My poem about longing (in Avocet, a journal of nature poetry) with more for your journal

Waiting

This longing palpable

     no matter where or with whom.

All these years

     something missing.

Sometimes heard

     in the pining

of the solitary bird

     at the rim of the bluff,

unseen but sensed

     in wind moving

like a hidden thing

     brushing the sashes of the trees.

Calmed by the patience

     of surrounding hills and mountains,

did others feel it?

     Were they waiting too,

like the little songbird I sought

     and followed

that flew just out of view

     but at a pause

resting, came

     and sat in the stillness near the tree

at the edge of the lake

     in the shadow of the mountain

watching the water with me.

1. Choose one of these words, or another, and write for five minutes: LONELINESS, LONGING, CALM, PATIENCE, RESTING, WAITING, PINING, FEAR, JUBILATION, IRRITATION, SERENITY.

2. Describe a scene in nature or in a town, a place that captures a feeling, a space that is itself a metaphor for a feeling you want to convey. Use as many of your senses as you can.

3. Tell of an intense time when you chose or were forced to rest with an emotion, whether grief, anger, anticipation, hope, isolation, joy, or what have you. After a while, what did you do with the feeling? Did it escalate or dissipate as you sat with it? What was the benefit or fallout of simply resting with the emotion?

4. Respond for five minutes to one or more of the images in this post. "What's the story?"

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope it's helpful. If you know someone who might benefit from it, please share the link: www.dmsolis.blogspot.com. Again, thanks, peace and all good,

Diane