61 thoughts on “Me-mories”

1. This is incredibly stunning, Laura! The idea of memories as brief blooms is such a majestic one. Especially love; “petalled confetti mounding beneath the cherry tree.” 💝💝 Thank you for the lovely prompt 🙂

   1. and we too are that brief unless…thank you for your kind words and for joining in with the prompt Sanaa

      1. You are most welcome! x

2. Stunning indeed, Laura. Is the garden in the opening stanza Eden? I have an image in my head of Eve wide-eyed and arms open to the wind – at the same time it could be anyone having their first religious experience. I love the lines:
   ‘I recall how faith fell
   easily as rain, petalled confetti
   mounding beneath the cherry tree’
   and
   ‘I treasured nature as my icons
   eggs that clutched, butterfly grace
   feathers, newts, each and every bud’.

   1. I guess Eden and also the child’s view of a wonderful world! Tried to convey that in those lines you picked out too – many thanks Kim

3. so delightful, I chose the same line! Yours is a sacred mix of nature and prayer …

   1. yes glad you can hear that Kate – p.s. this is proving to be a popular quote so far!

      1. the second one was enticing but this one grabbed me

4. Wonderful as a cohesive whole, the stanzas resonating for me are 1 and 6.

   1. am glad you read it as a whole Lisa though the stanzas stand separate – it is 6 which counters #1 open arms/expectant hand etc – though until you chose these had not noticed the association!!

      1. 🙂

5. I love the contrast between your childhood memories of faith and then the rude awakening the the 6th stanza, before a return to a kind of faith in your closing lines. We can do worse than worship nature.

   1. Appreciate the well-observed summation Ingrid – nature worship is just the start though

6. I do love the wonder that grows from a garden, the delight of nature including even the newt… the title is just brilliant

   1. I adored newts as a child and spent ages catching them just to look at and put back – the title came to Me in a flash and indicates the stumbling block to enlightenment!!

7. Faith falling as petalled confetti, and me-memories likened to blooms ….lovely descriptive phrases. A beautiful poem.

   1. Thank you Bev

8. There’s an air of Manley Hopkins to this, a fervour almost of the convert, someone who chooses as an adult what they will believe in rather than simply stumbling in parents’ steps as children do. Would that be wide of the mark? It’s rather the way I feel when there’s perfection in a flower or a view.

   1. I like the MH reference and yes the summation of the poem – still trying to get beyond the flower

      1. Aren’t we all?

9. Lovely piece Laura, – for me, stanza 5 is the hinge for all this – the realisation that nature/beauty/the divine won’t be coaxed & remains elusive – even after all these years.

   1. Yes it’s the stanza of the adult’s first realisation Peter that the creator is not as easily grasped as creation

10. I’m in love with the sentiment in that 5th stanza. Perfection: “eggs that clutched, butterfly grace
    feathers, newts, each and every bud.”

    1. Thank you – a summation of my childish loves and so am fond of that one too

       1. I have to admit that I’m still a kid at heart. ❤️

11. You had me at “I memorized Magnificats and eulogies, words and majesty that moved my mouth to tears.” Hey, if this be Eden, was that not an apple tree, not a cherry?

    1. Eden was full of trees – only one was forbidden, thanks for your appreciation Glenn

12. Let me add some laudatory confetti. This is a perfect response to your outstanding prompt. Awesome work indeed. Cool title, too!

    1. Your words are like manna Ron – many thanks

13. There is a maturing arc in this piece, as I perceive it Laura. A moving from an innocence yo an understanding — but never despair. Lovely powerful writing.

    1. concisely seen Rob in that ‘maturing arc’ – a place of understanding yes that so much more needs happen

14. I love the title, quote selected (same as mine), and moving verses on finding faith (as rain, pettaled confetti, reflection of your spiritual journey. The ending speaks to me about: brief blooms, mercurial as memories of me. Thank you for hosting.

    1. yes just another brief bloom unless… was a pleasure to host and see what poems evolved even from the same choices such as ours 😉

15. The title and your first line are amazing and open the door through the eyes of a child. The sixth stanza is awesome, Laura, and thank you for hosting.

    1. thank you Eugenia – that 6th one is the stumbling block after all those lovely childish beliefs

       1. My pleasure, Laura.

16. So beautifully mesmerizing in the art of memory; quite stirring imagery too.

    “Isn’t that where it all began? In a garden..”

    Why this line is so evocative to me, I cannot explain. I feel as if I know what you’re describing, the birth of being and self, and the imagery of a garden as an origin. It’s quite an opener and it connected with me deeply. Another incredible poem! ❤ ❤ ❤

    1. great feedback Lucy and your comprehension is spot on – thank you for such lovely appreciation

17. I have to echo that I love the opening with the assurance that it does begin in a garden with wonderment and then I believe we do see things throughout our lives that fills us with doubt. The twisting and turning throughout the poem, with the outstretched hand, trying to always grab what is out of reach is so relatable. The word “mercurial” nails the feeling in the last stanza!

    1. and the childish believing that faith just drops into our hands! I like mercurial for its fleetness and not forgetting the message – thank you Tricia

18. I too pictured Eve…lost and searching…and finding the garden, still waiting, blooming, alive. (K)

    1. an Eve that left the garden long ago knowing there is so much more to seek 😉

       1. In her wisdom…

19. I agree with others that your opening line is enticing.
    Doesn’t all of life being in the wondering eyes of a child’s garden?
    Thank you for hosting.
    Ali

    1. yes we are born with wonderment and must continue to wonder and wander but neither come as easily in the end – thanks for joining in Ali

20. Yes, the beauty of life begins with the fragile flowers that are here for just a moment. Your poem is beautifully done!

    1. many thanks Dwight

21. ‘I recall how faith fell
    easily as rain, petalled confetti
    mounding beneath the cherry tree’

    I love this verse most of all. So wistful, so beautiful. Wonderful writing!

    1. So glad I just checked ‘pending’ folder and found your very nice comment!

22. Absolutely stunning, Laura….in your word choice, the flow, the imagery….the reflection.
    I especially loved this stanza
    “I recall how faith fell
    easily as rain, petalled confetti
    mounding beneath the cherry tree”

    1. indeed it did Lilian – the openness of the child. Thank you for your appreciation

23. “brief blooms, mercurial as memories of me”

    As is anything. We we seek a permanent condition when all about us is change.

    1. and beneath the change is the changelessness that some of us are seeking 😉

24. From wonderment to reality- simply beautiful Laura.

    1. Many thanks Linda

25. I mind most this devilish disabusing
    how hankering never does coax heaven
    into the expectant, outstretched hand

    Yes

26. The connection between line and your poem is pure magic …..

    1. thank you

27. stanzas 2 and 4 speak to my heart

    1. that feeling – just what I’d hoped to share ❤

28. This was a popular line I love the opening lines, how faith fell easily as rain….the wonder of childhood.
    Thanks for the inspiration!

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