Bless me Father for i have Lived

Bless me Father for i have lived

 

 

 

there's frost on the windows

and silence in the barn

the cows are long gone,

black shutters shut against the temperament of time

 

the grass is overgrown from lack of grazing

hay stacked in a loft, unused

except for some high school sweethearts

earning their penance

 

dew dropped tracks of deer

scamper across a yard once filled with laughter

and sweaty palms rinsed by a summer hose

i Google then, look at it now

 

and hear the soft mooing of the Holstein memories---

shout at the lovers to be careful with their youth

 

time passes

and we all grow like unattended grass,

soon to be strangled by winter's dominance

 

as life passes into white

and photographs lose their sharp Slide luster

in the cold of tomorrow.

 

 

erin-cilberto

3/25/16

Reviews

[Cryingkate]

I really enjoyed the path I chose with this read, The images flowed so serenely that It wasn't hard to re-frame from analyzing it.
I feel as though I heard the writer sigh and I joined him, with relief from burden. I felt as though we were looking back with acceptance of self and deeds,
A willingness to accept that All is well and we did what man naturally does. There is no regret or suffering of trying to live under unnatural law.
I like that line "i Google then, look at it now" It says to me that back in days of youth we tried to analyze everything, search for specifics answers and now just seeing we never found the answers and now looking back it was sorta vain, for it doesn't matter. We just lived and wonder how much more we could of lived, if not for thinking we couldn't live to some high standard of expectation and subjection.
This write leaves the reader to ponder. Extra nice one Jacob....

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your "extra nice" review, Connie....appreciate your visits, always.

j.

[Shimmerbliss/CAF]

"and hear the soft mooing of the Holstein memories---
shout at the lovers to be careful with their youth"
but, we wouldn't have listened either, would we. It goes so quickly, a cliche, I know, but is so true. Life does pass into white, as you say, so quickly....so quickly.
I love the title, too. You are so very good.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

we forget sometimes that we were young once....but in my recollections....i do remember the hay, remember sneaking off for those make out sessions...feeling so grown up...and yet we were so green...as green as the pastures...and now i am quite white up top of my head..:)))
thank you for your kind thoughts, Claire...

j.

[richieb]

A very moving poem,full of truth and realizations. You captured the movement of life and at the end we should be appreciative instead of remorseful. Well written. Richie B.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, richieb..

j.

[Carolynn]

You always amaze me with your analogies. The grass does feel a little overgrown these days but as you say...we have lived - and that is a blessing :)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Carolynn...

j.

[B. Boileau]

You should be obsolved, for I see no sin in living. You have painted a scene of a hard life, and masterfully penned passage of time itself.
I can see the paint peeling, as a life ages.
An excellent piece my friend.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, my friend...

j.

[barleygirl]

I am exactly in this place, in my life. This is really mind-blowing, as far as the carefully-crafted glimpses that paint an old decrepit farm, analogous for our old decrepit lives, & memories, & regrets. I love the reference to what the old abandoned hay bales might be used for now. I love the fresh nature references without a trace of being trite & worn-out. Great job! Thanks for sharing.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your really kind review, barleygirl..your words encourage me...

j.

[Alfred Kukitz]

So fine a landscape that I read it all, mingling about your poem as though I lived in the beautiful spaces written by soul, carried off like a moon lit night flying among the transformation in my head.

Deeply moved!

regards,
al

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Al.

j.

[Norman 223]

Nostalgia of our more active days. Should we mourn them or treasure them. Experience, whether negative or positive is always valuable. Your title says it all.

Norman

[jacob erin-cilberto]

good questions you ask...and yes, all is valuable...thank you, Norman

j.

[Michael Oliver]

we both seem to be in the same sort of mood - looking back with a sigh contemplating our rush towards mortality.
The narrative flow like lesser Proust's searching for a fixed point to hang on , to stabilize our thoughts
Like this a lot - thanks

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your insightful and kind words, Michael...

j.

[Leslie Philibert]

This, as all reviews rightly say, a tremendous poem, full of literary quality.This is nostalgic but cliche free, with a photographic sharpness that turns into a theme of the last stanza.Great mix of verse length, that turns the tempo around the middle of the poem.Perfectly written, great write !

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Leslie...

j.