Etchings

Whoa! William, I will have to ponder this poem to get
the meaning of what you penned. Some times it is so
hard for me to comprehend dear man, so sorry. Have
a Blessed day William.
Hugger4U
Just Me
Barbie

Great poem,very thought provoking...Thanks William

Thank you so much William for all comments
you have made on my articles & pictures.
~Barbie~

This poem starts in the present tense, but shifts to the past with remembrances, yet some are so vivid with angst that they are still here with me today. This is a bit more complicated than I had wished, but I wrote what came to me.

William, I am also having a hard time grasping the meaning. I don't know if you are tired of fake cheer or simply tired. But this is what poetry does, it gives us things to ponder.
I'm off to ponder, have a great day!!

Its great,wonderful poem but alittle to deep for me today.I need all of the cheer I can find today.

Not understanding poetry, what I am getting out of it is, we have made our beds by the decisions we have made and now we must live with those decisions. What looked wonderful at first doesnt look so great anymore.
I know more than likely this isnt what you were saying. I too get confused trying to understand most poetry.

Hi Bill
I too find a difficulty with this poem.
I sense that it has to do with your childhood.
I'm intrigued by the verse that begins with "In my box of missing cookies...."
I feel that this verse is at the heart of your poem...but I do need help from you with this one.

Well written

A heart should get a chance to write.This is so beautiful William.

Okay, William, I see a mature man (in years) looking for inspiration and listing things he could exploit but not sure where the inspiration he might choose originated. Was it as a boy who let fly all things he perceived as "work" by answering "I can't..." whenever he wanted to avoid what others wanted him to do OR was it as a young man when he opted to do what he wanted whether it was something that would be detrimental in the long run. You threw caution to the proverbial wind and are now repenting in leisure and some concern but accepting you played an all-too important part in your own story. OKay, now tell me how much of myself I wove into this to make me understand what I thought you said...

It is interesting. I am sure there is more than my brain can fathom right now. I like the meter and rhyme. Thank you for sharing it though. It is worth more thought.

Very strong poem, William. Much of it really hit home for me, especially the last line. It is true that we label ourselves and then helplessly live up to it. Thank you for the reminder.

The first stanza is my present condition (weak and merry), but in the second line I tell you I don't have what I want, but the next two lines tell you I'm searching for answers and some Are nice and some not so nice because of people in my life.
My second stanza is to set you up for the discussion. I let you know there's a feral nature about me, which is very tired of the fake niceness, which to me is dangerous.
In the third stanza I tell you I see too much cruelty. I try to hide from it, but sometimes I speak out and then I get attacked and it ruins my holiday spirit. My fourth stanza is a continuation of the third. I try to be a nice guy, but inside the feral animal in me wants to release anger. Finally the personal attacks make me strike back as the final line of stanza 4 clearly shows.
Stanza 5 is me trying to understand why I am the way I am. I greatly dislike violence verbally or physically, but yet I can't deny the feral animal in me wants to strike out with violence. The rest of the poem is an introspective look at myself and the things that helped to cause the feral nature in me.

I hope this helps. I usually write fairly easy to understand poems, but I just wanted to try something different. Maybe too different.

Not too different, I think, William. You speak to feelings in all of us. You always do whether it be through humor or angst. Christmas offers the hope of joy and wonder and life sometimes crowds in. I see this as being totally appropriate especially now. We must cross some bridges to reach our joy. So you are crossing some bridges. And we are crossing them with you at least to a point. Christmas is also about inner strength and values and you have made that very clear.

This is introspective and deep, and your explanation filled in the blanks.

I think we all have some 'feral' anger... I hope that it smooths out for you soon.

I think with your explanation and before It , I got your Poem William, I have read so many things of yours, I know you are never satisfied with most things, and that you keep trying and want more. I thought about the line I can't and I remember back to my mother telling me early in my life, there are some words that don't belong in your vocabulary, they are, I don't care, and I can't. I have tried to live that way, and I think you hve too, and I see some frustration in this poem , I may be wrong, but that is how I read it, and that is just on a first read, perhaps if I read it again, I will come up with something new, I will look again later, it is a very good poem by the way.

In my box of missing cookies
Lurks a sly child playing hooky
Who said no thanks to golden rings
That had so many attached strings

This is the verse that makes perfect sense to me.

You say you personally dislike violence, verbally or physically, yet you want to strike out. Welcome to the club! We all have the potential to be violent. I have found the only way to conquer it is to MAKE A PLAN ahead of time, how we are going to deal with whatever it is, and that plan doesn't include violence.

Hope you got some of it out of your system William! You don't need to be happy just because it's ging to be Christmas...

Last year I was in Detroit around the beginning of Advent, and there was a day, I don't remember what it was called, but there was a celebration of music and crafts and so on all geared to Christmas, and everything was free. The Salvation Army played music in (?) square, and everyone could sing along at the end. It was COLD! And a lot of fun. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Very introspective. I need more time to read this to enjoy it fully.

Boy...somebody sounds dissapointed
...and kinda PO'd here...

Excellent poem William, except it made me feel a bit like crying.
I suppsed that means I have been moved.
Thank you

Read like a clever interplay of the light and dark of the Christmas season, and the light and dark of life, self, ambition, hope, etc. Liked it.

The same verse Cristina quoted was the one that especially resonated with me, William, along with the next two verses.We make our choices based on what is important to us, but sometimes things just don't come out the way we were so sure they would. At least, that's what I'm feeling these days, and what your poem evoked in me.

Interesting poem, I've read it 4 times now and pick up something new every time that I can relate to or that now is clear. Also thanks for the telling behind the writing of this poem.

I just came by and read this poem again. It's like it got into my bones. William, this is an extraordinary poem.

Christina, I've heard about this, but I rarely go to Detroit. The reason is the cost of parking. Last time I was in Detroit was last March. My wife and I went to a fairly nice restaurant for lunch. Our bill was $37. I had to pay $8 just to park for an hour. That is simply unacceptable.

That's surely true William - but even the parking was free!! It's an annual event...

I like stanza 5 also. I can really relate to what you are saying there. I think I may have picked some of the rings that had too many strings attached.

These etchings paint a vivid journey, Bill...one which most of us are making. Keep etching!

well I'm one of the ones that had to read and reread to "get" it. Thanks for the explanantions, I'm the definitely one of the slower ones.

hey William... very deep...
i thought you were gonna show me your etchings>>> hehe

Geez Necee, you make it sound like a peep show.