Wednesday, September 16, 2009

going home




















You can’t go home again, Thomas,

You can't go home again.

Too many things are at end, Thomas,

Too many days and too many nights,

Too many hills we’ve had to climb

And too many times descend.

We’ve too many stories lived and told

Then placed up on the shelves;

Crossed too many windows and too many doors

To go back where we were before --


You can go home again, my love,

You can, of course you can!

The apple tree’s grown bigger now,

With branches spread for reading;

The berries bear the scars of birds,

And grapes boast in their swinging.

The childhood circled magic ring

Stands open as it did;

The little house where we first met


And yet,

Too much has fled our grasp, Thomas,

Too many things have gone.

Too many days and too many nights,

Too many lives and too many doors

Are ashes of what went before.

You can't go home again, Thomas,

For all your words can say.

No matter that it breaks our hearts,

That life has passed away.

38 comments:

  1. Great poem, Karen~ I think one can't really go back home only think of what it was to them before. It's never the same when you go back to all that was familiar. Hope all is well. Have a great night.

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  2. Beautiful, but sad, Karen. It breathes melancholy...but only in the best of ways.

    ~Calli

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  3. Thanks for checking out my blog, Karen. It means a lot to me to find comments from you.
    This poem is poignant, and I especially like these lines:
    Crossed too many windows and too many doors
    To go back where we were before --

    Too much has fled our grasp, Thomas,
    Too many things have gone.
    Too many days and too many nights,
    Too many lives and too many doors
    Are ashes of what went before.

    I'm not a good critic; I just know when I find something real and evocative.
    And this was: both real and evocative. Thanks for writing it.

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  4. Great post! I like how you framed it in a conversational tone. This reminds me of a post I did a while back:

    http://2uackster.blogspot.com/2005/05/when-world-was-young.html

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  5. That's sad and beautiful Karen, lovely. I think often home is a lace or emotion that can't be gone back to and you capture that feeling so well here...

    Too many lives and too many doors
    Are ashes of what went before.

    If you don't mind I link to this poem next monday, peole would like to read it.
    Ps I think too that it would make a great song.

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  6. This is a beautiful, haunting, bittersweet poem Karen, and the picture goes perfectly with it. Just as you can never step into the same river twice, you can never go back to 'there'. Because there is no 'there' there. A little zen wisdom for you. Hugs & Blessings!

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  7. Sometimes you out words to things I can't myself articulate. I guess that is what being a great poet is all about!

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  8. oops i meant put words, not out word! :)

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  9. That is a beautiful lyric poem--you've been doing some very good writing lately! It also explores an emotion/state of mind that has been with me a lot.

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  10. I love it, Karen! The reference to Thomas Wolfe is wonderful. He received death threats after that book, or so I've read.

    I love the response of the second stanza, with the branches spread for reading, etc. I can picture a girl (for some reason a girl) sitting up on those branches.

    The repetition is fantastic, and I especially love it in the last stanza. "Ashes of what went before" makes my heart beat faster. Karen, it's always a great day when I can read your beautiful words!

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  11. BRAVO! Dear Karen,

    "Too many lives and too many doors
    Are ashes of what went before."

    And so the mythical Phoenix tells us wise
    That time alone brings not demise
    For from the ashes and the fire
    Arise new life, new desire.

    Such beauty in reverie and reflection
    So poignant, telling, and touching
    In its heartfelt soulful expression
    Words and images of times now past
    Gifted to us dear Karen, now everlast...

    In loving friendship,
    Rose Marie

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  12. Wow. This is really well crafted. I bow.

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  13. Michelle - You're so right. It's in memory the same, but never in reality. We aren't the same, of course, and that's the difference. Thanks for becoming my neighbor-friend!

    Chris - Your comment means a great deal to me, and I thank you for leaving it here. This particular poem is one I think I'll continue to work on for a while. Thanks for coming by.

    Quackster - Thanks for your comment. I'll be off to read your poem as soon as I finish here.

    TFE - I'd be honored to have you link to this. I'm only sorry I didn't wait until Monday to post (like a good little girl)! Thanks for your comments. Your blog really inspired this. It's the first time I've written poetry to a prompt.

    Marion - You're the most zen person I know right now (except maybe Christopher - and he's hard to outzen!). I love the quote about the river. You really can't go home again.

    Lauren - Welcome! When I saw your name, I thought I'd been discovered (one of my daughters is a Lauren). I'll be off to visit your blog to see what this Lauren is up to -- meanwhile, I appreciate your comments! (...and don't you hate when you discover the editing problem after the fact? I do it all the time.)

    John - Thanks! That comment means a lot, especially coming from you.

    Hi, Julie - Yes, Wolfe was threatened by the folks from his hometown. I always think about Jesus telling the disciples to shake the dust from their feet. (Not that I'm comparing the two, but that's the way my weird mind works!) I've not actually read You Can't Go Home Again, but I loved Look Homeward, Angel, so I think I should put the other on my list.

    Of course it's a girl in that tree - you, and me, all our little selves!

    And Julie - you make my day with your comments. Thank you!

    Rose Marie - You are one walking poem, I think. I love that we inspire one another here. That's why I'm doing this. Thank you for the meaning and the form.

    christopher - From you...I'll take it!!! Thank you.

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  14. Lauren - Sorry I didn't recognize your picture here. It's been a long time since you've left a comment. Mea Culpa.

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  15. Karen this poem is so highly refined - your work is always marked with meditative intelligence. So many wonderful lines here...but I chose these to highlight as favorites.

    The berries bear the scars of birds,
    And grapes boast in their swinging.

    Beautiful words from a beautiful poet!

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  16. Kaye - Thank you. I think the ending's a little rough, and I know I'll work on it a bit, but I appreciate your kindness. I'm so glad to have you back - mostly because it lets me know you have come through.

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  17. An echo of thoughts we must all have had at some time or other about our past lives - all those old enough to have past lives, that is! And so it resonates with us and from that derives its beauty.

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  18. That was beautiful Karen. And I liked the end as too polished would seem too crafty to me. This is just perfect for the piece.

    "Too much has fled our grasp,
    Too many things have gone"

    I want to believe there's still time to make things right. Knowing everything good and bad... why do we do, what we do?

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  19. I think you can go back to a place, and even to a time, but somehow the two never coome together again in the same magic. ~rick

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  20. I do believe that we can't go home again.

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  21. I do believe that we can't go home again.

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  22. Hi, Dave - Yes, I think for those of us who may have tried it, the truth here is the beauty, as our esteemed poet friend has said.

    Ani - Thanks for your weigh-in on the ending. I still think it feels a little ordinary, so I'll think about it, but I appreciate an unbiased opinion. (Although how unbiased my favorite nephew can be, I'm not sure!)

    Your question is the question for all time, Aniket. Why have we continued to do what we do? How I wish we knew.

    Rick - You're absolutely right! Did you ever go to a high school reunion? Now, that's eye opening!

    Jason - I do believe, I do believe! ;-)

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  23. Such sadness; and yet, such joy in those italics! I believe in the italics.

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  24. Oh very beautiful.Home is the only place to get unconditional love:-)


    Joliieess:-)

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  25. Rachel - I'm rooting for the italics, too! If only...

    Escapist - Welcome, and thanks for your comments.

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  26. always true in a metaphorical sense..... however the poem's reason is more intense and compelling than the mere passage of time. i really like it.

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  27. wow.. I felt like I was reading something from a collected book of classics... this has such an eloquent way about it, this should be hand written on the inside cover of a victorian book of wild-flowers.... beautiful!

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  28. Another wonderful poem Karen!

    I don't believe in going back but living today and looking ahead. What's past is past and it's never the same when you go back.

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  29. beautiful poem, and so very sad.
    the past is always lost, but always there in our souls. I hope this isn't always a melancholy thing.

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  30. Lovely, lyrical poem, Karen... I can hear it sung to a soft guitar or harp.

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  31. I loved the rhythm! Loved joining in with this!

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  32. i'm liking the song-feel of this. nicely played!

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  33. Oh Karen, so true. Very impressive conjuring of that loss of what was home but can no longer be, because of time.
    And the rhythm and repetition give it that dream-song quality which is so fitting. Really enjoyed this. And hi!

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  34. "for all your words can say" - funny, that - inherantly true, but it doesn't keep us from trying to find them.

    i love how the second stanza pulls the other way - it completes the context and also adds to the impact of the first and last - gives it a richenss of emotion. i also love how you've built the pace both in and out of rhyme, and the feeling of rememberance it has.

    i've often thought, though, that if home is where the heart is - perhaps we can't really leave it behind.

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  35. Beautiful and touching. I feel like it was written for me.

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  36. Hey, GD - I really like it, too - the song and video, that is. I watched the whole thing (which, I'll admit is unusual for me). You always add to the discussion in the most creative way. Backward world.

    watercats - Welcome to Keeping Secrets! Thank you for such a lovely comment. I appreciate your pointing out the Victorian feel to me. I hadn't thought of that, but I knew it was anything but modern! I'll be over to check out your site as soon as I can.

    Margaret - I couldn't agree more, but I feel the pull of the past, if only to examine and reexamine my present. I know we can't go back, but I'm not sure we ever escape, either.

    Nan U - Welcome! I hope along with you. It shouldn't be melancholy. Do you suppose it depends upon how happy we are in the present? Thanks for making me think.

    Jeanne Iris - Thank you for stopping by. What a lovely comment.

    mrsnesbitt - Thank you for your visit and for your comment.

    swiss - Thank you!

    Titus - Hi, yourself! Welcome! Thanks for your nice comment. I'll stop by your place as soon as I can. I love reading different takes on the idea.

    joaquin - Hello, my friend. I'm fixating on your last statement, although you know how much I appreciate your commentary on the form. (So before I go on, let me thank you for that. I wasn't sure if it would work, but sometimes things just WANT to be written, you know?) Now, to your last statement. I think we can't leave it. Wordsworth said, "The chid is the father of the man." I don't think a more profound statement was ever made.

    Robert - Welcome. I may just have to change the name in the poem to Bobby. ;-)

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  37. Karen, I cannot say in how many ways this breaks my heart… Yes, you can never go home again, you can never go back again. Your talent is huge, but I can write no more… I just feel overwhelmed.

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  38. Vesper - I am thinking about this more and more lately, and I've been a little overwhelmed by it myself. Those what might have beens and those what can never be agains...

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