I can feel the cold and the warmth in this lovely, spare poem.

Painting, poem and photo go together perfectly. Stark. Looking for more.

Hi, Rita--You have made me enjoy poetry more than anyone. I read your words and try to figure out how you do it. By it, I mean how do you get some many images in so few lines? I am having this dread of the approaching winter.

Yes, it was as you described it, a blue-grey day here. The first of many, already I miss the sun.

Beautiful. Thank you.

I think what I like most about your voice is its clarity.
At almost all levels ( has to be a little mystery, after all ... )
Thanks, Rita. Doin' it again.

I can see why that lovely photograph inspired such a beautiful poem, Rita.

Lezlie

good

utility in love...

...that goes a long way when you can see your breath in the air. I feel the sense of longevity here...and the lack of drama, the wonderful lack of drama...

Rita, because I know too little about poetry to comment intelligently beyond saying that it arouses my senses and sparks my imagination, I scanned the comments to find something inspired by the eye and ear of a savvier beholder: Kim Gamble's. The clarity, yes. The mystery, always.

Oh, this was so perfect!

Very evocative.

I agree with what Catch 22 said, and love your poem, Rita. It's so good to see you write.
♥R

Stark, hard and raw like the winter days to come and the love with which we are often left.
Fine, grand work.
Rated.

Over almost too quickly. Everything is here, suggested, spoken, shown. And yet ... so much more is in the edges, just beyond, just out of ...
Perhaps it is the want of more ...
the look in blue-grey eyes ...
or the warmth of orange fire
not yet ready to be born ...

Am caught once more in your words, Rita, thinking of them, thinking of you.

I like what your write -- it's always very evocative with a very efficient use of words....I like what you write.

Such a lovely way you have with words...
R

I don't know poetry but I know what I like and I like this.

Nice poem Rita. Really.

R

the word play leaves one wondering

Yes, evocative is right. Love it.

It feels so warm in this space, thanks all for the feedback and kind comments. The economy and spareness has been noticed, I distilled it down and down again. Not sure why I do it, I just hate having to TELL you everything, HA!
Lea,, too classy to yell first, but first you are, so thankful you see both sides to a rather obtuse poem. TY
Z: as an artist you see the whole as one, thankful for your eye. I like to make it all kind of one piece. Thanks for noticing.
DrSpud: see PM, but I will repeat you both flatter and humble me with your kind words, thanks and are there fish left?
Me also Bleue, me too. TY
Kim I always feel clear but glad it is received and understood that way also. Some blue grey smoke may obscure the tiniest of resentments. Thank you Kim.
LZ in SW actually the photo was chosen after the fact but I am gratified people noticed and like it. It was taken last fall.
Kathy. Thank You.
Catch22, how do you know these things, are you looking in my window, or is my poem more transparent to you than to me? Uncanny comment revealing some things I need to look at, thanks ever so much.(are you psychic?)
Chicken: your work to find an appropriate comment is so very nice of you, Kim is usually a pithy commenter and today no different. Appreciate the trouble!
Buffy, not sure if you have fall there, but thank you for coming by.
Sheila: Thanks friend.
Fusun; feels good to be among my friends again, in this venue, this side anyway. TY
"and love with which we are often left" Scylla precisely. Thank you.
anna1, as above I really did distill this down, and I am not sure because it had a lot of nuance that could have been explored. Perhaps a part deux. Blue Grey Redux! TY anna.
thanks janie dude.
Marty: glad you do too, thanks so much for reading and the feedback.
Kim or UB as I affectionately will always call you, thank you.
LP: people who claim not to know poetry often "know" more intrinsically than those who squeeze the meaning out of a poem and call it fact. Thanks for coming to my blog LP.
jr: I will re-read this on days when I need a lift, that the poetry can take on these small lives of their own is meaningful, that you express it so well, is appreciated. TY.

As many here have said this is strong and sparse. Seems to me this speaks as much of the emotional as the physical but you leave it somewhat elusive stoking it with power.

"and yet there will be want of more
than just one winter's wood,
to chase these cold pervasive spaces"

The light in the picture grows sparse but the words grew and contained the light.
HUGGGGGGGGGGGG

Eloquent still frame, Rita.

Strong, tactile reactions to pervasive spaces coupled with a haiku splendor of eternal pause.

sent chills down my spine and wrap me in warm shawl

Thanks Scarlett, I love the word stoke, but can never use it properly. There is both physical and emotional here, thanks for getting that.
Damon: hope not in a strange way but a way that leaves it open for interpretation. Nice to see you here.
FernsyFerns: Hoping it evokes some good autumn thoughts about warmth and the strange cycles of life. TY
Thanks Linda, your new photo is mysterious. I like the connection you make with the photo. TY.
Frame, I like that analogy JP, when I was finished, I did think it somewhat haiku-ish. Glad you are here and came by to read.
I always enjoy your commentary.
Kasia: good pick up, me too. Thank you for reading my poems, I am need to see if you have any new poetry up, thank you for coming by.

Beautiful! I love the juxtaposition (spelling?) of the wood warming morning with love's warmth.

Rita,
What a blessing to wake up on Surgery Day to a new Rita poem!
This "utility of your love'' line is quite memorable.

It's like you show the state of your interior
by describing this empty space
prone to pervasive cold
in need of warming
all through the wild winter
and far beyond...

the lamp set purposefully is ready, thank goodness...

James, this one is for you today, thanks for always supporting and cajoling me out of my corner. I hope all goes well. And I want to hear about it all in your droll and interesting way.
Patricia: warm and cold, love and life, we start to get the feel that all connect don't we, thank you for your feedback and for reading.

You always leave me speechless. So I will just sigh... and say, this really speaks to me.r

Cool but warming all the same.

"to chase these cold pervasive spaces." The sadness is palpable in the images you have created. Rated.

So few words, and so much said. Just the way I like it.
You help me appreciate poetry and I am grateful for that. ~r

I can really feel the fire
R

But... Baby it's Cold Outside...

so

I really can't stay (but, baby, it's cold outside). I've got to go 'way (but, baby, it's cold outside). This evening has been
(Been hoping that you'd drop in) so very nice (I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice). My mother will start to worry
(beautiful words you're humming), and father will be pacing the floor (listen to the fireplace roar). So really I'd better
scurry (beautiful, please don't hurry)well, maybe just a half a drink more (put some records on while I pour)... "

(Frank Loesser)

keep stokin' the heart-h rita poeta.

Rita, it is just lovely to see you writing again ... especially a poem ... and especially one so sparing with words as this but filled with a cool, steadying calmness. It speaks of cold and of warmth ... of aloneness and of togetherness ... of need and of acceptance ... and, yes, of mystery and clarity. How do yo do that? How can it be that all of these opposites come together here in such beautiful, poetic harmony? Only a poet can do this Rita ... only a masterful poet.

It is lovely. The smells, the chills. All of it.

Oh Hugs, well just thanks. Sweet. in the best way.
Mary or warming and yet cold, strange and thank you for visiting and giving me some feedback.
Michelle; nice that you picked up that mood, melancholy. autumn and chill, thank you.
Joanie you and I both, we like the stripped down, do you like the acoustic version of every song too?
ASH: warm air from wood fire is moist and fragrant, glad you feel it too. TY.
II, I find that song very sexy and funny you should mention it in the context of this poem. All I am gonna say is we will see.
Kate that is sweet to say and you got my intent spot on. As usual. Thanks mate.
Spike it's great when someone you read on a daily basis, whom you admire, writes a comment on your poem, such a time is this! Thank you.

an effort is appreciated though it falls a little (or a lot) short. blue-grey is a perfect choice for what lea mentions, the cold/warm. i think you have mornings this color in your northeastern world that i do not here. but i *certainly* understand the sentiment, dear friend.

You really know how to do it to me...

this poem is lovely and delicate. you have such a light touch. I like this very much Rita.

btw, the boy's O2 is 91/92 and he's feeling very good. Finally. :)

Does heat chase cold, or cold chase heat? Does it matter? I think not . . . the contrast is sometimes itself what makes us appreciate them both . . . this piece is so stark, and so true . . .

Femme boy did you nail that one. Thanks Candace. Effort is appreciated but doesn't make it all better.
Algis hope in a good way my friend.
FM: such good goddamned news about Cam. Damn he is a strong kid..
love ya FM.
Owlie: I love when you pop up, especially on MY poems! (selfish buggar aren't I) yeah, the contrast is probably what started the whole thought process, Like James Em stated in his comment the interior of the house doesn't always match the interior of the heart. as much as one wants it to be so. Thanks Owlie hope Raven and your boy are doing well, he is probably almost a man now. Good Stuff.

Such a lovely poem, it warmed my heart.
rated with love

The word "spaces" is so important. It is as if the poem was made for it. Lovely, in blue gray.

So beautiful. Simple and complex all at once - so much said here . Magnificent.

Thank you MHold your comments are quite fittingly poetic themselves.
Thank you RM!
Alysa: glad you like this one, I know poetry is not your favorite thank you for reading!

I've read this several times, Rita, it invites the re-read : ) thought I'd commented before.

I love this. I can almost feel that blue-grey....

Thanks JT! glad to see you here..

hm.....................................

gonna take a shot at this, goddess help me.

say, Lady Rita, i see u aint wrote much lately........

oh forget it.

suggested topix for november:
1. how u spent yr halloween
2. the true reason for yr writer's cramp
3. the best sexual fantasy, or Phantasmagroria, u have
a. heard
or
b.experienced.


Poetry is certainly something more than good sense, but it must be good sense at all events; just as a palace is more than a house, but it must be a house, at least.
9 May 1830 coleridge

hm.....................................

gonna take a shot at this, goddess help me.

say, Lady Rita, i see u aint wrote much lately........

oh forget it.

suggested topix for november:
1. how u spent yr halloween
2. the true reason for yr writer's cramp
3. the best sexual fantasy, or Phantasmagroria, u have
a. heard
or
b.experienced.


Poetry is certainly something more than good sense, but it must be good sense at all events; just as a palace is more than a house, but it must be a house, at least.
9 May 1830 coleridge

Thanks James, I always like suggestions however they never help me write a poem. Sorry.
But I will put some thought into them. And thanks for the nudge.

nudge this one:

the world is dying from lack of...something...

i am currently trying to explain to the peeps whaat it might be.

................
it IS that. but...that is the Gateway.

"the virgin (male or female)
refuses/
and off to war i go."


blake, who else?


there is a dynamic equilibrium amongst the genders
to humiliate the others' ability to provide physical pleasure.
it is a defense mechanism.
the onliest stray touch can last a decade.
the only-est eye contact, a century,
to hear from the oldtimers.

...........................
men? pigs.
women? hyenas.

a fine hybrid, in the fallen World

they will quickly destroy our shared world.
.......................................
and then: the question comes:
why should i care?

and that is the TRAGEDY, lady R.

Ah the fire needs much stoking!
Blue-gray is the flavor of smoked salmon come in from the surf
as a color of choice
It's hard and pure and
well,
well bred!

rita, poetry is the true test for us presumed bilinguals as the musicality, the cadence, the imagery, the assonances come from the emotional depth of a person's culture and then rendered by the mind....thanks for challenging me to the higher plane of bilingualism with your poetry; i read your poem outloud to try and better tune myself to its rhythm...........

Oh man, rita. This makes me think maybe I'll need some warmer pajamas.

If I had the gift of words mr. luigi has, I'd say the same thing about your gift with words, rita...

Cool and warm, rich and lean at the same time. Lovely.

I have something I wrote last night up my sleeve James, maybe this weekend my friend.
You got it tg, a bit more work... TY
Roberto: how wonderful! I love that someone on the other side of the world is reading my poem... and putting emphasis on the cadence. Hopefully they hold up~ thanks so much
DB Hello old friend so good to see your face again! yeah maybe I will too... as usual mypoems can be a downer.. Thanks DB
Thank you JT: for coming back and reading again, and re commenting appreciated...
Thank you Erica K everything I was striving for, glad you think I got there.

ooh! So true! and it may be a long winter....
Beautiful words!