Sit and be still with me.
This quiet bench beside daffodils
ruffle-edged tulips and hyacinth.
Savor sun as do these flowers of spring.
Memories seared in my mind.
Sharing dreams of spring
‘neath comforter of down,
lifted up by love to sound of song.
Seasons’ promise from death to life,
blooms of rebirth near my feet.
I cry out loud so silently,
my questions float upon the breeze.
Why can’t my love return to me?
Your body too deep to feel this sun,
craves warmth from mine, a simple plea,
to sit and be, still with me.
Photo taken this morning. Spring abounds in the beautiful grounds around our condo building in the city. Written for Open Link Night at the dVerse Poets’ Pub. If you’ve not come for a visit, drop on by and meet some of these amazing writers – or post a poem of your own. The more the merrier at a virtual pub!
lillian the home poet 
I love the thought of sitting on a bench like that… so inviting, and spring truly can heal… just as much as company.
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I spent some time on this bench this morning after yoga. It’s true. Spring can be healing to the soul.
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what a gorgeous image accompaniment! and i love all the physical descriptions you include – they really round off the scene. beautiful.
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Thank you so much! This bench is a very special place in the spring. Everyone who passes by, slows down, if just for a moment, looks and smiles. So glad you enjoyed!
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Gosh, Lil, you are really active, & have found your place at the dVerse table. This piece swarms with fecund spring trappings, but the lost, or deceased lover wraps the halcyon feel in melancholy; nice twist; sobering & touching.
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I am truly enjoying myself! My morning coffee never tasted so good 😊. That’s when I do my reading of other folks and do my scribbling as well.
So glad you caught the twist at the end – that comma after “be” makes all the difference.
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I cry out loud so silently,
my questions float upon the breeze.
Beautifully poignant write ❤ ❤
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Thank you, Sanaa – especially for the hearts! 😊💝
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this really resonates with me – thank you
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So nice to see your reply here, Paul. I’m glad you connected to the piece. The bench, in these past few days, just makes people smile – and for me, calms the soul.
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“I cry out loud so silently,/my questions float upon the breeze”…what a great line and I love the last stanza that states “Your body too deep to feel this sun.” That bench looks a little lonely in spite of the beautiful bed of flowers around it…
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It was given as a memorial by a resident of our condominium building to her husband who left this earth far too young. Not many sit upon it — I have several times in the lasts few days – the flowers around it are food for the soul.
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Beautiful words and beautiful flowers. In my neck of the woods, the daffodils are done and we’ve moved on to iris and other flowers. I love that every flower has its season and that they adapt to different climates.
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The fairies know what they’re doing when they wear spring flower garlands round their heads! Would that we could all have a flower aura about us every day😊🌸🌷🌻💐
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“Your body too deep to feel this sun”
that bent daffodil in the picture
surely was listening …
bellissimo …
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Such a wonder comment – smiling I am. Thank you!
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All the blooming beauty around just adds to the sadness in this. Every where there is new life, all returned for the spring. Only the lover remains absent. Beautiful tone to this.
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Yes. It’s hard to remember in joyful spring that the season can have its sadness for some. I’m so glad you enjoyed.
I shall be reading everyone’s posts in the morning with my morning cup. It’s always a lovely way to start the day!
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I am just now getting to finish my reading and commenting. hard weekend taking care of my husband but now have a rest.
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Take care my friend…and take some time for yourself too 🙂
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Beautiful poem, I like how it left me full of emotion and imagery.
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Thank you! So very glad you enjoyed. Hope to see you again 😊
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There are few joys nicer than a quiet moment sitting on a bench amongst nature.
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Oh I so agree! And sitting on a deck facing the St George’s Harbor in Bermuda – I do miss that!
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I love to sit there beside you and marvel at the flowers blooming ~ The sadness floats despite the beauty of the spring season ~
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Yes — an aching sadness when one contemplates such beauty alone.
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Oh, Lillian, your last line sent my heart spinning. Such longing and bittersweet beauty… Nature is full of wonders, but they lose something when we can’t share the experience with the right heart.
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So glad you enjoyed. And yes, to share is to have joy!
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There seems to me to be so much not said in this poem Lillian, you capture a sense of loss so well, its like a reach out and want to be there to sit with you….beautifully done…
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Thank you for your very kind words, Michael.
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A beautiful invitation. A deep longing. So beautiful.
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Oh smiling I am! Thank you!
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A sensitive and lovely poem. The subtlety of difference between the first and the last line just by the addition of the comma, I found very moving.
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So glad you mentioned that all important comma. It does indeed make all the difference. Glad you enjoyed this one.
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I was taken by “I cry out loud so silently.” An exqusiite line.
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Ah thank you, Nan.
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craves warmth from mine, a simple plea,
to sit and be, still with me.
How one yearns for the good times of old sitting together on the bench. Good times when they come they come in droves or none at all. Beautiful surroundings around your condo Lilian!
Hank
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So glad you enjoyed, Hank. We’re very fortunate to be right in the middle of the city — but to have green space around us including a walkway called Thoreau Path — and the Mass General Hospital Campus right across the street.
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The mention of the comma: I read and reread and this is why I take part in these forums; one learns so much! That silent cry echoes. Beautifully written.
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Thank you so much. So very glad you enjoyed. Yes — I’ve learned a tremendous lot from folks at dVerse! I never even knew what a haibun was — and was petrified to rhyme. We all grow as we read and write! 🙂
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Beautifully moving, Lillian.
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So nice to ready your reply over my morning cup! 🙂
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Beautiful! Such a lovely, poignant ending; and the photo — gorgeous! Such a beautiful, healing spot.
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It is indeed a “healing” place to sit and ponder. So very happy you enjoyed.
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What a heart-rending poem, Lillian! Beautiful imagery, moving lines – I especially loved how you began with these seemingly peaceful lines:
“Sit and be still with me.
This quiet bench beside daffodils
ruffle-edged tulips and hyacinth.
Savor sun as do these flowers of spring.”
and ended with the shocking sense of someone who’s truly dead, but whose warmth the speaker craves, with these words:
” a simple plea,
to sit and be, still with me.”
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Oh — thank you so very much for your thoughtful reading and response here. Truly appreciated. Smiling I am with my first cup of morning coffee! 🙂
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I love all of this but especially the second stanza. There is a plea from the past to reconnect, sharing moments of the past with passersby. How beautiful. Not sure, but I sense a shift in your style for this piece. Very nice, Lillian. 🙂
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So happy to read your reply here this morning, Mish. I took yesterday off — celebrating the first day of my last year before the seventies set in. So just getting here now — on the 14th…shall mosey over to begin reading everyone’s replies to OLN now.
Interesting. Yes, the second stanza was my favorite here too. I think you are right — this has a different “feel” from anything I’ve written before. Can’t put my finger on it though…
Have a wonderful weekend!
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Your photo is so appealing, as is your poem. Who so tempted, could resist?
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So glad you enjoyed! Always happy to have folks “sit” with me a while — here on my bench or meandering through my site 🙂 Glad to see you here this morning!
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a bench’s lifeline is rooted in Mother Earth allowing us to sense the seasons with more than just our eyes
they are magic carpets transporting us to destinations we can never reach by foot –
I adore benches and just looking at one sets my mind contemplating
your beautiful image here Lillian, puts me in a contemplative mood
your expressive words– joyous, hopeful, somber– fill the space in my heart like a lovely moment spent on a bench pondering…
am:)
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ah thank you my friend. Just back from gym and it’s such a beautiful day, I’ve decided to take a book and go sit by the Charles for a bit 🙂 So many places to find a magic carpet on a spring day!
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🙂
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I love the line “I cry out loud so silently” also like how you took this poem from sitting and enjoying the flowers to wistful longing for lost love.
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Thank you so much, Bryan. Truly appreciate the thoughtful read 🙂
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