waving the white flag
of possibility
i’ve spent much of my life
seeking out the illusion
of peace and quiet
hiding in corners and
pasting wallflower smiles
onto ruby red lips
curling inward and
protecting a tiny kernel
called heart {hope}
listening to silence
even as the music
blared boomed sizzled
looking up at sky
while a rainbow
had its arms around me
making wishes on stars
burning brighter
than ancient ceremony
and all this time
all these years
all i really had to do
was open my arms wide
and dance
.
..
.
January 5th, 2013 at 9:25 am
this dance that began before your birthday is taking into possibility, and bringing us all with you. lucky us.
January 5th, 2013 at 9:50 am
smiles…lovely…i like the hugging rainbow…and the wisdom as well of your closing stanza….dance on….smiles…
this works for poetics today too which is ‘peace’
January 5th, 2013 at 9:52 am
you’ve spent that time awakening, methinks. wallflower smiles . . .
xoxo
January 5th, 2013 at 10:03 am
Once again, I woke up empty, but as I turned to my timeline, your post popped up as if by magic, filling me to the brim again. This is so quietly sad, and joyously happy; a perfect circling dance of life.
January 5th, 2013 at 3:04 pm
This is just beautiful…yes, for sure, just open one’s arms and dance. That definitely IS the epitamy of peace!
January 5th, 2013 at 3:15 pm
With arms open wide, dancing to this beautiful poem! K
January 5th, 2013 at 3:18 pm
Kelly–I loved the rainbow with its arm around you. Well done.
January 5th, 2013 at 3:30 pm
I think your title post is perfect for your post and prompt ~ I like the idea of opening arms wide and dancing ~
Grace
January 5th, 2013 at 3:47 pm
Beautiful. Absolutely breath taking
January 5th, 2013 at 3:54 pm
..pasting wallflower smiles – once you step out of that wall and begin to feel right & real to oneself and then to the world, you will never need to do this thing camouflaging with the wall, staying unnoticed to the world. Like what you said in your end – open arms & dance… Live…live..live..love…& trust…smiles..
January 5th, 2013 at 3:59 pm
This is beautiful. Hope we all open our arms and dance. May you always.
January 5th, 2013 at 4:10 pm
This is my new favorite of yours, Kelly. Love the ending.
January 5th, 2013 at 4:10 pm
all i really had to do
was open my arms wide
and dance….love this…the discovery of how easy it can be…and how difficult we made it.. rainbow hugs your way…smiles
January 5th, 2013 at 4:19 pm
As Zorba said, “Boss, did you say dance?” One of the benefits of being a poet is that we get to dance with language every time the whim beckons, and if peace is not found that moment, then the search for it, the need for it is illuminated, personalized, sanctioned, substantiated. So dance on, poet, for when the wallflower blossoms the air is pregnant with possibilities.
January 5th, 2013 at 5:16 pm
Simply dance 🙂
January 5th, 2013 at 5:41 pm
Lovely, sometime we do miss our chance to dance… should grab it with both hands…
January 5th, 2013 at 6:18 pm
So often we seek in the places we will not find and find in the places we did not even know to seek. Dancing is a beautiful place.
January 5th, 2013 at 6:28 pm
Nice!! Loved this!! 🙂
January 5th, 2013 at 7:09 pm
Alone in the crowd comes to mind when you talk of silence in the music. Curling inside-yes I can relate. Lovely, thank you for sharing.
January 5th, 2013 at 7:17 pm
Sweet… i like ur thinking
January 5th, 2013 at 8:32 pm
YES!!!
Dance like a two year old without inhibition of shame. What a great piece of advice disguised as a lovely, readable poem.
http://www.kimnelsonwrites.com/2013/01/05/attitude-or-platitude/
January 5th, 2013 at 11:21 pm
It really is that easy.
January 6th, 2013 at 12:42 am
O to discover the dancer in you and to accept her peace and “love her fiercely”–a quote from ntozaki shange’s “For colored Girls . . . “
January 6th, 2013 at 1:39 am
Big, big smiles…you know how to nail it. Love it.
January 6th, 2013 at 2:23 am
That is my word for this year. Dance. And here it is in your prose. I’ll see dance a lot this year. I’m sure of that. Because it’s my fous.
January 6th, 2013 at 2:24 am
Focus. It’s my focus.
January 6th, 2013 at 4:24 am
Such sweet surrender. Yes – dance!
January 6th, 2013 at 6:18 am
Well, this cuts through all the crap and says all that’s needed. And says it beautifully. Thanks for.
January 6th, 2013 at 11:56 am
Ain’t it the truth that peace can only come when we stop pretending, stop striving and instead receive what life gives to us? Lovely writing Mrs M.
January 6th, 2013 at 4:04 pm
I love the thought of a rainbow wrapping its arms around me. Such a beautiful poem, thank you.
January 6th, 2013 at 7:46 pm
Lovely – and all we do need is to dance to the love of life and be at peace with ourselves.
Anna :o]
January 8th, 2013 at 8:33 am
Dancing perhaps in the snow. Our never ending story of white.