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A Door In The Wall

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Revised and republished: 30th January 2024

Image by Cully Barbosa from Pixabay


I have finally found a door in this wall that for years has been hidden from view behind ivy that’s grown and spread and entwined with those nettles that bind and sting too. The paint has long peeled from its panels below but despite all the rotting of wood the hinges hold strong from behind the cobwebs and the door latch still works as it should. It must have been here since the wall first appeared in the days of my high school and grounds yet with one simple push this door’s opened up to a world I once thought out of bounds.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2024




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Date: 3/10/2024 4:03:00 PM
Hiya Gary A door seemingly closed hidden or off limit's. Was always there but and yet always somehow believed to be out of bounds. Just felt powerless to push . If only it was that simple . Great pondering and questioning as always. Cheers Gary Sir
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Gary Radice
Date: 3/11/2024 11:28:00 AM
Hi Christopher. Good to hear from you. Yes, if only it was that simple. I remember at school there was a lot of peer pressure when it came to things like poetry. It just wasn't cool to like it. I blame that, the literature syllabus, the teaching and me for not finding the door back then. Cheers - Gary
Date: 2/25/2024 5:03:00 AM
Ah, the great allegorical door! We have so many talents and possibilities in life and have to choose which ones to pursue. How wonderful that you have had the opportunity to open this one. I just retired and am thinking about what I want to do with the rest of my time here on this planet. You're getting me stop and think about it at this moment. The good news is there is no pressure and I can be selective.
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Gary Radice
Date: 2/25/2024 6:26:00 AM
Hi Duke. Congratulations on your recent retirement. I bet you find yourself questioning at some point how on earth you found the time to do all the things you did while working. :) Thanks for the visit, read and comments. Cheers - Gary
Date: 2/22/2024 10:24:00 AM
Glad you found the closed door and was able to get in to check out the sealed off place. Thank you for sharing it with us and for dropping by my page. Sara K
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Gary Radice
Date: 2/22/2024 10:30:00 PM
Thanks Sara. Yes, I found the door at last. It only took me close on 40 years to find it! :) Read you soon. Cheers - Gary
Date: 2/21/2024 11:17:00 AM
Hello Gary Radice, i want to know :What is behind the door that you found many years ago? Enjoy your day my friend. Did you solve the mystery of the door/ I am wondering. Enjoy your day my friend. /Darlene/
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Darlene De Beaulieu
Date: 2/21/2024 3:55:00 PM
Hello Gary Radice, The wall serves as a barrier thazt hampered your appreciation for poetry! Well i think you are doing very well now Gary. Cheers! /Darlene/
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Gary Radice
Date: 2/21/2024 11:57:00 AM
Hi Darlene. Thanks for your visit and question. Rediscovering my love for poetry later on in life lay behind the door in the wall. The wall, here, serves as a metaphor for barriers - both perceived and real - that hampered my appreciation of poetry during my time at high school. :) Cheers - Gary
Date: 2/18/2024 12:35:00 PM
A lovely metaphorical poem, Gary. Sometimes all it takes is one small step forward...and then voilà! ~ Regards // paul
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Gary Radice
Date: 2/18/2024 3:47:00 PM
You're so right Paul. Thanks for your visit. Its very much appreciated. Cheers - Gary
Date: 2/17/2024 12:40:00 PM
A wonderful write. Love your ending... Have a blessed day writing away.............
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Gary Radice
Date: 2/17/2024 2:34:00 PM
Thanks Paula. I'm about to call it a day and go to bed here in the UK but I'll spend some time tomorrow having a go at writing. I'm behind once again on commenting on others' poems but hopefully I'll catch up next week. Read you soon. Cheers - Gary
Date: 2/12/2024 7:38:00 AM
Hello Gary, I am a fan of well-metered and rhymed poetry. I enjoyed the construction, and especially the content of this poem. Z
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Gary Radice
Date: 2/12/2024 12:21:00 PM
Thank you Robert. I very much appreciate your visit and your very kind comments. Cheers - Gary
Date: 2/8/2024 12:35:00 PM
I love this, Gary! It reminds me of "The Secret Garden." What a wonderful metaphor for a-ha moments and analogy to life's search for new meaning. So enjoyed. Hope you are well! Blessings for continued discoveries. Cheers!
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Gary Radice
Date: 2/8/2024 9:37:00 PM
Hi Sam! It's always a treat to read your insightful comments. I love: "What a wonderful metaphor for a-ha moments and analogy to life's search for new meaning". Just fantastic Sam. Better than I could ever have explained things. Thank you. Cheers - Gary
Date: 2/6/2024 4:35:00 PM
Gary, I truly enjoyed this poem. I appreciate that it, to me, has levels of meanings, possibly a number of themes. very skillfully composed~~~ Janice
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Gary Radice
Date: 2/7/2024 4:16:00 AM
Thanks Janice. I really appreciate your welcomed visit and lovely comments. Cheers - Gary
Date: 2/1/2024 4:20:00 PM
Hi Gary, I am wondering if this is a rewrite of a previous posting... it has a slight scent of familiarity to me. I do love it. As Terry stated, it is cleverly open ended. In reading your comments it appears to be an allegory of your early antipathy for (yet later awakening of) poetry. Yet it could apply to any reader for any number of newly kindled pleasures. I might say the "door" in my life is my current appetite for history, a subject I abhorred in school. Well done, friend! Cheers ~ John
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Gary Radice
Date: 2/2/2024 2:23:00 AM
Hi John! Thank you for your comments and yes, you are correct; it’s been here before. :) Actually, this is my third attempt at this poem! :) Until now I’ve not been happy with it. I even pulled the second version of it despite it winning a contest. Your description of the poem as an allegory is spot on. For me it has been the rekindling of poetry but, yes, you can substitute the word ‘poetry’ for any subject that any reader has (re)discovered. I can’t quite put my finger on whether it was the actual teaching or the syllabus at school.. or just me..but whatever it was it was enough to 'bind and sting’ my thoughts about poetry for many years. As for the photo, (Edit: Now on my Bio page) I’m surprised we are both smiling having both just seen the bill for our meal. :) Cheers - Gary
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John Watt
Date: 2/1/2024 4:22:00 PM
P.S. it's lovely to see the happy couple in your new avatar!
Date: 1/30/2024 4:17:00 PM
You know they say, “Leave ‘em wanting more’…. Well I want more! Seriously, Gary, a cleverly open ended write, which will have us all pondering….
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Gary Radice
Date: 1/30/2024 11:00:00 PM
Hi Terry. I think it still needs a bit more refining (I keep changing the first line…and other lines) but thanks so much for your comments. I found studying the poetry part of my English Lit A Level at school a chore. It wasn't fun. It was a slog. It put me off poetry for a long time and yet I still had a yearning for poetry somewhere inside of me. (My 2nd stanza here) It just needing bringing out. Step forward Poetry Soup many years later. It single handedly rekindled my appreciation for the subject by opening the door that in all probability was always there. :) Cheers - Gary
Date: 1/30/2024 5:53:00 AM
Absolutely love this Gary….so much intrigue in your beautifully written words….l so enjoy poems of days gone by, ruins and nostalgia! Great stuff! Debx
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Gary Radice
Date: 1/30/2024 6:03:00 AM
Hi Deb. Thanks so much for your visit and comments. I remember seeing such a door in a wall near Springwood Gardens in Liverpool. I remember wondering what on earth lay behind it. (There was a small public garden with a pond at its centre - a secret garden to us kids!) I've used the wall, ivy and nettles here as metaphors for certain barriers that hindered my enjoyment and appreciation of poetry when I was at high school (thinking on, even the word 'poetry' was a barrier for me back then.) I've used the door, here, to represent my rediscovery and wider appreciation of poetry in later life via Poetry Soup. :) Cheers - Gary

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