[poem] w/hole-hearted

[kaberett]

for JJ, because how couldn't it be?

It's not the watching
of any one particular sunset
that's the thing:

it's finding time to breathe the steam that rises from your mug
to feel the warm seep into your cupped hands
to scribble in the margins of your day:

if every one's an island, then so what?
an island isn't ever watertight.

we're leaky vessels. so
drink your fill of sunlight--
and then go about your life.

Comments

[kaberett]

For those interested, this is actually the third complete restructuring of the same general idea. The first draft happened on the 8th of April and looked like this:

The important thing is not so much the watching
of any one particular sun set (for though you will,
the sun will not die within your lifetime, even
if you spend it all discussing the fencepost problem)
as making finding space + time to sit + breathe
the steam that rises from your mug of tea
while you reflect, as the sky shades to green,
on your cupped hands containing seeping warmth.
We are leaky vessels: none immune or watertight enough
as to prevent

Second draft, earlier tonight, begun in my head as I walked down Exhibition Road then scribbled on the tube:

The important thing is not the watching
of any one particular sunset:
it is the finding of time, in the margins of your life,
to breathe the steam that rises from your mug
to feel the warmth seeping into your cupped hands
to reflect:
-- that we are, every one, a leaky vessel:
-- even islands aren't watertight.
So sit.
So drink your tea.
So go//about your way
a little brighter

[alexseanchai]

an island's not a prison, that's what folk make bridges for...

:)

[kaberett]

Yep :-)

I think my favourite variant on that line (and the way I first heard it) is an island's not a prison - that's what we make bridges for...

[alexseanchai]

yes true

[jjhunter]

oh oh—

this was very much worth the wait. "an island isn't ever watertight" oh, this is going in my little notebook to treasure.

Thank you. It is like seeing oneself just a moment how a dear friend sees you, and feeling the humbling wonder of that, the warmth in them and the dimension you could not quite grasp just by yourself. I'm all jumbled up — hope that makes sense.

(oh)

[kaberett]

it makes sense - and you're amazing. <3

[fyreharper]

Oh - this is lovely

[kaberett]

Thank you <3

[quirkytizzy]

This poem makes me content.

[kaberett]

:-)

[shehasathree]

Oh, wow. Amazing. <3

[kaberett]

asd;lfkasjdf thank you so much ♥

[cosmolinguist]

I really enjoyed getting to see the evolution of this poem; thanks for sharing that.

[kaberett]

yw! Thank you for saying :-)

[calissa]

That was beautiful! Today has been full of sunshine and tea, so it was especially lovely to find more here.

And thank you for showing the earlier drafts.

[kaberett]

Thank you for saying, on both counts :-) I am so glad it worked for you.