Mike.
Hugs to the both of you! Big ole TEXAS hugs! :-)
(*(*(*(*(hugs)*)*)*)*)
Thank you, Ian
Hey, Ian. I don't know about you. But that is my first Big ole TEXAS hug. Didn't know what I was missing. Hugs right back young lady.
(~(~(~(~(Big ole TEXAS grin!)~)~)~)~)
They say that everything in Texas is bigger and better... I guess they were right.
Well, dear Mike and Ian - click here to really experience it! (I hope)
Now that's a hug and a very special grin.
Aw, thank you, Mike. :)
That was charming. I was watching it and Babar came in to ask me what I wanted to eat, and he smiled, and said, "Nice!".
That's a lot of conversation from Babar.
Now I am flattered, Ian and Babar! Shouldn't encourage the "ham" in me, though! I feel the urge to keep trying till I get it right! (Know anything about that syndrome, by chance?) It was fun but I've much to learn about recording with my webcam onto u-tube! But I've even more to learn about recording with it into any format on this Mac that can be posted anywhere else. So, it's a whole new challenge - and so much more entertaining than some other TDLs going on!
Hugs, m'dear. And thank you!
If anyone will come to terms with it and then master it, it will be you, you very clever person, you.
But we don;t do "ham" in this household. True Muslims eschew the pig. I am in awe of pigs, but I could never eat one... even if he were disguised as a evry lovely Parma Ham.
Ha ha (Halal) ha!
Not to worry - no ham-as-food was intended! This was but an application of he second definition of "ham":
_____________
ham 2
noun
1) an excessively theatrical actor : nobody gets to emote more than a ham on the witness stand.
• excessively theatrical acting.
2) informal: an amateur radio operator.
_____________
I fully honor the reticence to pork and have some reservations about it myself. 1) it's too fatty 2) the cured versions (like ham) are too salty.
giggle.
Hello My dear Friend Asma! Intriguing and very unique as well. Glad you posted it and I must say your writing is wonderful. Pleasure to meet you here. Keep up the good work.:)
Asma? I'm a bit confused - I am Nellieanna -, but I appreciate your comments.
Thank you.
It's been quite some time since I paid any Hubs a visit
I always TRULY loved your poetry
I literally fell in love with you, in a sense, from the first time I read you.
You are among the very best and most powerful writers in existence. I am not flattering you or building you up any higher than you deserve.
You are a truly gifted master of words. I relate to your writing like I can't relate to 99% of all others'
Amazing. Beautiful. Inspiring.
Ben Writings you have hit the nail smack on it's head about Nellieanna. She is a masterful Wordsmith of the English language, I to so admire her scribes and we both enjoy each others scribes just as we do yours. Both of you are powerful writers and I am proud to read your work.
The sheer amount of writing she has created in her life is staggering. Not to mention the brilliance of SO MUCH of it. I have always looked up to both you and her, and drawn much inspiration.
My dear Ben. How honored & humbled I am by your words. It does my heart good to see you circulating a bit more, too. We have such an inspiring community here among our fellow writers. Our mutual respect and admiration actually proclaims our own ability to key into the hearts and minds of others, allowing their inspiration to shine unhindered, as it is and beholding it. That is a most amazing thing. Thank you, dear brilliant Ben. Hugs.
What can I say, Ken. Two great poets visiting me and giving of your time and attention. I'm so pleased you're here. What I said to Ben applies to you, as well. Hugs. Thank you, dear friend.
Hugs for such high praise, Ben!
HUGS :]
Back atcha!
I agree wholeheartedly, Ben.
Our Nellieanna is a national Treasure.
You angels will make my head swell! Thank you, my dears! Hugs, dear Ian.
snakeslane Level 7 Commenter 5 months ago
So great Nellieanna, thank you for the flight of fancy. Regards, snakeslane