Come and Find Me In My Solitude

Solitude sounds good on balance, yet perhaps that is just me.
There is the implication of loneliness, of nobody to talk to,
and I think of the many people for whom the pain of being alone
is immense, maybe unbearable.

"Solitary" - is that a good thing or not?
Life can be torment, and I've had some horrible days,
always of my own making, days where I was alone
with the pain of being a fool, of hot caustic circumstance,
where time itself seemed to be alive with a bad fire.

You have found me in my solitude,
so, which way do we go?

Today, let us go from hot to cool.
Walk with me twenty years ago -
by then, you might think it's cold.

We are in northern Ontario, Canada,
at this time of year - early December.
Clouds lie thickly above us,
a layer of protection.

Our path is around a lake,
water on our left, forest on the right.
There is no wind - if we hold for a time, the only motion
comes from small, widely dispersed snow crystals,
falling earthward, falling mostly past us.
It is that perfect time of morning 
when the world is caught between dark and light,
things visible but still within their hidden selves,
black trees, white snow,
muted greens and grays,
the silver of the water.

At the birth of an instant, an eagle rises and flies directly away,
then turns and glides low over the lake.
We see it moving right to left,
linear above the water,
the glide of the continuum,
seeing past the moment into all that is tranquil,
and everything that softly remains.

All that is below will go, one day.
The eagle senses the union between us,
and begins to gain altitude,
the air being so still that we hear every beat of wings against it.


December 3, 2016
For Mystic Rose's contest:  'Come and Find Me in my Solitude'

Copyright © | Year Posted 2016



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Date: 12/5/2016 9:53:00 PM
Congrats again.
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Doug Vinson
Date: 12/5/2016 9:56:00 PM
Thanks, IZ. All these snapshots of us, on all these pages. Play them fast and think of what the movie would look like.
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Doug Vinson
Date: 12/5/2016 9:53:00 PM
Thank you, Rebecca. It was a beautiful scene. Many of us are often in places so, so different - the polluted, the incinerated, the industrial. For most of my life I've been in those places, and even then, beauty is there.
Date: 12/5/2016 3:43:00 PM
Congratulations, Doug! I really love this one!
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Becca Teagan
Date: 12/5/2016 10:16:00 PM
Beautiful people find beauty in many places
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Doug Vinson
Date: 12/5/2016 9:54:00 PM
Thank you, Rebecca. It was a beautiful scene. Many of us are often in places so, so different - the polluted, the incinerated, the industrial. For most of my life I've been in those places, and even then, beauty is there.
Date: 12/5/2016 3:42:00 PM
You paint a lovely picture with your poem, Doug. Congrats on your win. Agnes
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Doug Vinson
Date: 12/5/2016 9:49:00 PM
Merci, Agnes. This evening the moon was the Cheshire Cat's smile.
Date: 12/5/2016 1:35:00 PM
on a solitary flight to introspection well depicted, doug... wow, best congrats on your fine ranking!..huggs
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Doug Vinson
Date: 12/5/2016 2:37:00 PM
Thank you, Nette. : ) I wish I had a picture of that day, or better yet - a video. It happened as I described. Being able to hear every flap of the eagle's wings - will never forget that.
Date: 12/5/2016 1:22:00 PM
Wow, what a nice journey Doug. Congratulations!
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Doug Vinson
Date: 12/5/2016 2:35:00 PM
:: clinks glass with Heidi's :: It is such a valuable and special thing to be able to so communicate with other people, to "language" them - the word trying to qualify as a verb there.
Date: 12/5/2016 1:16:00 PM
See? From behind the PC you won a wonderful placement for being so outside :) CONGRATULATIONS
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Doug Vinson
Date: 12/5/2016 2:32:00 PM
Thanks, kind Sir. Back in 1993 my mom told me, "Get a computer, Doug - you'll love it." Didn't do it until 1996, but wow was she right.
Date: 12/4/2016 11:47:00 PM
I love your love for the outside, how imaginative you can write. Good luck in the contest :)
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Darren White
Date: 12/5/2016 1:42:00 AM
Ahahahaaa, I would have never believed that if you hadn't told me. Shows how good you are with language :)
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Doug Vinson
Date: 12/5/2016 12:45:00 AM
Thanks, Darren. Have to laugh though - I love staying indoors and being on the computer 24/7 too. : P
Date: 12/4/2016 3:41:00 AM
Love the whole flight of the eagle.
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Doug Vinson
Date: 12/5/2016 12:44:00 AM
Gracias, Christina.
Date: 12/3/2016 7:29:00 PM
Superbly done my friend Doug...I'm Canadian too...I hear you lol...god bless...^WW^
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Doug Vinson
Date: 12/3/2016 8:57:00 PM
Hey WW. Thank you. True story - north of the Trans-Canada Highway as it heads west for Manitoba.
Date: 12/3/2016 6:19:00 PM
Thank you, Judy. There is certainly something about that early morning air.
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Date: 12/3/2016 5:33:00 PM
Nicely done Doug. Wonderful imagery. I could see the solitary figure watching the eagle in the early morning air. I love early morning walks with my dogs. It's then that I commune with my God and prepare for the day ahead. Great job here and good luck in the contest. A seven from me. God Bless, JB
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