Monday, August 27, 2007

Switchback


an apparent easy climb, pacing
with a vertical component
a path walked by many
but completed by only a few


but then, life
a distant bong
disembodied cheeps, where are they
(I think those birds are just passing through)
heavy-satin feel of summer pond floating flowing
a brief respite from the steps


There were cities
down below there will be cities again.
after the journey through death awakens
to a knowing that one suffering
means that we all suffer.


rising above ancient distant lands
one day to maybe know the void
trapped in that last second of awareness
forever like an insect caught in amber




years pass gaining altitude and perspective
knowing the self just a little more with each step
into the heights of wisdom
until we are fully aware of where
and who we are.


(thanks moi)




The whiteness of the cloud
Is unfolding from my mind
I stare around in wonder
Have I left my life behind?

I catch the scent of the mountains
And turn my head, surprised
My gaze is caught and held and I
Am helpless...mesmerized

Beautiful landscape, liquid grace
Oh let me touch your pretty face
Enchantment falls around me
And I know I cannot leave

Here's a meaning for a life
The landscape shelter me from the storm
Pacify my troubles as if
The landscape is a woman ... soft and warm


(courtesy of Azer)






Thanks to those who added, maybe inspired by the photo or the moment; you are special.

24 comments:

  1. oh wow those are quite the switchbacks...I always wonder how logging trucks etc mange to maneuver them - they're awfully hard on an ordinary vehicle's brakes...
    Awesome photo Goatman.

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  2. Wow! Goatman, I use to drive roads like this daily, only heavily wooded in Southern Germany and Western Germany/Eastern France, in a sports car, Arabella, many years ago, brings back memories.

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  3. I like the poem, goatman, I'm going to have to think on it, but I like the last line as an ending.

    there used to be switchbacks like this going to Long Beach on the West Coast of the Island. Many a long trip was spent eating dust and chewing fingernails...it was extremely frightening at night!

    great photo!

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  4. Knowing the self just a little more
    With each step
    Into the heights of wisdom
    Until we are fully aware
    Of where and who we are.

    (all I can think of at the moment, but I love the theme and metaphor!)

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  5. "forever like an insect caught in amber" is a perfect ending, I think!

    Here's something interesting for you. I was on your blog when you posted a comment on mine! More synchronicity! :)

    By the way, is this the Grand Canyon? I was there in late May and I seem to remember seeing a path very much like this.

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  6. Lovely poem- I'll have to see if I can write something to do it justice.

    And, to answer your question, There is no getting to Juneau, Alaska by car. Only by boat or plane. Funny how the state capitol is so inaccessible.
    Denali is beautiful, isn't it? I just wish I had found a more cooperative grizzly bear.

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  7. nice shot goatman! about the poem? i love it just the way it is, it's great, only few can create one. ;0)

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  8. Sophia,
    Same river but about 200 miles north east on hiway 191 in southern Utah.
    This is near lake Powell which is behind Glen Canyon dam.

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  9. BRAVO!!! BRAVISSIMO!!!!

    touch it? not a chance. this one is all yours. and quite impressive out of the starting block ....

    when it needs a re-work, you'll know and come back to it .....

    until then, revel in your glory Goatman !! you have found your voice.

    red

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  10. Great poem to go with the view, Goatman, what would you name the poem, or is it as the post, Switchback?

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  11. What you say is true..it is only an "apparent" easy climb and a path fully completed by few.
    Indeed it is a life-long challenge to go the distance and connect all the separate "voids" until we see the "wholeness" that truly makes sense to us. I suspect that many do not even think of this let alone achieve it. I always seem about half way!

    I love the ending too. A good image that embodies the whole idea.

    (Thanks for adding my lines! I'm honoured!)

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  12. The whiteness of the cloud
    Is unfolding from my mind
    I stare around in wonder
    Have I left my life behind?

    I catch the scent of the mountains
    And turn my head, surprised
    My gaze is caught and held and I
    Am helpless...mesmerized

    Beautiful lansacpe, liquid grace
    Oh let me touch your pretty face
    Enchantment falls around me
    And I know I cannot leave

    Here's a meaning for a life
    The landscape shelter me from the storm
    Pacify my troubles as if
    The landscape is a woman ... soft and warm

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  13. Goatman, the scene reminds me of roads my husband and I and our friends traveled in southern France when we there on a business trip. They were called hairpin curves...and they were frightening, because the road was narrow and you did not know what was coming from the other direction.

    Your poem is lovely just as it is. I am always reluctant to suggest a change someone else's work. For me it is equivalent to saying "Here, let me rearrange the features on your baby's face." if that makes any sense. :-)

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  14. kggpqfwI think I meant that some parts of the puzzle of our lives, we can see and understand, but there are pieces that are missing (the voids) for which we have no clue about ourselves. If we can weave a common thread throughout life's climb, maybe we can string together the void parts so they make sense of the whole total of our life....or at least fill them in with clues and then guesses as to what our life means and who we are.

    I wonder if in that last second of awareness before we die, if we know the "whole" clearly or do we only know "all" after we have risen above our earthly dwelling place and see only from that vantage point with true perspective? Are we frozen in our ignorance as the insect is captured in amber?

    (Interesting transformation and evolution of your words....starts with free verse, then into a rhyme scheme of ABCB to AABB and back to free verse. I'm not sure "real" and traditional poets would contrive this scheme or form, but it's yours and you can do whatever you want to! I'm glad you're getting into the process and rewarding feeling it brings to see your thoughts take on a form in a concrete way.)

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  15. Sorry for the garble at the beginning of my comment..it was the word verif. jumping ship!!!! Not a new kind of poem...although the odd time it actually spells something!

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  16. moi,
    I thought it was a new computer acronym.
    I like your "void" interpretation, but that could be a whole new poem!
    Thanks

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  17. This poem is shaping up quite nicely!

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  18. if one's suffering meant we all suffered, then why am I numb of my own pain?

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  19. Naj,
    I'm not sure that it spreads the suffering out when others share it. But maybe being aware of it by many may prompt a change to reduce the cause of others' pain.

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  20. Beautiful. Helps illustrate a point all but missing in discussions of the environment: having some relatively unspoiled nature in our lives helps with spiritual growth. Without having had some of that as a child, I don't see how I'd be the same person.

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  21. I enjoyed not only the poem but this long discussion that follows. A good poem does this; initiates communication.

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