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    Parker Owens
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Occasional Poetry - 47. Short Elegy

em>My attempt at an Elegy, responding to Poetry Prompt 6. I am particularly indebted to AC, whose prompts, descriptions and examples made this pour out onto the paper. If you see any errors, I must have made them.
Short Elegy
 
He was an ordinary guy,
not tall or short, nor broad nor thin,
a pleasant visage with a grin,
who would for my attention vie.
 
And I recall the sky was fair,
the meadow greening in the light,
we watched an eagle taking flight,
while zephyrs feathered in his hair.
 
Still later when the moon arose,
upon the grass, we counted stars,
while Venus played at being Mars
and flowers tickled at our toes.
 
How quickly did that moment pass,
a shadowed plaything of the sun,
for east and west our lives did run,
as fleeting as the sounded brass.
 
I knew not what became of him,
that once extraordinary man,
as magical as Puck or Pan,
but memory did not grow dim.
 
Last night, I learned what was his fate,
that he'd been gone for several years,
and so my eyes were stung with tears,
as if they could my soul berate.
 
Alone, I walked suburban streets
so far removed from starlit lea,
where recollection waits for me,
and fantasy unmaking meets;
 
Yet still I cry unto those hills,
Come back, that springtime yet may bloom,
forget all creatures face the doom,
relive again the joy that fills
 
A heart with courage, love and hope,
and strength to rise another day,
and spend one's labor to repay
a gift beyond all heaven's scope.
 
em>Leave comments, bad or good, if it pleases you to do so. I appreciate hearing from anyone who reads these lines.
Copyright © 2017 Parker Owens; All Rights Reserved.
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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One of the most challenging aspects of creating the Elegy Poetry Prompt was how to convey the form's openness to Nature. And do it in a way where Tennyson was a guide but a poet to be copied.

Wowsers, have you succeed here! Like some of the most heartfelt sections of In Memoriam the Nature aspects tied to lost love are in stunning balance.

My words fail here a bit, but this is an amazing poem. Perhaps it's your extensive work with the Rubaiyat form that has you thinking of couplets (in a way) that makes all your rhymes in this poem flow with breathtaking ease.

This poem is a wonder; perhaps your best to date. Thank you for taking the challenge! I feel humbled that I guided you to create such a fine work of art.

Edited by AC Benus
  On 9/27/2016 at 2:45 PM, AC Benus said:

One of the most challenging aspects of creating the Elegy Poetry Prompt was how to convey the form's openness to Nature. And do it in a way where Tennyson was a guide but a poet to be copied.

 

Wowsers, have you succeed here! Like some of the most heartfelt sections of In Memoriam the Nature aspects tied to lost love are in stunning balance.

 

My words fail here a bit, but this is an amazing poem. Perhaps it's your extensive work with the Rubaiyat form that has you thinking of couplets (in a way) that makes all your rhymes in this poem flow with breathtaking ease.

 

This poem is a wonder; perhaps your best to date. Thank you for taking the challenge! I feel humbled that I guided you to create such a fine work of art.

Expand  

Your kindness and generosity to all of us is remarkable; this poem is clearly the product of that. It is I who am humbled by your words here. Rubaiyat certainly helped enormously with this poem, as you perceive rightly. Art, memory and yearning all played their part. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read and reflect on this short elegy, and for your words of encouragement and affirmation which mean so very much.

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It's amazing how one fleeting moment in time, one connection with a stranger can stay with us for a lifetime, always lingering on the edge of thought. It's what I got from this, and I think we all have had them. It makes me wonder how fickle fate is. She gives us these special moments.. why do they not grow? Why do we not pursue? A thoughtful, powerful poem... the message rings with the clarity of a bugle. I've done all the forms save one, and I respect them, but for me it is what is conveyed in the piece that I respond to, and it is in this case, from this work, I got the most out of in recent memory. Consummate... a word that applies to you and your work, Parker... cheers... Gary....

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  On 9/27/2016 at 4:49 PM, Headstall said:

It's amazing how one fleeting moment in time, one connection with a stranger can stay with us for a lifetime, always lingering on the edge of thought. It's what I got from this, and I think we all have had them. It makes me wonder how fickle fate is. She gives us these special moments.. why do they not grow? Why do we not pursue? A thoughtful, powerful poem... the message rings with the clarity of a bugle. I've done all the forms save one, and I respect them, but for me it is what is conveyed in the piece that I respond to, and it is in this case, from this work, I got the most out of in recent memory. Consummate... a word that applies to you and your work, Parker... cheers... Gary....

Expand  

It was such an short time, and yet a memory that has never quite let go. Perhaps it grew in an unexpected way, unseen over so many years to flower in this manner. Your words are so very generous and kind; more importantly, you found something in this which resonated with your spirit. And if that happened, then perhaps the two of us may connect in a way neither knew was possible.

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  On 9/27/2016 at 9:00 PM, Valkyrie said:

It's a wonderful poem, Parker. It reminds me a bit of Cat Stevens' "Boy with the Moon and Star on His Head". It's a wonderful tribute to a fleeting moment that had a profound impact. It brought tears to my eyes. :hug::kiss:

Expand  

Thank you so much, Val. That you could connect to the moment, and to what it left behind me and the poem achieved at least part of its purpose. I am so glad you liked this. Thanks so much for reading and responding to it.

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  On 9/28/2016 at 2:55 AM, skinnydragon said:

Stunning, Parker!

 

We all have those isolated moments in our voyage through life-time. You have expressed those common moments, common thoughts and common regrets so beautifully.

 

Thanks for this.

Expand  

SD, I am so very pleased you thought this memorial to a youthful idyll was any good. Somehow, once the words started flowing, they refused to be stopped. Your kind words are so encouraging and generous. Many, many thanks.

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