Words From A Wisdom Keeper

 

For We Write Poems poetry prompt: Make Your Own Wordle
http://wewritepoems.wordpress.com/

We were to choose about twenty words from the lyrics of the Gordon Lightfoot song, Don Quixote, then write a poem from the words we had chosen. The song is rich with images and words. To listen to the original version click here:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/YclWBRtYpKU?rel=0&hd=1”

I looked at the lyrics for several days and just couldn’t make up my mind where to go with all of them, one of my solid gold favorites. However, I had an encounter with a hawk yesterday, while driving to my sister’s house. I was slowing down to stop for a traffic light that had turned yellow, when a flurry of wings moved diagonally across my windshield, no more than four or five feet from the front bumper of my vehicle. The hawk landed in the gravel, just off the road and became instantly still, completely consumed with searching for whatever had caught her eye in the median ditch between the four lanes of traffic. She remained there, as I watched from my side view mirror until the light turned green and I had to continue. I was so busy watching her that I forgot that my camera was inside my purse on the seat next to me. When I got home later, I decided I needed to write this poem about her. These are the words I chose to use.

one          survive          bold          brave          strong          gentle          hawk          riding          air          valley          woodland
searching          feed          children          wake          sleep          dare          wise          sacred          guardian          battered
life          wing          free          wild          key          locks          shout          hear          reach

Words From A Wisdom Keeper

Listen, little one, if you wish
to survive, to be bold, to be brave,
you must be strong. To be strong
you must also be gentle.

You must learn to live as the hawk,
who rides air currents high above
valley and woodland, searching
for that which will feed her children
when they wake from sleep
to find her gone.

Dare to be wise, learn her truth
as though it were sacred pledge
to which you alone are guardian.

Even when battered by whatever
life brings, keep wings free
to embrace that which is wild
within you.

Her message is all that matters. Key
which unlocks all things. She might
whisper, or shout, have no doubt
you will hear when she speaks,
leans in to tell you:

To always reach within yourself,
to find, and remember to be
who you really are.

Elizabeth Crawford  3/9/11