At dVerse Linda is hosting Poetics with an invitation to take one of ten words from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig.
dVerse Poets – Poetics – The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
The word I have chosen is – “Heartmoor, the primal longing for a home village to return to, a place that no longer exists, if it ever did.”
“The wind shows us how close to the edge we are.” Joan Didion
Safe Heartmoor My child self chose the frisky winds, playing along the curves of adventure near my backdoor, while my youthful self created risky winds, pushing the edges of elder norms until, my middle self held against the winds of time, like a sailor lashed to the wheel of storm's fortunes, and my mature self, an oxymoron surely, wakes and watches for those frisky winds at my backdoor, waiting to feel that wonderment and retrace my anchor points towards my safe heartmoor, where I may winter for a time. Copyright 2021 ©Paul Vincent Cannon All Rights Reserved ®
parallax 
Paul, I love the way this ends and the way you tied your different selves together.
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Thank you very much Linda.
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Oh Paul, I so love this! You described each self so well, it is difficult to pick a favourite line.
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Many thanks Punam 🙂
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Paul, I had to read this one twice just to savor this succinct, yet epic poem.
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Thank you LuAnne, high praise indeed.
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It is for me, for sure, Paul ❤
-David
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Ah David – a very humble response, but I feel the only true one we csan admit, many thanks for sharing.
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I love the movement of this poem! Thank you for introducing me to the word “heartmoor.” I hadn’t seen it before.
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I often feel for the missed words, so many have been hidden by underuse in recent decades, they lurk ever hopeful we might see them 🙂 thank you very much Liz.
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I love this: “they lurk ever hopeful we might see them.” I know just what you mean!
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There’s such a feeling of comfort in the idea you convey of returning to that heartmoor!
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Thank you for that Ingrid.
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Fantastic when you are on a journey with all your selfs at the same time. Finding a safe place to moor for a while from frisky, risky winds is what we need
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We sure do Bjorn, so torn by the winds.
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This is sheer poetic brilliance! 💝💝
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Thank you so much Sanaa 🙂
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Very good. I can only think of du Bellay’s
“Heureux qui comme Ulysse
A fait un beau voyage
Ou comme cestui-là qui conquit la Toison
Et puis est retourné, plein d’usage et de raison
Vivre entre ses parents le reste de son âge…”
English version here;:
https://www.frenchtoday.com/french-poetry-reading/heureux-qui-comme-ulysse-joachim-bellay/
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A great response, love that work by du Bellay
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Read it a long, long time ago. Primary school. When they still taught you stuff in primary school… 😉 Only reconsidered its meaning a few years back, as I realize I’ve spent most of my life abroad. LOL.
Happy New Year Paul.
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Lol indeed, we were privileged in our time to really learn, now its – I don’t know what to call it, child minding.
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Yeah. Not even day care. Just mind. LOL. They told us that no way our grandson (5 already) would end up the school year reading and writing at 100%. (last year of “kinder”, he’s going into first year of primary school in Autumn.)
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Strange, I guess they see it differently these days.
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Yep. I understand my grandfather better now… 🤣
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Good point, yes, now that you mention it ….
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Did you get to know your grandfather when you were a child?
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Briefly knew both before my parents decided Australia was a better place to be 🙂 Would have liked to know them better.
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I’m sure you would. So you’re a first generation Australian. I remember some of your family were in the war and/or in East Africa?
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Yes, one uncle in Kenya with the British army, and several in WW1 and 2, some didn’t come back (of course).
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Many didn’t. WWI in particular was butchery.
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Yes, so many went in the grinder, horrible 😦
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Grinder? Very apt word.
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I wonder if we’ll ever cease war? It seems to be the human condition.
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I have reached the same conclusion. Sadly, war is probably the ultimate human destiny.
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Yes, which means that nature alone is intelligent :). (BTW have you seen ‘Don’t look Up’ ?
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Just did. On the one hand, it is a very accurate portrait of today’s world. On the other hand, we’re so f…. up, that there is no hope left? (Can’t really accept that, can we?)
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No, not taking it lying down 🙂
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It is another matter, but I’ve often wondered how people with similar mind frames could get together world wide and say: “enough”.
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Yes, I have that same thought, I suspect we are not alone.
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Wintering at the frisky winds. I love that! One day, when time machines are a reality, we can enjoy endless days in them…
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Now that’s a delightful thought Lisa, many thanks.
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My pleasure.
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Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.
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Thank you Chuck, blessings.
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Thanks Paul. And to you too, My Friend!! 😊✨👍
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🙂
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I adore this, Paul! – a splendid evocation of life’s journey. This line and a half really resonates with me:
‘…held against the winds
of time, like a sailor lashed to the wheel’
It reminds me of my time in management when I often felt I was standing on a deck of a ship, my hand desperately trying to hold her steady through a storm.
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Management – always the pressure and no time and not enough resource at the critical moment, I think I get what you mean. Really appreciate your response Chris.
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You put into words what many think and feel but cannot find the words to express themselves…like me.
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Thank you 🙏
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