The feelings of the mind are hidden behind the clouds
Unexpected changes abound in the storm
The steps have been taken on a path without turning
Life's lessons have taught me the way to walk
Crazy thoughts have forgotten the lessons learned
Chasing dreams that didn't come true
The desires of the youth have gone astray
after “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” (also sometimes called “Daffodils”) by William Wordsworth
I wandered weightless as a feather,
a muted plume from mourning dove.
A tuft afloat in breezy weather
connected now to skies above;
as long as winds will carry me
from over fields and out to sea.
My glad esprit more free than birds,
detached from mortal needs I fly,
where spirits long to share their words
among the songs in clouds, I sigh...
for Earth was never this composed,
this high I travel unopposed.
Oh, cumulus! A meadow white,
I feel at home atop its waves
illuminant, in purest light.
Mid savored heights my mem’ry saves
inertia of the clover green
and shiver of the water’s sheen.
Such riches now I do enjoy
in solitude away from fray.
I'm free from living once so coy;
in spirits’ realm I long to stay,
for then, myself I will fulfill
with gild as gold as daffodil.
I wandered and I wondered,
About all the pieces of my life
That came together in a puzzle,
Causing so much strife
The struggle, loss, pain and betrayal at hand
Feeling at times, sinking in deep quicksand
Those many times my heart broken like a mirror,
I could see the many flaws that remain in me
I wandered and I wondered,
About all my days of joy
A playful life of inspiration
Like a child with a toy
Laughter freeing the spirit, as if nothing is wrong
Dancing with a smile, to every song
The many times my heart healed, ready to fly
Releasing all the burdens of asking some things why?
I wandered and I wondered,
About my destiny
So many paths I’ve taken
And still there’s so much to see
Impressions and visions, imagination on fire
Burning and yearning with inner desire
Then, the many times, my heart wanted you
Sending messages in the wind, in a dream, we flew
To pristine places, hand in hand
Where no-one has ever been, but you understand
Heidi Sands
3/29/23
"I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud"
~by William Wordsworth~
I wandered lonely as a Duckling
Swimming in a big and lovely pond,
Trying to fit in and make a bond,
A group of golden fluffy ducklings.
Beside the lake, beneath the blue sky,
Playing together, not being shy.
Graceful as the wildflowers that grow
Growing in beauty, pure as the snow,
Sweet as honeydew or summer rain.
Though grace and beauty, there's also pain
Beautiful roses that still have thorns
Or gentle lambs, now sheep with sharp horns
Staying together, not leaving their group
They all waddled in the most perfect line
Beside the crystal pond in the sunshine:
In unison, with their heads held up high,
They passed by one by one, and waved goodbye:
I often think, Am I really that strange?
Or was it them that decided to change?
Their eyes size me up, their judgment is plain
Causing my heart to recoil in pain
I cherish memories from long ago
The beautiful group, my heart longed to know
I wandered lonely as a twig
that fell into an endless stream.
I’d turn and sometimes make a zig
or bob along in a bad dream.
No longer on a branch was I
to gaze steadfastly at blue sky.
Instead this stream was moving me
so rapidly – I knew not where.
Oh, how I missed my tall oak tree
and breath of autumn in the air
when wind would blow my leaf so small
which had turned scarlet in the fall.
One day that tiny leaf was gone.
Not long thereafter, I was too.
Gone was the field I’d smiled upon.
A course unknown I would pursue.
How strange! Although I once knew rain,
this too much water was my bane.
No home had I, nor pretty views
like once I had when I belonged
to that great oak. I did not choose
this fate so cruel. I felt so wronged
till wood debris stopped water’s flow.
Now friends are twigs I’ve come to know!
Sept. 21, 2022
NA in the "I Wandered Lonely As...." Challenge" Contest, judged 10/22/22
For Writing Challenge - X'd Poems Second Chance Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Constance La France
I wandered, lonely as a beach
that stretches miles along the shore,
with its horizon, far from reach-
to hug the sky, forevermore.
From unseen starts, waves crash, retreat,
bathe pristine sand- no prints of feet.
So vast, the ocean, with huge waves
that rise and churn beneath the wind
as white caps form with froth that plays
upon the beach to then rescind
back out to sea, where currents blend;
return again- once more- extend.
The lonely beach divides that space
tween stable land and rolling sea-
two worlds that coexist, embrace;
all life by nature, guarantee.
The land, with seasons, changes scene;
the sea turns wild- or rests, serene.
But still, the lonely beach remains;
as constant as can be, it lies-
except with ebbs and flows, it gains
a changing breadth with lows and highs.
It guards both worlds- and all alone-
will face those forces still unknown.
9-21-22
Contest: I Wandered Lonely as a…Challenge
Sponsor: Natasha Scragg
11-4-22
Contest: 2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 19
Sponsor: Mark Toney
"I wandered lonely as cloud." Daffodil by William Wordsworth
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I Wandered Lonely as a Teardrop
I wandered lonely as a teardrop
In a sea of sand,
A tempest in one glistening drop,
Ruthless riptides of demands
Rush through a narrow neck of outlet
Turned upside down in midnight vignettes.
Cold specks of numb and ancient stone
Deaf to remorse of a single sigh
Tumble past my burn scar so alone
That weeps with solitude's clouded eye
No time to stop for struggling strangers
To get involved - a diffident danger.
A writhing sea of rushing crowds
Parts around my stifled sob
Roaring indifference shouted out loud
Guarded pain in my teardrop throbs
The shape of quivering unheard laments
Empathy drown and mercy absent.
My colorless grief weeps without end
In oceans like a shipwrecked nomad
Blocked from the warm fount of a friend
Heartbroken by a lost comrade
One teardrop cries to understand
The maddened surge in a sea of sand.
I wandered lonely as my life
Conspired with my coming death
Wrapped in the cone of joy and strife
I cherished every passing breath.
Touched the hem of nature’s beauty
Did what I could because I can.
Marched to cadence, did my duty
Life altering my every plan.
Shed the tears of joys and sorrows
Watched as life’s moments passed away
Lived through all today’s tomorrows
Yet somehow let them slip away.
Though it conspires with my death
My life will cherish every breath.
John G. Lawless
©9/21/2022
I wandered lonely as a rose by Autumn's gate
as I lay there in still repose, petals strewn
I fell apart like dessert moon;
The scent that once perfumed my reign
were mellowed by September's rain
I drifted distant in the woods.
All my husks fell to the soil
each petal dried right where it stood
No gardener's hand of hue embroiled
that filament that quivered slow
like dying embers of nights glow
Shambled, windblown as the wind
beneath the last of summer's ray
regretfully I did rescind
As summer lost her fired splay
I wandered,
Lost and alone like a rose,
until the end of summer froze.
"I wandered lonely as a cloud"
- William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a star
Out there in the evening sky,
Seems so close, yet was so far
To another who was like I;
How can it be there was no trace
Given the vastness of outer space?
After looking high and low
And saddened by night's end,
I caught a glimpse, a silver glow
A sign did the heavens send;
And me, thinking there was no hope
And me, without a telescope.
No closer could I be to you
In a universe so outstretched,
In the depth of midnight blue
The idea of us was too far-fetched;
Still I wander about this place so vast
A little less lonely, unlike in the past.
Just knowing you are out there
Gives a poet some peace of mind,
To stop looking for one so rare
That something too hard to find;
Twinkling in a galaxy of black,
We just say hello, forth and back.
I lived lonely, like an orphan,
their single, only child.
Envied others with siblings, often.
They must make life worthwhile!
I found my greatest joy in dreams
of what I wished to be,
a doctor, teacher or a queen,
imagination wild and free.
Like a bird within my mind
I’d see lands far away
and in encyclopedias find
where I’d go one day.
My bedroom was a magic place
in seconds to transform,
a surgical suite or classroom space,
projecting my future upon.
I could have played at being mean
taking human lives,
releasing all the angry fiends
in which one's envy lies.
Thank goodness for a mind that went
beyond four walls of thought.
Where strong imaginations sent
good impressions to be sought.
9/20/2022
" I wandered lonely as a cloud "
~William Wordsworth ~
I wandered lonely as a word
In quest of beauty not yet told;
Once found, I’m pining to be heard
And stir your slumb’ring core. Behold!
Poetic words don’t cease to sway
Keen hearts and minds, in sharp array.
Whether depicted or conveyed,
Wise ways with words keep us in awe:
They move, evoke, impart and stay,
Leaving the readers craving more.
Figures of speech - incessant fun,
Cracking my funny bone, no pun.
We struggle oft to stay afloat
Searching for answers, right from wrong -
Through words’ might in a message mode -
We feel like one, where all belong.
Don’t underestimate a word
The feather’s fall outweighs the sword.
When on my couch I lie to read -
Be it downcast or uplift moods -
The words of wonder take a lead
In pensive plight of solitude.
And lost I am as words dance by,
No longer lonely wander I.
September 20, 2022
"I wandered lonely as a cloud"
William Wordsworth.
I wandered lonely as a wave.
slowly, upon the ocean's tide.
O'er depths of a watery grave
alone, in current's wake I ride.
Always moving, I cannot stop
I rise and fall then curl and drop.
I've ebbed and flowed on foreign shores.
Splashed on boats with their sails unfurled.
From tropic isles to the Azores,
welcomed surfers around the world
and tried my best to settle down
in the port city of Cape Town.
My wandering days will not end.
I'm diluted from time to time,
still a wave but with a new blend
depending on the ocean's clime.
I like lapping on a sandy beach,
keeping just out of human reach.
Dolphins swim within my deep swells,
but I don't belong to their pod
and I cannot befriend seashells,
halibut, squid, lobster or cod.
I'm destined to wander and roam.
It's quite lonely without a home.
September 20, 2022
I Wandered Lonely As... Challenge Contest
Sponsored by Natasha L Scragg
"I wandered lonely as a cloud - William Wordsworth"
I wandered lonely as a soul
riven too soon from earthly form.
Time to have so cruelly stole
by act of duty to perform.
One more you made no call for
a victim of another's war.
A soldier, sailor, or marine;
what we have for our country done
no one of our age should have seen.
Matters naught if we lost or won;
I'll wander lonely as a soul;
Not here, not anywhere, not whole.
I did not ask to wander so;
in guilt for things that I have done
just a regular GI Joe
one time a mother's loving son.
Oh now! With blood spilt by my hands
soaking the soil of foreign lands.
Some who fought now live life afraid;
we are forever in their debt.
So, remember what price they paid
happen you see a tired old vet
Wandering lonely as a soul;
time to have; so cruelly stole.
I wandered lonely as the crowd
Of harlots, beggars, thieves and shills,
slow followed helpless as it plowed
Through the valleys, over the hills.
Although the leaders of this herd
Spoke loudly no one heard a word.
Continuous, amoeba like
It searched to find its changing way
A predator, slow poised to strike.
Its followers its chosen prey.
And yet the mindless throngs embrace
This demon with a hidden face.
The strange amoebic being purred
As its harsh needs it plainly shared
Its hum now in violence roared
Against all those who never cared.
A fire lit now boldly blazed
I knew somehow the mob was crazed.
And then they came with boots and clubs
Burned the stores and blamed the owners.
They weren’t the police but hooded thugs
Messengers of unknown donors.
I wandered lonely thru this crowd
And wondered, WHY, is this allowed.
John G. Lawless
©9/20/2022
Related Poems