Monday, July 10, 2017

The Heart Is Like a Yellow Umbrella




 Little 'twinkle-bug' is doing what all babies do...growing up WAY too fast!
...and tugging our hearts every-which-way but apart!


The heart is like a howling beast, hungry for what is not
Nay, it is like a cup that cradles seasons wrapped in thought
Or is it like a ragged rope worn thin with tug-of-war
Torn between what has been and who we were to who we are

The heart is like a harbor where time’s fleet of mem’ries rest
Or is it like a cargo ship atop a roiling crest?
Nay, it is like a vault with tender treasure in its keep
Where it is like a mother rocking her baby to sleep

The heart is like a patriarch that rules a palace, no
It is a beggar-child in search of crumbs to soothe its woe
Or is it like a poem pressed on pages, thin as air
Or perhaps like a pilgrim climbing mercy’s phantom stair

…or is the heart a hunter, plundering a world of whim
Nay, it is like the hunter’s prey, caught in a cage within
Or is it but the moderator of the flinty mind?
Where we would be too harsh, save for the heart, humble and kind

The heart is like a yellow umbrella tipped upside down
To catch a falling star and drops of sun-rain’s grin and frown
The heart is soft as silk and strong as steel, it holds; lets go
The heart is like a ping-pong ball that love bats to and fro

The heart is like a hammock, like a sock with holy holes
It pulses with the breath of life where deadly vice cajoles
Lone musketeer where faith and fear rankles its mortal bark
The heart is like a trembling minstrel singing in the dark

© Janet Martin

7 comments:

  1. He truly is adorable - the cutest little eyes and smile! Enjoy the moments and seize the days ... Love your beautiful poem, Janet!

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    1. A grand-baby is more dear than I ever imagined. Thank-you for your visit and kind words!

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  2. Thank you for sharing these delights I can see why Brantley is your inspiration.

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    1. He is the cutest inspiration...it it hard to control my penchant for poeming every breath;-)

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  3. More than twenty (!) wonderful similes-metaphors for the heart -- and I believe you could come up with dozens more!

    This blackboard is such a neat idea. There'll be a lot of tugging on heart strings, though, in the future, when you look at the pictures :)

    I love the picture of you and the baby -- you both are beautiful.

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    1. this was one of those bam-out-of-the-blue poems that are like a gift to the often grunting, groaning wielder of ink.

      thank-you for your kind words. I tried cropping myself out of this pic but then Brantley looked a little lost;-) You are so right about those heart-string tugs!!

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