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| Inspiration, Perspiration, Exasperation...Revelation! ( 1129 reads) |
Monday, September 12, 2011 (05:33:00) |
wordsmithwannabe's Blogs |
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Lately I have been struggling with ideas for fresh poetry, relying on older unfinished poems to post here and there in the workshops and then in the finished section. Recently, I decided to go hiking in one of the nearby wooded areas here in southwest Washington, to see if I could gain a little inspiration from nature. My friends and I headed up the trail, excited to see waterfalls and trees and various little forest creatures. We were not disappointed.
All along the river banks there was a dusting of morning dew that gave everything a fresh kiss of life, the mist from the falls blowing down through the small gorge and nourishing even the tallest of firs and enveloping the plant life below. Though the trail was clear, the ferns and other flora swallowed up the rest of the woodland, fanning out in all directions as far as the proverbial eye could see. Blackberries and nettles nested lovingly with trillium and soft beds of clover; moss-covered tree trunks sprang up from the lush greenery and reached up for what seemed like forever.
Yes, I thought, this was what I needed to fuel the writing fire. We walked on, ever closer to the roar of the water rushing over the falls. As we came to the observation point, we found that we were not alone in our quest. We had passed a few people on the trail but hadn’t seen anyone behind us or ahead, so we assumed we would be alone and able to take some great photos and hopefully get a little writing in as well. I will admit that I was a bit disappointed to find that there were several families already at the viewpoint, all with small noisy children and dogs and other irritating entities. I came up here to be inspired, to find a bit of tranquility and that ever-elusive “oneness with nature.”
I harrumphed my way to the nearest boulder and took off my backpack, tired and hungry and pissed off. I grudgingly ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, glaring at the evil children and the yapping dogs and the clueless parents, wishing they would all go away and leave me and my friends alone with the falls and the trees and the trillium. But no, no they didn’t leave. In fact, they lingered, took their time eating their sandwiches and playing with their dogs and dipping their toes in MY precious pool of water. And to make matters worse, some of them DARED to try to chat with me, one little girl even offering to share her banana (here’s the part where I rolled my eyes in secret and ate the damn banana anyway…). As the morning went on and people came and went in packs, my mood lightened and I decided not to act like the overgrown baby I had morphed into sixty minutes before. I actually started to enjoy the laughter of the kids playing in the water and the oooohs and ahhhhhs of the adults who had come looking for the same thing I was looking for.
We weren’t all that different, I surmised (albeit begrudgingly, as I despise admitting when I am wrong); in fact, we were searching for the same thing from the forest but found a different type of elusive “oneness” in each other. Some, like me, came to write poetry but couldn’t find the words. Some came for pictures of nature and ended up being the pictorial subjects, thanks to my camera. Others came to meditate and gain peace but ultimately wound up enthralled by the laughter of children. Me, well I’ve never been a religious man. Hell, I wouldn’t even really say I’m all that spiritual. But if I were to pick a time and place where I was sorta certain that a higher power existed, it would have to be that day at the waterfall.
I still haven’t written any poetry based on that day. I don’t think I ever will. And that’s ok. It was a brilliant, beautiful, wondrous day. I’ve got the pictures to prove it… |
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| "Inspiration, Perspiration, Exasperation...Revelation!" | Login/Create an Account | 4 Comments |
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Re: Inspiration, Perspiration, Exasperation...Revelation!
(Score: 1 )
by Pujakins on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 (22:31:12) |
Dear One, Really wonderful piece of writing, and so close to the heart. I appreciate so much this sharing, and am so delighted the staff picked it to share with us all so I got to see it. I fully undersatnd your now writing any poetry about that day, I have the same feelings sometimes about how you just can't convey what you feel and better not try, because it's too big to encompass with words. Warm Wishes and smiles, Tasha
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Re: Inspiration, Perspiration, Exasperation...Revelation!
(Score: 1 )
by mamta on Thursday, September 15, 2011 (03:51:39) |
i'm waiting.................to see the pics.lol
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Re: Inspiration, Perspiration, Exasperation...Revelation!
(Score: 1 )
by maryanns on Friday, September 16, 2011 (17:14:00) |
Ummmm.... wonderful experience,
even if I'm a wee bit late to come across it.
Thanks for sharing it all - everything.
All I can really reply is
"Princess Louisa Inlet, summer of 1994."
Thanks so much, Bro - Mary Ann
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Re: Inspiration, Perspiration, Exasperation...Revelation!
(Score: 1 )
by FuchsiaFestival! on Monday, June 18, 2012 (22:11:37) |
One can envision and see the trails and flora/fauna. How can one not? I saw this in the staff picks, beautiful. It has a lifelike quality to it that goes beyond words. Well done.
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