For some reason as I read this, I imagined ivy twined around their wrists together holding their hands in a gentle embrace.

on the verge of flight>> oh how I love this magical line, the anticipation of falling in love, and I sit here and close my eyes to let my emotions take over for a moment or two, that magical magical sensation of falling in love. Yum.

Like me, you throw in something odd, like the beetles savoring the moment too. Ha! Matt!

And, I see this cafe with red walls and old paintings on those red walls and the smell of roasting coffee beans with a wooden floor. And an old barrel cut in half sitting near the tables holding sweet packaged home made breads. And the two would/could-be lovers enchanted with each other, her legs crossed at the ankles and she plays with her hair. Soft Sigh.

The cafe lights still shine from a distant town? What's wrong with the cafe they are in? Ah, lingering and longing.

K. Am I anywhere near it? The last stanza really throws me off Matt. Tell me more. Is it that the lovers part? Or is it that the world awaits for the next couple to fall in love.

Clever poem. From my astute english friend. who I don't forget about.

:)

Posted: Jul 12, 2008

ahh, if it were not for yours and peaches comments on this, I would not have been able to enjoy it so well.
^_^ Matt it is spectacularly written.
thanks for the entertainment, now my saturday reading is full. ^_^

Posted: Jul 12, 2008

i will come back to read this once again...in a more stable frame of mind...

i want to enjoy the meanings and try to decipher my views and i am sure u would help me if i am wrong...

Posted: Jul 13, 2008

Your words are so dynamic and beautiful. When you speak about the mute flower this is a gorgeous saying. I think I may have to quote you in the real world with this one. What I understand this to be is the voice of our inner selves can only allow us to express the overlooked and silent beauties of nature. This unspeakable beauty is you and is your life and what you live for. I just feel this is all around brilliant in the phrasing.

The second stanza just describes a elegance of the nature sounds and sights in my mind. I makes me think of nighttime with my window open just listening to the sounds around my house by the wetlands. Just well put together putting people so forcefully into the shoes you are trying to make them see through.

Fledgling swans, studies, and flight what is not to like. I love this even though it may be in the regards to romance I like to think of it as a mother and daughter of father and daughter relationship both learning how to be parents and children together. I am sure that I did not interpret this correctly but the lines and flowing words that I captured within my mind were filled with beauty and passion. I am very fond of your writing style that I have seen so far and look forward to reading more. Great work. Cheers, B Leaf

Posted: Jul 13, 2008

I am downloading this one Matthew to add to my collection of all time favourite poems. I need to savour it and re read before I comment on what it truly says to me but so many magical, even melodic phrases - the first read is smooth, romantic, enjoyable. I'll be back soon!

Posted: Jul 14, 2008

oh my...
i loved this poem. it made me experience such nostalgia...

thank you.

Posted: Jul 14, 2008

Call me Anna Dissector (NO! No! Not Hannibal Lector)
I couldn’t resist playing with this and delving, with my own opinion, of the nuances beyond the author’s words.
Thanks Matthew for giving me a brain challenge (albeit a delightful one)

“Chit chat at small cafes”

Love this, reflects closeness, coziness, drew me in immediately

“circle the spinning tables”

timeless, like the earth spinning and the endless circle of life and love and relationships

“which spin like a wound
buried in ocean.
Something which can’t be drunk
is left suspended in air, a
holy relic of our own making
punched into the heart.”

I pondered hard on this stanza. At first I thought there were “secrets” being withheld from each other or “buried” between the lovers themselves. But then my impression was their togetherness somehow sets them apart from the rest of the world, engrossed in their own secret language if you will. A level of closeness and sharing that is unique to them alone.

“Only the writing of your voice
captures the mute flower;
the flower of my colour
which holds the essence of our breath,
holds the double heart ripped
from the loin in a century
made for dancing.”

I like that a voice “writes” and can capture the essence of someone else in the doing so. This is indeed a language of lovers.
“the double heart ripped from the loin in a century made for dancing,” had me thinking again. Joy and pain/passion blend?

“Chit chat at small cafes
lingers into the night.
The frolicking of glasses
and the wine smiles;
the chime of cutlery and
the light enticing insects;
the moth, the beetle, and the
cricket. All look to the
weather of this place, a
shared meaning of colour
and subtle symbolism used
by the distant stroke of a
brush; a shared eco-system,
and the same punishment of feeling.”

I am more comfortable now with the author’s message! Conveys a delightful intimacy, “lingers”, “frolicking”,
“light enticing” (“the same punishment of feeling” - still, as above, I feel that joy and pain/grief/passion blend.)

“And there we stood
wrought iron in the rub of life.
Even after all our study
we were like two fledgling
swans on the verge of flight;
beautiful in our simple thought,
in our vision of sky and stars.
As one in a world apart
sharing language and a hidden
sleep, hidden in the manic shower
of being. And the café lights
still shine in a distant town.
The coffee and wine staining
the footpath, as the waiters clear
the tables for a second coming.”

This beautiful last verse reinforces the sense of timelessness. The world spinning with a million cafés in distant towns (like mine!) and the people in them who fall in love over and over and share their own intimate language and lives.
I am in love with this poem Matthew, the café setting is warm and universal. You have created a poem for the ages.
Some poetry really touches another and I connected immediately with this one and my “chit-chats” now in small cafes will never be the same.

Posted: Jul 16, 2008

i've read this several times now - and i'm still totally amazed by it ^^ i think the final stanza is my favorite. i find there to be so much beauty in it and i love the use of swans - that was incredibly beautiful and created a fantastic image in my head.

the whole poem was absolutely breathtaking! i'm practically at a loss for words. ha i couldn't decipher all of it on my own - the above commenters helped but the last stanza i could break it down the best and maybe thats why i love it so much. hm that seemed like a run-on sentence. lol ok anyways

i love this poem! an excellent read :)

Posted: Jul 18, 2008

Very English... very quaint. Implores the nostalgia that rests in all time driven souls. Awesome piece mate!

One could actually smell the coffee... and the aroma of freshly made country bread. totally love it.

Posted: Aug 17, 2008