Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => The Coffee Corner => Topic started by: Arlen on April 01, 2020, 11:50:42 am
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Once upon a recent, rainy afternoon,
At the appointed, hatch-time hour,
I looked out the window, expecting them soon.
Out in the distance, the river was running,
Whatever might be there, masked by the mist.
But in my mind's eye, the picture was plain.
(https://pbase.com/art1/image/170572184/original.jpg)
Beloved river.
Then a great flock of birds, some fifty-odd strong,
Came swirling and dipping, swift on the wing,
I couldn't be certain, to which tribe they belonged.
Out in the distance, masked by the mist.
But in my mind's eye, the picture was plain.
(https://pbase.com/art1/image/170572185/original.jpg)
Swallow
The birds' tiny targets, too dim to cower,
Drifted along blithely, identities unknown.
But given their size, the season, and the hour,
Even out in the distance, masked by the mist,
In my minds eye, the picture was plain.
(https://pbase.com/art1/image/170572182/original.jpg)
Blue Winged Olive mayfly, just hatched
Attacked from above, but not from below.
Their numbers so tempting, so it would seem,
Where were the fish, I was waiting to show?
Suddenly some cousins, wings standing like towers,
More massive and mottled, joined the parade.
Given their size, the season and the hour,
Though out in the distance, masked by the mist,
In my minds eye, the picture was plain.
(https://pbase.com/art1/image/170572183/original.jpg)
March Brown mayfly, just hatched
Finally at long last, I spied a small rise,
Not much to see, just a nose in a circle.
Only the one, not enough to surmise,
Just who it belonged to, now below on the bottom.
But out in the distance, masked by the mist,
In my minds eye, the picture was plain.
(https://pbase.com/art1/image/170572181/original.jpg)
Rainbow trout
Now in this extraordinary, shelter-in-place time,
Alone but together, in spirit and online,
Though out in the distance, masked in the mist,
I see you all plainly, within my own mind.
Stay safe out there.
Arlen
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Beautiful images, great colours, a very nice picture collection and story.
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Beautiful images, great colours, a very nice picture collection and story.
Yes indeed.
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Good looking and seeing, Arlen.
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Great images and nice poem. Stay safe.
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Wonderful photos and text.
A good reason to be visiting LuLa.
Great contribution.
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Thanks for your thoughts. The overlying narrative, based roughly on actual events, came to me in the middle of the night while recovering from surgery and enduring a coronavirus stay-at-home mandate. I got up and wrote it down lest I forget it by morning. Wistful for treasured experiences being missed, yet strangely feeling more connected to people than I can remember. When in living memory have all the people of the world gone through the same crisis at the same time?
This being the first attempt in my near 70 years at anything poetic, I hope any shortcomings in form can be overlooked.
Keep staying safe out there.
Arlen