Laura at dVerse has challenged us to take a line of Pablo Neruda and create a riposte or rejoinder.
I have chosen “Why did the grove undress itself only to wait for the snow.” Pablo Neruda
Photo: pixabay.com
“What is to give light must endure burning.” Victor Frankl
Readied
The confessional moment is pending,
an absurdist response,
to excoriate and purify
the hidden
by a letting go
a shedding of pretence,
no room for Janus
though Sisyphus is close,
tearing at the inane
letting the core settle
in a visceral landscape
where the cold burns,
let it be so!
For cauterised we are yet
emboldened,
strengthened,
readied,
for the new.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
parallax 
Wow. I feel the surrender but also the endurance needed to survive Winter. Bravo!
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I’m glad that came across, thank you for reflecting on this and sharing.
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So welcome.
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I feel the perseverance in the process to be readied for what’s new.
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I think when you feel it, it’s embodied and real, thank you for sharing Astrid.
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I really enjoyed this upbeat response to the prompt- so many subtle references – “a shedding of pretence,” and the “cauterising” which makes ready for the new. Those opening lines set the scene so well.
Thank you for joining in with this.
p.s. I was only reading Frankl yesterday – a man who found hope in the most hopeless of places. Winter needs such an outlook.
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Thank you Laura for your reflection on this. I think Frankl is a special voice in the world, there are no cheap offerings in his works, we sure do need his voice.
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I love the quotation that you chose!
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He’s a very insightful person, but then the Holocaust refined that generation. Thank you.
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Again a great poem – and I like the picture as well.
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Thank you so much.
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Lovely poem and such beautiful imagery, love the idea of ‘cauterising’ for the new x
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Thank you for sharing how it spoke to you, much appreciated.
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So well expressed, Paul. Insightful.
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Thank you so much Amy.
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“where the cold burns,
let it be so!
For cauterised we are… for the new.” powerful
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Thank you very much for that.
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I love the way you dived right into this poem, Paul! I shivered when I read the lines:
‘letting the core settle
in a visceral landscape
where the cold burns’.
I’m ready for the new.
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Love this! Very powerful
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Thank you indeed.
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I like your blog
Please follow back
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Great poem with a lovely quote.
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Many thanks Laleh, glad you liked it.
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My pleasure.🧤
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Nice Paul! l love your ending!
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So glad you liked it Dwight, many thanks
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you are welcome!
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The last five lines show what we have to do. Thank you Paul, and have a nice weekend! Best wishes, Michael
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You too Michael 😀
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😀😀
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You lost me with this one
>
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Not so difficult really, we cannot escape the cauldron of real life, it is folly to try and avoid it, and real life then makes us who we really are.
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