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Avatar's Return

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I float in the ether ... a roll of sea swells below, pier toward the west, island I know so well - endless hours there, but rarely alone ... then. Moon sparkles dance at my feet, underneath "me" - soft, yellow- blue stars of reflected lunar beams, shafts of lit night haze, break apart on the crests ... A thousand coruscations - rippling bulbs of opalescent flashes that I burst with my being, and scatter on the inky surface of the bay, brightening the warm, briny, twilight air ... This is what I AM ... now. No dream, there I was, once, below ... a sum of youthful motives, to laugh, cogitate, love, cry, to place the puzzle pieces with concern and sensibility ... Sensibility? Ha - such irony! We, broken souls searching ... three there, once, oddly "us". A heart beat in my chest, true, for the physical sake that I translated poorly ... loving ... Love for the sake of love only. Is it not thus for all the callow? The crude and burgeoning id that we twist around Life's finger? I float in the ethereal vacuum ... A revenant eternity is no bargain ... to feel, to love, to act, to HURT! Many upon many, the visitations, spurned images played out, no tactile, no breath, no seam in the fabric of this tapestry ... No waft, no will, no wonderment! No guilt, oh the cutting pangs! This place is not special, but oh, how special it IS! This place is not mine, but oh, it is no one's BUT mine! This place is just a small island in a bay, like a million others, but you will ALWAYS find me here. I am no more, but I AM, and here ... look for me on nights like this ... Watch as I kick the moonbeams into pixies, listen as I make the wooden posts creak, (that is not the tide), and breathe me in ... oh pray, take pity and make a soft breath of me! Feel the bite and slap of the keen, salty sea that has become me! Draw in all that it is, and all that I have become in its stead! Fill your lungs with it, still ... Then give it back to the wind, yet. But gently, that, and with a thought or two of kindness, if you can manage. I float in the meanderings of others ... An island there, westward, and the shine of the moon below, now calm ... gone the swells - remains a glass-like bay of stars and puffs, wan and few ... In the sea now, a reflection of what I am, what I have become, the ethereal ... I float toward the mirror image that looks back at me from below. 'Tis there ... you will find me, always ... amaranthine. ~ 1st Place ~ in the "Avatar" Poetry Contest, Line Gauthier, Judge & Sponsor.

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John Watt

Date: 6/13/2020 3:40:00 AM

Amazing musing upon your soul after it shuffles off this mortal coil. Such awesome imagery and your usual stellar vocabulary.

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 6/13/2020 3:57:00 PM

Thank you, John, this was an interesting state-of-mind I was in, but one that isn't that uncommon for me these days ... I guess the more we close in on mortality, the more we contemplate its realities and possibilities. This one is important to me. Blessings, Bud.

Line Gauthier

Date: 5/23/2020 11:46:00 PM

A most pleasant reread. Congrats again, Gregory.

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 5/24/2020 4:34:00 AM

That's very kind, Line, thank you muchly! :o) <3

Richard Lamoureux

Date: 12/19/2017 2:34:00 PM

A gorgeous piece Congrats on your top win.

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 12/20/2017 7:24:00 AM

That's very kind of you, Richard ... thank you so much, my friend! :-)

Eve Roper

Date: 12/16/2017 5:46:00 PM

Wow, the imagery is great, Gregory,congratulations on your win! Hugs Eve~`*

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 12/17/2017 10:02:00 PM

Thank you so very much, Eve, that's very kind of you, friend! Bless you! :-) <3

Maureen Mcgreavy

Date: 12/16/2017 1:06:00 PM

You still got it! Boop boop be doop <3 Congratulations my friend. xomo!

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 12/17/2017 10:02:00 PM

LOL - thank you kindly, Mo! Bee-ba-dooby-bop ba-doo-wa! Blessings, Dear Poet! <3

Mick Talbot

Date: 12/16/2017 4:18:00 AM

Congratulations, Greg, gripped me, read it a few time, became part of it, looking down on your star-spangled bay. Pixes in the ripples, bid me to thank you for bringing them to life, and they are looking forward to your next write. Write on Gregory R Barden, best forever wishes Mick!

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 12/16/2017 6:45:00 AM

Such a wonderful comment, Mick, and one that I greatly appreciate - you have totally grasped the spirit of this one, and I wasn't sure I had conveyed it in the way I wanted to. Thank you so much, my friend, I'm so pleased you enjoyed it! Blessings! :-)

Subimal Sinha-Roy

Date: 12/16/2017 3:37:00 AM

Congratulations, Greg for your great win with a wonderful poem.

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 12/16/2017 6:44:00 AM

Very kind of you, Subimal - thank you, friend! :-)

Line Gauthier

Date: 12/15/2017 11:27:00 PM

Thank you so much for your wonderful whimsical entry. Congrats on your well deserved win, Gregory.

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 12/16/2017 4:46:00 AM

Oh, my ... thank you SO much, Line, I was getting a bit discouraged with my performance in contests lately, but this made my day, and put a big smile on my face, (after a very long, rough day - up 30 hours now, working non-stop, and all kinds of problems today - one of THOSE days, lol). I'm so glad you liked this one, as it comes from very deep within, and is very much out of the norm, (which doesn't always translate to "good") ... blessings and best wishes to you, my dear poet friend! :-) <3

John Hamilton

Date: 5/13/2017 11:20:00 AM

Wow! No words Greg!

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 5/15/2017 5:32:00 PM

Thanks, John - much appreciated!

Darren White

Date: 5/13/2017 9:23:00 AM

Oh Greg.... I often think about what it will be like when I am dead. It feels like this, like this... This is extraorndinary. I LOVE this stanza: "A thousand coruscations - // Rippling bulbs of opalescent // Flashes that I burst with my // Being, and scatter on the inky // Surface of the bay, brighten // The warm, briny, twilight air"

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 5/15/2017 5:37:00 PM

Thanks, Darren - this was an odd one for me, and it came from a place that I would like to get in touch with more often ... something a bit beyond my pure conscience, so it will take some trial and error to get to. I believe we are spiritual beings of sorts, confined within these shells, but I also believe we have the abilities to be in touch with that even before we pass from the physical existence ... I'm very happy you liked this because I imagine this is something that you think of even more often than I do, confined as you are. We shall ALL be free someday, my friend - imagine what we'll do as spiritual beings! ;-)