Rain!

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mat james
Posts: 1844
Joined: Sat May 27, 2006 8:06 am
Location: Australia

Re: Rain!

Post by mat james »

that one hurts, Sophia.
"Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart." San Juan de la Cruz.
Diane

Re: Rain!

Post by Diane »

david birkett wrote:Can we publish an anthology?
This is it.

I've read more poetry since I joined LC world than ever in my life before. Thanks.

Epilogue

At Blackwater Pond
Mary Oliver


At Blackwater Pond the tossed waters have settled

after a night of rain.

I dip my cupped hands. I drink

a long time. It tastes

like stone, leaves, fire. It falls cold

into my body, waking the bones. I hear them

deep inside me, whispering

oh what is that beautiful thing

that just happened?
Diane

Re: Rain!

Post by Diane »

As One Listens To The Rain

Octavio Paz



Listen to me as one listens to the rain,
not attentive, not distracted,
light footsteps, thin drizzle,
water that is air, air that is time,
the day is still leaving,
the night has yet to arrive,
figurations of mist
at the turn of the corner,
figurations of time
at the bend in this pause,
listen to me as one listens to the rain,
without listening, hear what I say
with eyes open inward, asleep
with all five senses awake,
it’s raining, light footsteps, a murmur of syllables,
air and water, words with no weight:
what we are and are,
the days and years, this moment,
weightless time and heavy sorrow,
listen to me as one listens to the rain,
wet asphalt is shining,
steam rises and walks away,
night unfolds and looks at me,
you are you and your body of steam,
you and your face of night,
you and your hair, unhurried lightning,
you cross the street and enter my forehead,
footsteps of water across my eyes,
listen to me as one listens to the rain,
the asphalt’s shining, you cross the street,
it is the mist, wandering in the night,
it is the night, asleep in your bed,
it is the surge of waves in your breath,
your fingers of water dampen my forehead,
your fingers of flame burn my eyes,
your fingers of air open eyelids of time,
a spring of visions and resurrections,
listen to me as one listens to the rain,
the years go by, the moments return,
do you hear the footsteps in the next room?
not here, not there: you hear them
in another time that is now,
listen to the footsteps of time,
inventor of places with no weight, nowhere,
listen to the rain running over the terrace,
the night is now more night in the grove,
lightning has nestled among the leaves,
a restless garden adrift-go in,
your shadow covers this page.


-------------------------------
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mat james
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Joined: Sat May 27, 2006 8:06 am
Location: Australia

Re: Rain!

Post by mat james »

Pitter Patter Pitter Patter.

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I've been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again

The only girl I care about has gone away
Looking for a brand-new start
But little does she know that when she left that day
Along with her she took my heart

Rain please tell me now does that seem fair
For her to steal my heart away when she don't care
I can't love another when my heart's somewhere far away

The only girl I care about has gone away
Looking for a brand-new start
But little does she know that when she left that day
Along with her she took my heart

Rain won't you tell her that I love her so
Please as the sun has set her heart aglow
Rain in her heart and let the love we knew start to grow

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I've been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again

Oh, listen to the falling rain
Pitter Patter Pitter Patter ohhhh...

Cascada.
"Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart." San Juan de la Cruz.
Tchocolatl
Posts: 3805
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 10:07 pm

Re: Rain!

Post by Tchocolatl »

Image










Image

“Don't threaten me with love, baby. Let's just go walking in the rain.” - Billie Holiday
***
"He can love the shape of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of the heart. It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love."

Leonard Cohen
Beautiful Losers
Diane

Re: Rain!

Post by Diane »

Image


Help me in the rain,
help me in the darkness
help me at my aimless table.
Bend me down to the rain
and let the darkness
speak to my heart.

- Leonard Cohen
imaginary friend
Posts: 1371
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:09 am
Location: Vancouver, Canada

Re: Rain!

Post by imaginary friend »

Diane what a gorgeous photograph. Is it your work?

...And thanks for the Mary Oliver poem (from 2008 :D )
Diane

Re: Rain!

Post by Diane »

Hello Imaginary:-)! Yes I made that pic, thanks, glad you like it.

Didn't realise this thread dated back that far. I never thought we’d get this old, dear:-)


How about some more Mary Oliver:

Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me

Last night
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying,

what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again

in a new way
on the earth!
That’s what it said
as it dropped,

smelling of iron,
and vanished
like a dream of the ocean
into the branches

and the grass below.
Then it was over.
The sky cleared.
I was standing

under a tree.
The tree was a tree
with happy leaves,
and I was myself,

and there were stars in the sky
that were also themselves
at the moment
at which moment

my right hand
was holding my left hand
which was holding the tree
which was filled with stars

and the soft rain—
imagine! imagine!
the long and wondrous journeys
still to be ours.
Diane

Re: Rain!

Post by Diane »

Image
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mat james
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Joined: Sat May 27, 2006 8:06 am
Location: Australia

Re: Rain!

Post by mat james »

I love it!
poetry, photos, journeys, it is all so fresh...
"Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart." San Juan de la Cruz.
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Violet
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Joined: Thu May 24, 2007 11:07 pm
Location: New York

Re: Rain!

Post by Violet »


I love your photos, Diane.. and the theme of "rain" on this thread.

.. I was just looking at this poem, in fact:


somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands

e.e. cummings


edit: corrected a typo in the poem.
Last edited by Violet on Sat Mar 16, 2013 12:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Violet
imaginary friend
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Location: Vancouver, Canada

Re: Rain!

Post by imaginary friend »

In Vancouver, winter weather consists mainly of rain, with the occasional, short-lived snowfall.

This winter, I have taken to wearing a hat, instead of carrying the usual, ubiquitous umbrella. Initially, the intent was to keep both hands free for all the stuff I seem to lug around, but then I discovered the unexpected pleasure of feeling exposed to the rain (which is mostly soft and misty here) without being wet or cold. Holding a large, spiky umbrella keeps a certain distance between you and the rain, while a hat allows you to be right in it.

(...and to emerge sans the dreaded drowned-rat hair)
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Violet
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Joined: Thu May 24, 2007 11:07 pm
Location: New York

Re: Rain!

Post by Violet »


.. that's a good idea, I.F. (I was rather liking wearing a sun hat in Goa) Maybe I'll look for a rain hat now.. (good for the city)

v. xx
Violet
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mat james
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Joined: Sat May 27, 2006 8:06 am
Location: Australia

Re: Rain!

Post by mat james »

What about no hat either...

I am reminded of a passage from a beautiful book written in the 1850's, titled "Idle days in Patagonia" by Hudson;
he comes across a near naked native Argentinian Indian exposed to the elements....rain, cold and so on
and the author questions the Indian as to his comfort regarding the cold and rain.
The Indian replies something like this;
"You know what it is like when you go out in the cold all rugged up and the cold hits your face...yet you are warm and the rain and cold are refreshing and pleasant;
well, my whole body is my face."

you are onto something, ladies.

Mat.
"Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart." San Juan de la Cruz.
Diane

Re: Rain!

Post by Diane »

Ditch the umbrella? In this temperature? Are you guys sure??

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

wow, Violet. Cool to see you in this thread. I hear in the cummings echoes of the whispers of the kind Paz described, above.
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