Arms Full of Linnet Wings


“Arms Full of Linnet Wings”

In the garden 
that afternoon 
she planted seeds
in their ripe minds
their eyes looking
up to hers their 
irises dazzling 
in the late afternoon
sunshine wide open
as if waiting hungrily 
for more food 
she dropped words into 
their mouths which 
they swollowed whole
jewels like memories
nebulous little darlings to grow

perhaps too young
but maybe one old enough
for the story to stitch
and in time graft 
and re-sow

all her little goslings
in a row, eventually
swans, black or white 
she could not tell 
would never know
she held tight 
to the moment
that Summer all a glimmer
and noon a purple glow 
arms full of linnet's wings
she never ever wanted to let go

too soon 
she would leave
the nest 
long before them

she wondered 
ceaselessly
about the three fates

and how they’d 
grow

the seeds 
she’d planted
in their minds
bloomed an entire 
wild garden 

undernourished
yet overgrown

(LadyLabyrinth)
for Lynette, with Love






“The linnet and the drush say 
I love, I love” (PJ Harvey) 





“To see a world in a grain of sand
and a Heaven in a wild flower 
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and Eternity in an hour
A Robin Redbreast in a cage
puts all Heaven in a rage
A Dove house filled
with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thr’ all its regions”
(William Blake) 




“I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.”
(William Butler Yeats)
Copyright © | Year Posted 2023

Poem

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Labyrinth Avatar
June 28, 2023 at 5:02 PM
For my mother, Lynette. With Love. '39-'71.
Goldsmith Avatar
June 25, 2023 at 2:15 PM
WOW!! Another amazing write/story. Our mind is a very powerful place. Most do not understand this. Both good and evil live here. Have a blessed/fun day writing away.................
Labyrinth Avatar
June 28, 2023 at 5:01 PM
Thank you Paula. I didn't have to dig deep for this write; my mother invested the stories in me. :) x
Labyrinth Avatar
June 5, 2023 at 4:00 PM
“A place is more than the sum of its physical parts; it's a repository for memories, a record and retainer of all that has happened within its boundaries.” Kate Morton
Labyrinth Avatar
June 5, 2023 at 4:08 PM
gvlm-klb-mlb
Labyrinth Avatar
June 5, 2023 at 4:04 PM
“I started writing because I wanted to recapture the joy of reading as a child. As soon as I learned that the black marks on white pages were doorways, and that it was within my power to go through them (and the back of a wardrobe) whenever I chose to, I was hooked. I read everything that I could get my hands on and could usually be found hiding in the bough of one of the avocado trees in our garden, book in hand. I’m still chasing that feeling of complete immersion, which makes the real world disappear.” Kate Moreton. Australian. Author. (Aust: Allen & Unwin; U.S.: Mariner Books; Canada: Simon & Schuster; UK/Ireland: Pan MacMillan).
Labyrinth Avatar
June 5, 2023 at 4:04 PM
https://www.katemorton.com/books/the-forgotten-garden/
Labyrinth Avatar
June 5, 2023 at 4:03 PM
https://www.katemorton.com/books/homecoming/
Labyrinth Avatar
June 5, 2023 at 4:02 PM
https://www.katemorton.com
Lindley Avatar
June 5, 2023 at 2:00 PM
So truly DO I love your poem and as well those by Blake. Your poem exists as pure beauty my dear friend. Truly a masterpiece and a gem I now add to my fav's list. God bless..
Labyrinth Avatar
June 6, 2023 at 5:07 PM
Lynette was the most beautiful woman (inside and out), whom I have the privilege to have known for a little while. Of course she has never left me, her art, music and stories she shared with me as a child firmly embedded. Similarly, her conversations with me remain fixed. Just when you think she is not there beside you, she presents herself again. A good and loving mother finds a way to stay with her child/ren - even when others think it truly impossible. Also, as I write this, I think of your son Justin, who has lost his mother recently, through Cancer. Thank you Lindley, for sharing those heartfelt thoughts from your youth. :) Much love to you and yours.
Lindley Avatar
June 6, 2023 at 6:44 AM
"Beautiful name , Lynette. I dated a college girl named Linnette BACK IN THE EARLY 1970'S.. Intellect and beauty, such an irresistible charm for me back then. I messed i up by being too friendly with another beautiful gal. We broke up over that and I dated the other girl. Youth in the late 60' early 70's was a blast." Xx
Labyrinth Avatar
June 5, 2023 at 3:59 PM
Thank you.
Labyrinth Avatar
June 3, 2023 at 5:10 PM
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)/ Symbolist poet, Laureate. William Butler Yeats m. Georgie Hyde-Lees/Automatic Writing.
Labyrinth Avatar
June 3, 2023 at 5:34 PM
https://daily.jstor.org/wb-yeats-live-in-spirit-medium/
Labyrinth Avatar
June 3, 2023 at 5:27 PM
Yeats, "A Vision" (in collaboration with George Hyde-Lees). https://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/digital-book-collection/digital-books-by-subject/literature-and-theatre/yeats-a-vision/
Labyrinth Avatar
June 3, 2023 at 5:17 PM
https://www.csun.edu/~hceng029/yeats/hedayatirad.html
Labyrinth Avatar
June 3, 2023 at 5:13 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_writing#Since_1975
Labyrinth Avatar
June 2, 2023 at 1:26 AM
Birds: linnet, gosling (geese), swans. Artwork: "Reborn", George RedHawk. Excerpt William Blake's "The Auguries of Innocence" Birds: Robin Redbreast, Dove, Pigeon; William Butler Yeat's "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" Birds: Linnet.
Labyrinth Avatar
June 2, 2023 at 12:44 AM
PJ Harvey - "A Child's Question, August" /(Official Video)
Labyrinth Avatar
June 3, 2023 at 6:45 PM
https://cultfollowing.co.uk/2023/04/27/pj-harvey-a-childs-question-august-review/
Labyrinth Avatar
June 2, 2023 at 12:45 AM
LYRICS/ "A Child's Question, August", P.J. Harvey. https://genius.com/Pj-harvey-a-childs-question-august-lyrics
Labyrinth Avatar
June 2, 2023 at 12:44 AM
https://youtu.be/LvYMlixvzHM
Labyrinth Avatar
June 2, 2023 at 12:44 AM
Rolling Stone, April 26, 2023 - https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pj-harvey-a-childs-question-august-i-inside-the-old-year-dying-1234723455/
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