Acknowledgments:
With Photograph by Patsy Kinser, Sand Springs, OK
From recent road trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico
a modern sky
right in front of me
each footstep marked
by only stars above
sunlit grasslands
held in red rock canyons
open vulnerable wounds
in abandoned adobe houses
a single
blue aluminum chair
sits alone
in a walled chamber room
where voices once rose in song
of cherished childhood dreams
native wind flutes melodies
where wood smoke heated
& fought off the chill
of long winter nights
layered red clays
brick & stone
past forms molded &
hand hewned logs
set upon earthen floors
surrounded
by adobe walls
stone cold
& open
wooden frame transoms
where double doors once stood
time’s forgotten fences
unmended
no neighbors to keep
no repairs to be made
families
children
grand parents
generations moved on
long lost stories
whispered by ghosts
who roam the fields
in old Santa Fe
Dear Beez, thank you so very much for your kind words!
I love that you enjoyed this poem and appreciated your insights too.
Thanks for taking the time to respond with your wonderful words & passion! — and by the way nothing like loads of 'ivy'
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Natasha, Oh, wow — thank you so much! When I first saw this photo I knew I had to write about this place, this home, this journey!
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Susie – thanks!! We do loose some parts of our own humanity by the overuse of our technology.
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Joanne, thank you for reading and sharing! I related to the things that were absent. The loneliness and the abandonment of our places called home
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Leslie, thank you! I love old buildings and places where time has stopped in its tracks.
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Laurie, thank you so much for taking time to visit and share!
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the lovely feel of clay as its built to last yet like anything organic in time ages cracks fades … all of this is like a ripple affect of life from our beginning to the end and the nostalgia the sadness of shade that often emerges in a persons mind when they go back to a place in their life….. in time.. but the industry of our making that aluminium chair so alone .. for me signified for me all of what this poem was speaking of time age death birth life changes of the environment natural and the abandonment that change can often bring with technology oh Im no good at expression I get all my thoughts tangled up like ivy Only this Poem spoke so much of this to me I think it is so wonderfully written .. i would love to have your talent with expression with poetry this is truly a wonderful . always beez
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Joanie! A stunning example of your word mastery coupled with the fantastic image…how many tales remain trapped in that clay? From an area that is swimming in Mi'kmaq history and culture, this particularly resonates well with me. Such a fantastic job on this one!
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A beautiful, haunting piece. From the title it creates the sadness of this abandoned place. How painful to know the traditions of our Native Americans are becoming lost to an electronic world that doesn't value them.
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You paint a lovely and haunting picture with your words. Many of these stanzas are favs, but this one especially moves me:
“time's forgotten fences
unmended
no neighbors to keep
no repairs to be made”
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Joan a wonderful post time has moved forward for this old adobe and yet there is an echo of the past through your poetry
Thanks for sharing with NWCU's Snap Shot Sunday
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Beautiful!
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