To the Lovely Green Beetles Who Carried My Notes into the Afternoon
Such beauty should not be bound,
thus I tied loose knots,
knowing you would slip free
and shed my words
as they were meant,
across browned lawns,
just over the cedar fence
or at the curb’s edge,
never to be assembled,
and better for it.
* * *
This appeared in riverSedge Volume 29, Issue 1, released in October 2016. I first encountered riverSedge in 1983, and vowed that one day my poetry would be published in this journal. It took a while…
O at the Edges 
Well – you got there 🙂
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It’s all about the journey!
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Persistence (and excellence) paid off.
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I am nothing if not persistent! And thank you!
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Love the humility and grace in this, Bob. And, good on riverSedge for excellent taste (eventually).
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Thank you, Cate. What riverSedge rejected lo those many years ago deserved to be burnt, ashes scattered in the wind. 🙂
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As our thoughts are scattered among the people and places that inspired them.
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Yep. Bits and pieces here and there.
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Exquisite! (I should cast a lot of my own poetry to the beetles. 😉 )
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I’ve often felt that the beetles appreciate my poetry much more than most editors! 🙂
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To steal a word from your beetle, “lovely!”
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Thank you!
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Congratulations! You are an incredible writer of beautiful poetry!
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You are very generous, Erica. Thank you.
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Stunning, Robert. Clearly many fine lessons learnt on the journey. Love this.
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Thanks, Ryan!
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Would you mind if I reblog?
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I would be honored, Ryan. Thank you.
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I love the idea of words being shed and never being assembled, and being better for it.
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Some of my poems might improve drastically under these circumstances. 🙂
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Reblogged this on days of stone and commented:
I came across this wonderful poem on Robert’s site last night and haven’t been able to stop it playing over and over in my head. A beautiful poem from an incredibly talented writer. Robert’s blog is a treasure trove. Please leave any comments for him directly. Enjoy!
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Thanks for reblogging, Ryan. Much appreciated.
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My pleasure, Robert. Good writing should be shared. I must’ve read it twenty times already. So fine 🙂
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beautiful, robert. thanks for sending me over this way, ryan –
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Thank you, Beth!
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Poems of yours always find me at the right time, RO — I’ve just had a critique session for my novel that’s going to make a grueling amount of work for me, but I know the end result will be so much stronger. I don’t know if any beetles can make use of my earlier drafts, but the birds might!
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I know that feeling, SJ! Assembling a full-lengthpoetry book manuscript has been difficult for me, even though there’s very little written revision required. Having to rewrite would be daunting.
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very beautifully and impressively done ❤
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Thanks very much. I don’t know why, but your comment was placed in my spam folder. Thought you should know.
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Most likely as its been so long…unrecognized…happened a long time ago….glad you dug me out😊🙏🏻☮🕉
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I’m glad, too. That folder is nowhere to be!
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