Resilience ~ Revised 8/20/07, Quatern Options

[Guest_Cathy_*]

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Thank you Maxim, Nina, Merlin and Lori for revision 1!

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Resilience ~ Revision 3

If I were but a willow tree
in graceful gavotte glide of leaf,
with slender bough of give and take,
a tow'ring trunk of strong belief;

my flesh-born roots would stay their ground.
If I were but a willow tree,
my verdant bands would brandish proud,
as one with nature; flying free.

When fierce skies rage, enrapt winds blow,
in winter whites or summer's reign...
if I were but a willow tree,
the twisting curls of faith sustain.

Though limbs might waver in the wind,
emotions sway to some degree;
my storm-blown spirit would not break,
if I were but a willow tree.

Cathy Bollhoefer
copyright Nov 2005





Resilience ~ Revision 2

If I were but a willow tree
in graceful gavotte glide of leaf,
with slender bough of give and take,
a tow'ring trunk of strong belief;

my deep-bound roots would stand their ground.
If I were but a willow tree,
my verdant bands would brandish proud,
as one with nature; soaring free.

When fierce skies rage, enrapt winds blow,
in winter white or sunlight reign;
if I were but a willow tree...
resilience and faith sustain.

Though limbs may waver in the wind,
might bend and sway to some degree;
my storm-blown spirit would not break,
if I were but a willow tree.

Cathy Bollhoefer
copyright Nov2005




Resilience ~ Quatern (1st Revision)

If I were but a willow tree
with graceful gavotte glide of leaf,
slender bough of give and take,
a tow'ring trunk of strong belief;

my deep-bound roots would stand their ground.
If I were but a willow tree,
my verdant bands would brandish proud,
as one with nature; soaring free.

Though fierce skies rage, enrapt winds blow,
through blizzard fall, or sunlight reign;
if I were but a willow tree,
there'd be no reason to complain.

My limbs would waver in the wind,
I'd bend and sway to some degree;
storm-battered branches would not break,
if I were but a willow tree.

Cathy Bollhoefer
copyright Nov2005



Resilience ~ Quatern (Original)

If I could be a willow tree
with graceful swaying flow of leaf,
slender bough of give and take,
and tow'ring trunk of strong belief;

with deep-bound roots I'd stand my ground.
If I could be a willow tree,
my ribbons green would wave so proud,
as one with nature; yet still free.

The storms could rage and winds might blow,
a blizzard fall, or sun sans rain;
if I were but a willow tree,
I'd have no reason to complain.

My limbs would waver in the wind,
I'd bend and sway, it might hurt me;
from broken vow I would not break,
if I were but a willow tree.

Cathy Bollhoefer
copyright Nov2005

[Mary Boren]

Having another go at it, huh Cathy? I think there are many benefits to that approach. Almost every time I workshop an old poem I end up writing something new within a few days. Oh, and there's the IBPC nom -- congrats on that.

I'll leave the critique to others, as I'm not into repetitive forms -- not to say that you haven't done a fine job with it. I enjoyed reading the thread. You had some people commenting back in November that I wish were here now. We know Fran's too busy for poetry these days but I'm wondering if anyone knows what became of Maxim, whose last appearance here was in April. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him or reading his work before, but I've just now become an instant fan.

Sorry to digress. Good luck with the poem.

Mary

[Guest_Cathy_*]

Having another go at it, huh Cathy? I think there are many benefits to that approach. Almost every time I workshop an old poem I end up writing something new within a few days. Oh, and there's the IBPC nom -- congrats on that.

Thanks Mary! LOL Yes, I've just got so much going on right now that I don't have the desire to write anything... and even if I did my muse seems to have turned to dust!

I'll leave the critique to others, as I'm not into repetitive forms -- not to say that you haven't done a fine job with it. I enjoyed reading the thread. You had some people commenting back in November that I wish were here now. We know Fran's too busy for poetry these days but I'm wondering if anyone knows what became of Maxim, whose last appearance here was in April. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him or reading his work before, but I've just now become an instant fan.

I miss all of them! I've always loved Maxim's work and when he came back in April I was delighted. I don't know what's happened to him.

Sorry to digress. Good luck with the poem.

Thank you Mary!

Hugs~
Cathy

Mary