Twilights of Youth

[monicamack]

Softness, song and silhouette
days of summertime would bring,
coral-crimson-gold sunset,
evening’s languid lingering;
crickets’ clicking castanets,
grass still fresh from noontime rain.
Solitude held no regrets;
beauty, not a trace of pain.
Thoughts of parting seemed as far,
twilight lapping everything,
as night’s harbinger, one star,
silvery and slumbering.
I am exiled in a land
where the sea mist rules the sky.
Treeless hills of brush and sand
greet my lonely green-starved eye.
Through relentless dry sunlight
seldom does my focus stray,
but I mourn, each sudden night,
twilights I knew yesterday.

[bichsa]

Welcome monicamack,i loved this piece I thought of lost summer love when i read it ,nice job.keep them coming ,peace Cheryl

[monicamack]

Dear Cheryl:

I'm so glad you liked "Twilights of Youth." THANK YOU! You are not the first person to ask me whether I had a lost love in mind when I wrote this. To be perfectly honest, no -- my "love" happened while "in exile." However, I think that, to be fair, there were very special people with me during those twilights of youth, people who, for one reason or another, weren't with me in exile. It's impossible for me to separate the "nature" part from the "human love" part in this poem -- maybe in any poem I might write. Or maybe it's just a yearning for past beauty of ALL kinds, including lost love, and what seemed then a less complex world. Even though the Coast has much to recommend it and many good things, I never could adjust to those sudden and often chilly nights.
Thanks again, and best wishes!
Monica

[anirbas]

Lulling, soothing undercurrent...Had the slow, sweet beat of a lullaby, Monica.
I enjoyed the mix of natural visuals melding with your thoughts...Excellent work! Nir.

[pamela]

This is truly beautiful, Monica, and so lyrical in its read.

~P.

[monicamack]

Dear Nir and Pamela:
Happiness may be a warm puppy. Another form of happiness is the ability, after nearly 2 weeks offline, to type and post and "speak to" kind friends and fellow-poets such as you. Seriously, I now know what it must feel like to be "in withdrawal." My computer was REALLY hijacked (multiple attacks from various sources, not one specific reason). Anyway, it is GOOD to be back online although this will be a short session, and I hope my long-suffering techie (who spent eight hours "exorcising" my computer yesterday) didn't have nightmares afterwards. I hope you and others, when you didn't hear from me, realized that the cause was my inability to access the Website. THANK you so much for your complimentary words about "Twilights of Youth" -- much appreciated!
Monica

[anirbas]

You're very welcome, Monica!!!! I know what you mean about feeling like one is in withdrawal, when our entities take it into their heads to flake out on us...LOL...Once you get used to having these things and actually using them...I freak out when my computer, aka the entity, breaks down on me, too! 8 hours in exorcisationing mode? You did cook this wonderful being a fabulous meal, right? LOL Nir.

[monicamack]

Dear Nir:
It's so good to hear from you! No, this wonderful being declined my meal and/or repeated refreshment offers (he KNOWS what a "good" cook I am and the fact that my sister and I are on a low-fat diet --and he's a wise soul). Moreover, he was working under undue stress -- else would have been here days sooner. In fact, he had actually looked at "entity" last week, quickly ascertained that there had been a big-time hijack, and told me he'd return the next day at 1 p.m. Next day was my marketing day. I go there by taxi (don't have a car). I was a real menace -- racing up and down the rows like Road Runner pushing a potentially lethal cart, barely sideswiping grownups, little kiddies, and displays, etc. -- all because I was expecting techie by 1 p.m. He didn't show up. By now I was in withdrawal. I made frantic calls. Then his cell phone (only phone) cracked up on me, and I couldn't understand what he was saying. All I could hear was "fell" and "hospital," and I was bellowing: "WHO?" The following day I learned that his nephew, a diabetic man of 42 (married and with a couple of kids), had fallen out of bed and was hospitalized. I thought it was an injury case, but it was in fact a major heart attack -- and it was touch-and-go there for a while -- in fact, the nephew is STILL in intensive care in a local hospital (the techie and I talked briefly yesterday). We've put up with each other and our eccentricities and problems for a long time. He is repressed. He was divorced (against his will) last year after 33 years of marriage and three (now grown) kids. I learned this from a mutual friend because he himself never told me a word about it, and he's pretty despondent. When I ask: How's the family? he says: Fine. I hope he has a buddy in whom he can confide and vent a bit.
Thank you so much for writing -- I love to hear from you!
Monica

[monicamack]

Eek -- I pressed "Repy" button twice. Forgive me, everybody!
Monica

[DavidMc]

monicamack said:

Eek -- I pressed "Repy" button twice. Forgive me, everybody!
Monica

Hi Monica,

Just use the 'delete' button to remove the duplicate

David

[anirbas]

ggglgggl...i just took the liberty of deleting the extra post for her...So, now you two look silly in the above replies...heheheehehhehehehe...i could take the liberty of deleting them, too...but, i'm having to much fun giggling right now...

poor techie guy, Monica! and what a swell being to make it over when he could...jeepers! what would we do without the people in our lives, that help us hold it all together??? Nir.

[monicamack]

Thank you, David, for letting me know about the "Delete" button so I won't look so dumb, and thank you, Nir, for taking care of that delete.

Yes, I think my techie guy's a really nice person -- I just wish he would not keep so much inside (I worry about him). I know I'm not qualified to be his confidant, but there really ought to be someone to whom he can relate his troubles and frustrations. He works alone, with no helpers. He's middle-aged himself (like me), so his general health concerns me (he goes on these really far-out diets, too), and I don't want to pressure him too much. And thank YOU for writing and caring!

Best wishes,

Monica

[anirbas]

Ahem...No one looks dumb in here...But, sometimes we do so adore looking silly for the world to see...Or would that be sight read...Or would that be site read? LOL...

It's good to care and worry about others, Moni...It means, we're not dead inside...
We're still human...We're still alive where it counts...In our hearts, minds and spirits....Nir.

[monicamack]

Nir, you are SO RIGHT! What a fine poet, and what a warm-hearted and caring person, you are! I'm a relative newcomer to this group, but I have already lost track of the times when I posted things and you wrote something that instantly made me feel better. There, I said it, and I don't care if it sounds either dumb or silly because I know it's neither! Thank you!
Monica