HONED FOR HOLLOW PLACES

NOTE FROM AUTHOR:
I wrote this in several versions but I finally settled on writing it in first person because it seemed to be more potent that way. I felt in this form it has a more striking effect. I believe, of course, that its longing for a fresh and nourishing life is a universal one. So often obstacles in life seem to overwhelming us with love, in its various forms, the needed remedy.

thanks for sharing Great article

Amy... your comments always welcome me generously as you are one of my most valuable readers.

Jennifer... thank you for dropping by.

Love, it seems to convey either a great beginning, or a sorrowful ending.

This is beautiful Richard, truly.

tb and Vicky... thank you both... it is always good to have faithful readers who can enjoy my poetry.

"It is an appetite for spontaneity that thrills me, but life
is lost in sacrifices, been schooled into numbness"

Hi Richard,

Do you have a crystal ball? You don't need one I suppose, if the hunger for something different, and more meaningful is as you said, universal.

"My veins do not glitter, my face does not shine, and my
pulse is not tempered, as it seems to race through life
to find the end of it."

This face used to shine, it used to be colored with a sense of hopefullness, a certainty that love was waiting somewhere... outside myself. The only opportunity to know the value of living at all, had to come from someone else. Oh how the value of that commodity, rose on the speculative musings of a lost young woman. Like any booming market, the bottom fell out and this soul is listed as a short sale. Where does it get it's worth? How can it fetch a price that will pay off all that it owes? I tremble at this moment just thinking about it.

Time to focus on love and life
Let go of sacrifice
Let go of strife
Open love to each one you meet
Then comes the joy that keeps life sweet

Richard, what you speak of is universal, as you say, though it's taken me decades to realize that--the aloneness of each of us. Your first two lines are especially powerful expressions of it.

Top notch, Richard! I'm featuring this in the Chat & Connections Garden Cafe. And have ten stars as well!

Thank you so much Magi !!!!! It is truly an honor to be featured at your charming cafe.

John B. thanks for picking up on "the aloneness of each of us" aspect of this poetry. There is so much hidden in this poetry, even in single words or style of expression.

I am glad of all the comments I have received and hope others too can find the time for a careful read.

I didn't connect with this as much as some of your other poems, but perhaps this is because I love being alone.

However, I also agree with you that we seem wired to be "paired", and life can be, or seem, very empty when we are not.

Love with joy and confidence. If you begin by loving small things...maybe even things or people that can't love back, you will find it. Kittens, puppies, children, old folk, the marginalized, it seems to set off some kind of love scent that brings the love you need right to your door. It will all come in time.
It could be live with confidence as well. Oh yes, and keep writing good poetry. Ready or not world, here comes Richard Melendez.

This thrills me no end, Richard.

Wow, I just read my comment on this powerful piece of yours... You must think I am out of my mind.

I read, I experience, I comment... and then go back to my life and forget the moment entirely...

If it means anything, not every writer evokes such feelings in me. A dubious honor?...?

Have a great day from

Kristina-witha-K

I love this courageous heart murmur....and secretly smile at the embedded
denial.......this love I believe awaits , when the authored voice actually is prepared
to replace the security of the escapist spontaneity that is afraid to
meld, with the unknown and uncontrollable urges and surges that
synchronize over time to become a joining of lovers. I think that
love is an extended creative act that is developed through
the finest reciprocal time and gifting ..... something we open to
and then carefully nurture through growing pains, to shiny face and
glittery veins and tempered pulse.

Richard, this is something that I will return to as it deserves more than the quick read I can allow at the moment. I'll have to say that the title really grabbed me.