I’m slipping this one in, a rapid sketch for the dverse prompt, before I go to bed. It’s been a busy day. I’ll be back to read tomorrow. Might even write something more coherent.
The wind is blue
like the grass at twilight,
by moonlight, in summer,
when the air trills with cricket songs
and the ghost pale cry of the tawny owl.
We listen
to the darkness creep,
the shadows spread,
and the things we see or not,
and the things we say or not are nothing
in this blue and dimly glowing night,
where the stars look down, or away,
and the universe slumbers.
Jane Dougherty Writes 
The things we see or not / the things we say or not – LOVE that line! Still daylight here, but you took me into night with full vision.
💜 sleep well Jane 💜
“…and the things we see or not,
and the things we say or not are nothing…”
If you can write this well at bedtime, then you must be a genius first thing in the morning! This poem sings.
Thank you, Abigail! It’s more a question of taking my brain out of gear and letting it roll. Without searching for words, sometimes the mind throws out what the poem needs without being asked.
I know what you mean. 🙂
🙂
A coherent piece that breezes by… painted in blue. Good one, Jane.
Thank you, Charley. It did breeze by, in free fall.
You are welcome! It came out well.
Cheers 🙂
I can so picture it coming, Jane: that darkness on the other side of the blue, as the stars appear. Beautifully rendered!
Thank you, Frank. I love that deepening of the colour of the sky.
My pleasure, Jane! 😇
🙂
Lovely, Jane.
Thank you 🙂
I love your description of the covering of night and your response to it …or not!
Thanks Dwight 🙂 Yes, I was a bit indecisive last night 🙂
Oh I let out a sigh. Peace and tinge of sadness, well-combined.
Thank you 🙂 The height of summer is a little sad.
Oh dear. I hope it wont be so scorching
We finally had a storm last night, noisy and sheet lightning for hours, but only about half a bucket of rain water.
Oh that’s still goodm
And another one… Cool today and full of swallows!
Woohooo. We are soaked here for dayssss
The grass is damp but it will need more than one brief downpour to make a difference.
I hope some of the downpour here would be given there
Not yet…
I was the same – slip in a poem and slip off to bed after an exhausting day. The threatened storm didn’t materialise but we did have rain so I actually got some sleep.
I love the sounds of things we can’t usually see:
‘when the air trills with cricket songs
and the ghost pale cry of the tawny owl’
and the lines:
‘in this blue and dimly glowing night,
where the stars look down, or away,
and the universe slumbers’.
Thanks Kim. Sometimes poems slip out when you half-close your eyes and let the words fall out as they decide 🙂
Sou dsl familiar! 😊
🙂
Beautiful nature and its myriad pictures
Thank you 🙂
It is a wonderful rapid sketch Jane! Who needs time when you have talent!
We all need time! There’s never enough!
I’ve done an owl today too. Their whispers are on that blue wind. (K)
Ooh. Have you posted it?
Yes. https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/2018/08/08/economics-draw-a-bird-day/
It’s lovely!
This is so stunningly beautiful. I love the feel of how completely our burdens and expectations slope off into quietude of evening.
“and the things we see or not,
and the things we say or not are nothing
in this blue and dimly glowing night,”
I like the picture of how when we slumber, the universe slumbers. If we ourselves are the corners of the very universe through which it has achieved or been granted the ability to be aware of itself, then it makes sense that it should sleep when we do. So lovely.
Thank you! This was a very quick sketch of a poem, just what I was feeling before calling it a day. I like to think we are part of the universe even if we persist on our suicide course, and when the universe breathes in, so do we.
What a wonderful image of dusk… I can almost imagine the wind spray-painting the world to night
Thanks Bjorn. The world is peaceful here.
A beautiful sketch of the night. I liked these lines: “and the things we see or not,
and the things we say or not are nothing
in this blue and dimly glowing night,”
I wrote about blue, too–but blue ponies. 🙂
Thank you! I’ve just been to look at your blue ponies because I didn’t get a notification. I hope that doesn’t mean WP is playing silly buggers again.
I think WP is always playing silly buggers. (That made me laugh.)
It’s a Yorkshire expression, to be pronounced with a very straight, serious face—no laughing!
Right! Holding laughter in now, and not spitting out my afternoon tea.
All Yorkshire expressions require a completely stony expression, even the funny ones 🙂
🙂
The opening lines are beautiful ~ the wind is blue, I never thought of wind as a color but, blue seems like an excellent choice.
Thank you! Like a piece of sky 🙂
Nice sounding phrase: “the things we say or not are nothing”
Thank you!
You speak of a magical time of day…night time.
It is, isn’t it? Thank you, Annell 🙂
LOVING this! And most especially the universe slumbering. A wondrous write – hard to believe it was a quick one!
Written with my eyes half closed so as not to scare the words away 🙂 Thank you!
This is lovely, Jane. Sweet dreams!
Thank you!
Haunting and lovely. Not two adjectives I ever thought I’d use for a single poem.
I’m glad you did, Linda. It makes writing worthwhile 🙂
Jane, I can’t get this perfect poem out of my mind. I have featured a link back to it in my latest post. thank you for this. Lona
Thank you so much, Lona! I remember writing that poem just letting the thoughts come out without any rearranging. It does make perfect sense to me now. A moment in time captured.
It is interesting and beautiful how that moment has quietly invaded the space here in Alabama in my head. I am so grateful for this poem and hope my little joke about rainbows is ok. Loving what you do Jane
I don’t mind your joke at all, Lorna. I know the kind of poetry you write and the other poets you admire. That you enjoy my poetry too makes me feel privileged. I write very simple poems with a very simple ideology. I’m pleased you put my stuff alongside poems I don’t actually understand 🙂
Your poem sinhaler 🎵
Which one is that?