FRIENDLY GHOSTS Options

[Psyche]

Friendly Ghosts

Whose is that face in the market?
I stroll through crowds,
awareness unexceptional today,
eyeing some watermelons.
Perhaps I’ll take that yellow pumpkin
and a ½ kilo of kiwis?

It’s a familiar face. Seen it around.
Profile’s turned away now.
I’ll take the kiwis, Rosa,
not the pumpkin today,
& I think four beets will do.
Whose is that face in the market?

Blue blue eyes, hairline slightly
receding, trim beard,
whimsical air of comedy.
A good likeness, yes.
Right! 5 pesos it is & a good day
to you, Rosa, I’ll hurry back now.
Must check in at 9 a.m., & whose
was that face in the market?

Standing your ground,
in appearance weightless,
a sporadic silhouette
amidst resolute shoppers.
I get visits in improbable spots:
maybe queues at the ticket office.
-you loved theatre!-
The back of a head, outlined in dimness.
One gets used to it.

Friendly ghosts come & go:
my eyes devour them,
but my heart is a crystal goblet
brimming over
with fine reminiscences.

I allow ghosts to visit,
then send them on their way.

By Psyche

Copyright: Sylvia Maclagan, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2005.

[Cyn]

The back of a head, outlined in dimness.
One gets used to it.

Friendly ghosts come & go:
my eyes devour them,
but my heart is a crystal goblet
brimming over
with fine reminiscences.

I allow ghosts to visit,
then send them on their way.


Chills. Loved the idea to lead up to this and love how this last part flows.

[Guest_Jox_*]

Hi Sylvia,

This is an excellent juxtaposition of the mundane and the supernatural - or, more like, the conscious and the subconscious.

This is almost played like a film - the pre-occupied shopper so surprised that s/he cannot simply go up to the person and say "hi" - and, of course, the person is not there anyway.

It shows how deeply memories sustain and drag us at, their behest, away from our daily lives.

I don't know if this was an abstract narrator or a personal poem - but, as i know a little of your past, I think the latter. If that is correct, it is anothr lovely tribute. If not, it is still a lovely poem.

Well done - much enjoyed.

J.

[Guest_Nina_*]

Hi Sylvia

This is a lovely warm poem, of the ghosts that come to you unexpectedly in familiar places.  It is strange how often we can see what looks like a familiar face in the crowd or someone who looks very much like someone we have lost.

The calm acceptance of the appearance of the faces is important  as is the profile turning away.

It is an acceptance of the loss of a loved one and the feeling that though gone, they are still there with you every day as you go about your daily routine.

I allow ghosts to visit,
then send them on their way.

you welcome their return but don't try to hold on to what can never be.

Thanks for the read

Nina

[Psyche]

Hi Cyn !  :sun:

Thanks so much for your comments on my poem. I'm glad it meant something to you (even chilled you...sorry about that..).

It's from personal experience and just out of the oven, so to speak, so anybody who wishes to tweak it is very welcome indeed to do so...  :)

Hugs to you, Cyn !
Sylvia    :turtle:

[Psyche]

Hi Nina !  :sun:

I'm glad you think it's a warm poem, Nina. I felt it that way myself, but one never knows until it's "out there"...  :blush:

Yes indeed, Nina, I have often experienced the sight of a known face in a crowd, of a lost loved one. A gesture, the style of walking, even a voice, and I turn around to look properly and I immediately realise it's just one's memories or eyes playing tricks on one. But often there's a surreal feeling about it, difficult to explain.

As I already said to Cyn, this poem is just out of the oven and open to all the tweaks anybody wishes to make. I wrote it because the person I was thinking of would have had a birthday on January 13th., and these dates influence one whether one wants it or not. It's fortunate to be able to pour some grief into poetry, and even better if the poem reaches out to others in a good way...

Thanks Nina, for reading & commenting,
Hugs,
Sylvia  :turtle:

[Psyche]

Hi Jox !  :sun:

Delighted that you've commented on my poem. I especially appreciate what you say about the "juxtaposition of the mundane and the supernatural". Or conscious & subconscious, depends how one wants to view it.

"Ghost" is the film that it would most likely be related to, although I wasn't thinking of that movie when I wrote it, about three days ago. It was with Demi Moore and her character really becomes obssessed with the idea that her lover, shot in a street hold-up, is still around and visiting her. In my country it's become a cult movie, shown after midnight in some cinemas.

Yes, my poem is about personal experience, Jox, but the mind works strangely, because January 13th. was the birthday of a lost loved one, but nonetheless in this poem I was thinking specifically of my son Patrick, who died, but did not have any birthday or anniversary right now. One never knows what the subconscious is going to do, does one?

About the mind: once I was just window-shopping, and I saw some pajamas on sale, really nice ones, and I almost went into the shop to purchase them, when I realised that the person whom I had in mind had died the week before...I had been intending to get him new pajamas, and the idea apparently stuck fast in my mind, in spite of all I'd been through with the funeral, etc. It was a shock to discover myself doing that sort of thing...

Well, I'll not go on & ON, just thanks again for stopping by, Jox.
Cheers,
Sylvia  :cheer:

[Guest_poeticpiers_*]

Made me think of the process of grieving,searching for a lost loved one amongst the crowds of the living and that heart stopping moment when you see someone whom you think for one small instant is in actuality the one you seek. Then reality presses home the message taht it cant be so and you suffer again your loss

[Siren]

Hello Sylvia,

I will come back with more detailed comments on this poem. I just had to drop in and say I've read it and loved it.

hugs
Dani

PS: Hope you are well

[Cleo_Serapis]

Hi Sylvia.

A fine ghost of a poem this is!

I enjoyed the changes from stanza to stanza and the progression of time.

I've got just a couple of suggestions below.

Cheers!  :sings:
~Cleo  :butterfly:


It’s a familiar face. Seen it {around} [before].
Profile’s turned away now.
I’ll take the kiwis, Rosa,
not the pumpkin today,
& I think four beets will do.
Whose is that face in the market?

Blue blue eyes, hairline slightly
receding, trim beard,
whimsical air of comedy.
A good likeness, yes.
Right! 5 pesos it is & a good day
to you, Rosa, I’ll hurry back now.
Must check in at 9 a.m., & whose (suggest spelling out and instead of using &)was that face in the market?


Friendly ghosts come & go:
my eyes devour them,
but my heart is a crystal goblet
brimming over
with fine reminiscences.  Lovely metaphor Sylvia.

I allow ghosts to visit,
then send them on their way.
Not certain you really need this last couplet? I like the image of fine reminiscences as the ending IMHO.

[Psyche]

Hi Dani !

Thanks so much for visiting !  :sun:  I too often just drop by but don't have time for comments, so please don't worry !!

Love to have you stop by,
Hugs,
Sylvia  :turtle:

[Psyche]

Hi Cleo !!    

I'm delighted you like the progression of time in my poem.

Yes, you're right, I also have doubts about the last two lines, but somehow I don't want to let go of them. Perhaps I can stick them inside the poem somewhere.... give me a moment to think about it !

Isn't it weird how we poets don't want to let go of some lines, even tho' we doubt their efficacy?  :blush:

For the moment, I'm having fun using the symbol for "and" instead of spelling it out, so I'll leave it as it is. But you're absolutely justified in protesting !!  :blush:

Talking of symbols, try as I might, I couldn't manage the new way of classifying our poems... as you'll see, I've made a hash of it...  :speechless:  :upside:

Anyway, thanks so much for viewing my poem,
hugs,
Sylvia  :turtle: