J. Tudor Poet Free verse

Swallowtails

Sleep did not come easy, nor did dawn arrive
as a sweet kiss upon a cheek of hope, spring
has yet to dwell in all of winter's vacant spaces.

I lay there, long after sun slithered through the
creases of the blinds, beneath my thin blanket,
the one with the map of the world on it's top...

( I always like to know where it is that I am )

I lay there and thought about what was going
to become of me, you know, that crib to grave
thing...child to man to child again, then suddenly

I remembered the swallowtails I saw yesterday,
the first of the season, and how I wrote a poem
about them and then tucked it away into a drawer.

  The swallowtails arrived today, sweeping
  away all of winter's leftover silence, gripped
  upon threads of airy current and spring's coming.

  Three, four...more, now seven...kite-wings of sun
  and night sharing a backbone of flight, first sign
  of migration north from polar south, dew dripping

  from each tired mouth, they flit and steer this way
  and that, light, for just a moment, and off they go.
  Gone, the scene more poetic than I could ever show.

Now, the hours are dragging their tired heels again,
toe to toe with loneliness, and I am wondering...
how do some people do it, make the most of things

when there is nothing else to make.





(April 20 2016)

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John Fleming June 5, 2016 at 12:43 AM Beautifully conceived piece of prose! Loved the poem within the poem...An absolute joy to read. My very best regards. :) john

Lin Lane April 20, 2016 at 10:41 AM What a lovely verse, especially the last line of your poem. That first step out of bed (hopelessness) is the hardest, but once taken the sun warms us with hope. Open the blinds, better yet, open the windows and doors. Become a swallowtail and see life through their eyes. A very nice write, J. J. Tudor April 20, 2016 at 11:29 AM Thank You Lin...your words are always kindness, and at this stage in life that is what I most need. There comes a time when there is nothing more to prove, to oneself nor to anyone else, and kindness becomes it's own reward, beyond measure. J.