You carried me
over the threshold…
alice found crazy hats
and a tea party…
stalactites dripped slowly
until they began to fall…
fissures…
apertures…
this time
you cannot be
with me…
door to something
somewhere…
and I must
pass
alone.
Tending the bar today at dVerse’s virtual Pub for Poets. It’s Tuesday Poetics and I’ve asked folks to write a poem relating to the word “door.” Although I provided a number of photos for possible use, writers can also use one of their own. This one was taken at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts a few days ago – a space you enter wtih three walls, ceiling and floor covered in mirror or mirror-like materials with beads and jewels hanging from various areas. Looking back at the photo – it seems a passage to another world — perhaps an afterlife? Who knows? You’re invited to visit dVerse and pop through some doors with a group of wonderful writers!
lillian the home poet 
Yes, there are doors we must pass through alone. And in the end, that is what we are…alone. Poignant, melancholic but not really sad. It’s just how it is.
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Yes, exactly. And may we have joyous company through many many doors — before we turn into Alice and face the unknown. Thanks for your thoughts here!
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Generally we enter alone, & exit alone. This is a terrific prompt; will find some time to get something up today.
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I was privileged to hold my mother’s hand as she passed from this world to the next. My thoughts were that she held mine as I entered and I was so grateful to hold hers at that moment.
I’m so glad you like the prompt, Glenn. I look forward to seeing your take on it~ I always devour your words 🙂
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Am reminded, of the line, from Star Trek: Generations, which Kirk says, “I always knew that I would die alone…”, in explaining, why he had died, when the Enterprise crash landed, at the end. For death is, a one way journey, we can only make on our own.
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oh….what a great comment here! Smiling I am — yes indeed. It is a one-way door that only swings out — or maybe I should say in? And we leave a bit of ourselves behind in the hearts of our loved ones. Thank you so much for your reflection here.
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This was whimsical and sad… A half smile for a beloved from his grieving partner. I loved it.
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So glad you enjoyed this one. The photo doesn’t do the “room” justice and I was just mesmorized standing in it — like looking into an abyss of some afterlife somewhere.
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And this is true. I have held the hands of those who passed from here to there, including my grandmother. I was once a volunteer in an AIDS hospice program. It was a priviledge to be there with them but still, only they could enter that door. It isn’t mournful, just how it is. And I hope I do not find another place that is filled with crazy hats and no color….just peace. That works well for me.
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Calm serenity — yes. But you know, I’d love to keep on dancing when I’m gone 🙂
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That is peace as well!
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Those doors are the loneliest of places… Love the metaphoric take.
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We come alone, and will leave the same.
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Ah but the passages in between are meant to be shared with those we love. Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
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Lovely metaphoric take and I so enjoyed the prompt Lillian 🙂
Congratulations on joining the dVerse team ❤
Lots of love,
Sanaa
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I am so so happy to be a part of the team! Learning and enjoying — can’t beat that combination. 🙂
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Great prompt and great poem. It’s brilliant how you fitted so much life into such a short piece.
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So glad you enjoyed the prompt and the poem. It is quite amazing the variety of responses to the word “doors.” My first was such a solemn one and then the second a jaunty down a silly memory lane.
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It was a great prompt because of all the paths that can be taken with it. It was quite literally an open door for poets.
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Oh, what beautiful sadness lies here.
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Thank you for this reflection….
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There are some journeys that we need to walk and pass alone ~ That is some amazing photo of a passage Lillian ~ Food for thought on your poem ~
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Thank you, Grace. That longest journey for some….and far too quick/soon for others.
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Poignant and a little sad but hopeful for what comes next.
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Yes —- that final door is one we must pass though alone and the other side is a mystery. But we do believe….
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Yes, this is sad, but how many doors are in life: not for everyone to go through together, but each separate.
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That is exactly right. So many doors, in and out….and we can share or not share, tell of hide. Life is a series of choices for many — and sadly, some do not have the choices.
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What great, wise comments you have received in reponse to your wise and thoughtful poem. My poem reveals me to still be in the rebellious stage, at 80!
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So glad to see you here tonight. It’s been very interesting to see the varied responses to the prompt. Shall meander over to see yours in a moment! 🙂
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Loved the reference to Alice… and through the door, and down the rabbit hole alone. Very nice!
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So glad you enjoyed! And so happy to see you over at dVerse — such a beautiful poem and the photo was stunning! 🙂 Hope you’ll come back again!
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Thanks again Lillian. I haven’t posted for dVerse in quite some time. In fact, I hadn’t written in about two months. Shouldn’t let life get in the way of what I love like that. 🙂
Anyway I did update the post to add reference to dVerse and the wonderful group of folks there. I do appreciate the prompt. Thank you. Have a great day!
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Thank you thank you!
Well… as my spouse always says, “Life happens!” Do hope to see you more often again at dVerse – your words and depth of feelings expressed within them are quite special. So when the spirit moves you, do join in! 😊
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A great prompt. I also love the reference to Alice.
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Glad you enjoyed the prompt and liked this one 🙂 Alice came to mind when I was standing in this discombobulating “room” at the MFA! 🙂
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That really does look like a passage to somewhere else! Thanks for a great prompt!
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Glad you enjoyed the prompt — so many diverse repsonses to it! 🙂 And yes — I stepped “into” this room (where the photo was taken) and it was totally discombobulating. What’s not in the photo is an ornate chair that was sitting there, “placed” in the room, so folks could sit down and have their photo taken (not formally — just anyone who wanted to use their camera or phone to take a pic)….and that was really weird — just the sitting down — with all these mirrors everywhere — and there was a section hanging overhead with the jewels and beads dripping from it that was all mirrored and moving ever so slowly from side to side! 🙂
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Brilliant and playful poem, Lillian! You certainly took us to an Alice adventure with your words. 🙂 And that’s a lovely photo, I agree. 😀
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So glad you enjoyed, Maria. Happy to see you again at dVerse – so nice to meet friends over my morning cup!
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One get doors and then one get The Significant Ones. 🙂
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Very true indeed. Thanks for the thoughtful reply – truly appreciated! Smiling I am.
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Thank you for hosting Poetics today, Lillian.
This is beautiful, elegant, wistful, heartfelt.
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Thank you. I just read your post and am so glad you put it up for all to see. Many come back and read later today – I hope they will see yours. It has been an amazing prompt in terms of responses – everything from the silly (one of the first was about carting out an old refrigerator – and my second one went back to childhood memories of cowboys) to the sublime and beautiful to the sobering to the frightening. I shall have to go back over the weekend and read all again.
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Doors for beginnings and endings. The door as a symbol of the entrance into marriage makes your theme especially sad when it ends.
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Yes — some doors are more difficult than others and some, we must maneuver through alone.
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Doors oF ever noW..
approacH..
open closeD
Brighter pathS
onlY
alonE
allone maY
kNoW noW..:)
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So good to see you, Katie!
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You too..:)
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Beautiful, reflective, pensive — a farewell and an acceptance of the inevitable — a lot going on here — Lovely! Thanks for this great prompt. (I cheated with an old poem. Still hope to write a new, but may not make it before Mr Linky expires… or should I say, passes? 😉
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Mr. Linky has a long life for this one. If he’s closed, you can post your second one for Thursday’s Open Link Night.
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