Susan Ashley | + Follow Poet |
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The Calling Gull Of Aquinnah

The calling gull leaves her nest
her wild magic cleaves the nimbus.
An avian aerialist suspended aloft 
she sails on tapered ribbons of cirrus silk,
ruffled sea breeze ironed ‘neath her lustrous wings.

A wind witch, she defies and defines the  w - i - n - d…
a weaver of worlds, knotting strings of stories as one wampum belt
in union with the sea’s connection to land and air.

She steals the sough from the surf and the sigh from my sinew;
my guide to a mindful haven. This nurture-maven 
glides among bouquets of pink-peony-cumulus.
She; my blue-sky-muse in celebration!
She; my compass rose, mediates my meditation.

I unfurl fresh wings, a night-to-day tern, and claim my turn with the wind
no longer a granite stone asleep on sand. I soar
from the glacial-age strand and lift through fog.. brief my tryst
with mist. Eyes blessed by the crest of a humpback’s breach.

I distill myself, my will; a droplet, tear, a sphere free of guise.
An ascendant of moon-magnet tides yet a descendant
from stratus to stratum, I settle upon the cliffs along the coast
in union with my soul’s connection to body and breath.

In the cup of my hands I hold the sun and drink its yolk,
white-cap breakers below chant a soluble sonnet.
From my inner dark, a flint-spark flares as I find what I lost.
My heart, akin to a wild cranberry, reborn from the womb of dawn.
I inhale the moment. Red clay cliffs, lifeblood, fire-skies merge.
Windswept pitch pines croon as I grow roots for my tabernacle,
cosmic beams stream through stained-glass-eyes.
The calling gull rests. A distant, silent witness to my quest.

My pulse a psalm as I emerge; a cathedral lit by sunrise.

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Sotto Poet Date: 11/29/2024 9:43:00 AM This is undoubtedly a remarkable work of poetry. I am pleased to see it included on the winners list. This remarkable poem enhances the muse through its skillful use of alliteration and metaphor. The gull serves as a representation of nature, guiding us towards rebirth and inviting the reader to engage with the singing of psalms within a cathedral setting. Excellent. Dear Friend, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations on your remarkable achievement with this exquisite poem! It seems we have enjoyed a stroll along the beach. I wish you a wonderful morning filled with positive energy and good fortune. Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/29/2024 9:57:00 AM Dear Lasaad, it's wonderful to see you! Glad to see you amongst the pages of PS once again. Your soulful poetic presence was missed during your absence. Thank you for sharing your uplifting thoughts, and for sharing in the emotion and imagery of this poem with me. Indeed, it seems like we have enjoyed a stroll along the beach. It's amazing how poetry and imagination can bring us to new places and experiences. Your heartfelt words and kind congrats are truly appreciated, my friend. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

Victor Buhagiar Date: 11/22/2024 1:50:00 AM This is a magnificent poem that embellishes the muse with its alliterations and metaphors. The gull is a symbol of nature, leading to rebirth, leading the reader to the singing of psalms in a cathedral. Brilliant. Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/24/2024 6:26:00 PM Dear Victor, thank you for your lovely response to my poem. Indeed, I am honored by your words. I'm so glad my verse lead you to rejoice in the spiritual journey and rebirth of the narrator. So happy to see you here my, poet friend. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

Sam Kauffman Date: 11/13/2024 11:12:00 AM My Dearest Rhyme Time Friend, back with congratulations on your win with this exquisite poem! Truly this is a poetic psalm. So happy to see it on the winners list. After having spent time working on a poem with this theme, I forgot to enter it! Sigh! I loved the theme. Sending you blessings of warm autumn joy sweet poetry sis! Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/17/2024 10:32:00 AM My Dearest Rhyme Time Friend, I'm elated by your thoughtful return visit. Your response to my poem lifts my spirit to soar among the cumulus with the calling gull. So sorry about your poem, I've done that too :) I will have to go to your page and read what I believe will be an exceptional and inspiring poem. Thank you for your heartwarming congrats my sweet poetry sis! Warmest wishes sent on grateful wings of harvest spirits.. ~Susan

Sam Kauffman Date: 11/11/2024 11:26:00 AM My Dearest Rhyme Time Friend, your poem brings alive the vibrance that breathes in you - "in the cup of my hands I hold the sun and drink its yolk!" You create poetic mastery from thin air - "my pulse a psalm"- that transcends the call of the gull into a metaphoric pilgrimage into a place of deep introspection, sweet poetry sis. Beautiful flow! Best wishes for the contest. I feel like we have taken a walk on the beach. Sending you waves of blessings on the wings of morning! Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/16/2024 12:17:00 PM My Dearest Rhyme Time Friend, I'm so gratified and grateful whenever you honor me with a gracious visit and your uplifting words. Our poetic paths seems to be going in different directions these days as my time here has been limited but I'm thrilled that our paths have crossed today! :)) Thank you for sharing in the flight of the calling gull as a guide and a witness to the speaker's meditation. Your golden spirit shines upon my poem and adds value to my verse. Indeed, my sweet poetry sis, we have walked on the beach and have enjoyed its magic and mystique. Warmest wishes sent on lustrous wings.. ~Susan

Speaks Volumes Date: 11/10/2024 12:14:00 AM Oh Susan, you commence as an educator, and continue as a Wizard turning language into mesmerizing spectacles, tantalizing your readers. The flight over sea, through the clouds is uplifting as you allow the gull to be witness to your rebirth emerging as a pinnacle of your magic, a cathedral lit by sunrise. I wanted to take the journey again and again, lifting my sprits and strengthening my convictions each time I read it. Thank you. You are an amazing poet, that I so very much admire. Wen Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/15/2024 6:01:00 PM Dear SV, I revel in your gracious visit and the immense kindness of your bliss-filled comments. Thank you for sharing in the journey of the calling gull and the enthralled narrator inspired by her soaring free spirit. Please feel free to take this journey again and again.. I'd be honored my sweet friend. Your wonderful words fill me with gratitude, I'm humbled, my poet friend. I very much admire your amazing poetry too. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

Mystic Rose Rose Date: 11/9/2024 6:36:00 PM In the cup of my hands I hold the sun and drink its yolk, your poetry is so visual and so stark, I love it, Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/15/2024 5:54:00 PM Dear Rose, I relish your lovely visit and wonderful thoughts. Thank you for sharing in the journey with me. So touched that you loved it, sweet poetess. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

I Am Anaya Date: 11/9/2024 10:51:00 AM A rich wafting gait and mesmerizing cadence and ebb n flow, a majestic sweep! What more can I say, she is a visceral vibrance, Susan. An inspiring muse, I enjoyed her journey as she soared upon the wind, I ‘was’ the calling gull. “In the cup of my hands I hold the sun and drink its yolk, white-cap breakers below chant a soluble sonnet” I’m there, with the ocean’s chants and nurtured by the sunshine. Wampum belt cobalt and white diamond pattern, gorgeous design! Bravo Susan ~ xo Anaya Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/15/2024 5:52:00 PM Dearest Anaya, I'm so glad you enjoyed this transformative journey with me. I revel in your precious thoughts so beautifully expressed and unique only to you. Thank you for your amazing comments and gracious visit. I love that you became the calling gull. Sweet freedom on the wing, inspiring wonder and awe in those that look up and admire her... and let their daydreams fly. Warmest wishes my sweet friend.. ~Susan

Silent One Date: 11/9/2024 9:21:00 AM Hello Susan my friend, I love how your poem is an exploration of self-renewal and communion with nature, particularly the sea, wind, and sky. How the journey begins with a calling gull, symbolizing a wild spirit that invites the speaker into a deeper engagement with the elements and with their own essence. Structurally, it flows in waves, mimicking the sea’s rhythm, blending the boundaries between yourself, the gull, and the natural world. Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/10/2024 5:43:00 PM Dear Silent One, it's always a delight when your presence graces my poem. Thank you for your beautiful and thoughtful response. Your appreciation of my poetry means a lot to me and your encouragement inspires me to reach ever higher. Warmest wishes my poet friend.. ~Susan

Paul Callus Date: 11/9/2024 6:55:00 AM Thank you for the informative prelude to your poem, dear Susan. Life is a never-ending learning process! ~ The title of this poem means a lot...animating innate vibrance is what makes life happier and thus more 'healthy'. Your gull helps you rise above the mundane; her mission accomplished she watches you grow and transform. ~ Warm regards & hugs my friend // paul Login to Reply Paul Callus Date: 11/11/2024 6:30:00 AM Dear Susan. I have not been able to be on Soup as much as I'd have liked; it's been a challenging year, but the boat still rides the waves :) Hugs Susan Ashley Date: 11/10/2024 5:36:00 PM Dear Paul, it's wonderful to see you! I hope all is well with you and your family. I'm so glad you enjoyed the prelude to this poem. Indeed, life is a never-ending learning process! This title does means a lot, and it's also the required contest title from the sponsor. The original title to this poem was The Calling Gull Of Aquinnah but I'll add that back after the contest has been judged. Thank you for your beautiful feedback, your esteemed thoughts are prized! So glad to hear from you, my dear friend. Warmest wishes and hugs.. ~Susan

Hilda Greenhough Date: 11/7/2024 6:15:00 PM I love your poem. I was enthralled with the gull, who seemed to be a co-narrator. There is a deep connection with nature in your words. Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/7/2024 6:22:00 PM Dear Hilda, your beautiful thoughts are perceptive and warm my heart. I'm so glad to know you were enthralled with the gull, she was the guiding force for the narrator, yes... you could say she was a "co-narrator"! I love that! Thank you for sharing in the emotions and imagery of this poem with me. Indeed, I have a deep love and reverence for Nature. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

Daniel Henry Rodgers Date: 11/5/2024 4:41:00 AM Dear Susan, what a breathtaking journey. I loved your masterful use of language, which creates a beautiful, sensory experience that transports me to a realm where nature and spirit intertwine. Also, Your eloquent metaphors and lyrical cadence are filled with a deep, primal connection to the natural world. A beautiful transcendent meditation on the human experience. Excellent in all ways! Autumn Blessings, MY Dear Friend, Daniel Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/7/2024 9:02:00 AM Dear Daniel, your beautiful comments are only outclassed by your deep, rich, exquisite poetry. It's a joy to see you and to have your gracious presence gracing my poem. There's an elation I feel as I read your thoughts, a sense of pride I feel as I read your words... yet, I'm humbled as well by your mastery of language, the insightful depth of your poetic intellect and your soulful artistry. Thank you for the honor of your visit and heartwarming critique. Warmest wishes to you, my dear poet friend.. ~Susan

Valsa George Date: 11/4/2024 10:02:00 PM Hi Sweet Susan, your mind works in strange ways and you let your imagination wander in realms, others never think of ever visiting. You find magic in nature's unusual formations, be it original or man- made. The way you have described the sea gull is so mesmerizing and how you have seen it as your muse, navigator and compass in your journey to the wonderful pockets of nature. "An avian aerialist suspended aloft she sails on tapered ribbons of white clouds, the ruffled sea breeze ironed ‘neath her lustrous wings." Your description of the sea gull in its flight is first rate poetry that sets the mood for the great odyssey, you are going to undertake. Finally when you reach there, what gratification you experience...! Finally you are made 'a Cathedral lit by sunrise.' Wow!! Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/5/2024 11:11:00 AM Dearest Valsa, precious poet, I'm filled with gratitude for your imagination to soar with mine into realms of the skies, seas, Earth and soul, as the speaker follows the gull on a mindful, spiritual journey of appreciation and meditation. Your perceptive comments and appreciation is cherished as is your golden friendship. Your spirit shines upon me, and I am warmed by your radiance. Thank you, my sweet friend, for sharing in the emotions of this "odyssey" with me. You make me feel like a better poet than I am and I am both honored and humbled.. and very grateful. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

Darlene De Beaulieu Date: 11/4/2024 3:30:00 PM Amazing Susan, I like this poem. it is beautifully done. also my fav. Hugs. /Darlene/ Login to Reply Darlene De Beaulieu Date: 11/7/2024 10:39:00 AM Hello Susan, I appreciate you to my friend. Your welcome. Yes I do like your poetry. Oh tnank you honoring my fav. Hugs. /Darlene/ Susan Ashley Date: 11/4/2024 5:48:00 PM Dear Darlene, soulful poetess, it's wonderful to see you. Thank you for your precious thoughts. I'm so glad you liked my poem. I appreciate you, my sweet friend, and the honor of your fav. Thank you. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

Paula Goldsmith Date: 11/4/2024 12:55:00 PM WOW!!! What a write you have here. Great picture... Have a blessed day writing away............ Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/4/2024 5:49:00 PM Dear Paula, thank you for your wonderful visit and encouraging comments. You are appreciated, my friend. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

Kim Rodrigues Date: 11/4/2024 5:48:00 AM She steals the sough from the surf and the sigh from my sinew… In the cup of my hands I hold the sun and drink its yolk… Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/4/2024 5:50:00 PM Dear Kim, it's great to see you! Thank you for your gracious visit. It's always wonderful when your shining presence brightens my poem's page. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

Tom Woody Date: 11/4/2024 5:31:00 AM It just amazes me where you find your inspiration. I read this twice (as you know I lack depth) and what I'm taking away is the gull was a muse or guide for your protagonist to rise from the dust and experience life in a new way, a rebirth of sorts, a focus on life's oneness with nature. I may be way off but it was a fun read Suze Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 11/4/2024 5:57:00 PM Dear Tom, soulful poet friend, you do not lack depth. Quite the opposite, you've captured the essence of this poem with true insight. The gull is the muse and the guide for the narrator's meditation where Nature inspires their mind, body, spirit to melt together in harmony with self, the natural world and the universe. Indeed, "a rebirth of sorts" and yes, "a focus on life's oneness with nature." You totally got it! Thank you for your wonderful thoughts, my friend. I'm glad you found this a fun read :) Warmest wishes.. ~Suze