Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Both Ways Now




image from pinterest.com

 Both Ways Now


I Lost My Way


I lost my way. I forgot to call on your name. The raw 

heart beat against the world, and the tears were for

my lost victory. But you are here. You have always

been here. The world is all forgetting, and the heart

is a rage of directions, but your name unifies the

heart, and the world is lifted into its place. Blessed

is the one who waits in the traveller’s heart for his

turning.--Leonard Cohen


I Found My Way


The raw heart

and the tears

have always been here.
I was just

blind to them


Now,

even though the world

can be all forgetting,

you are here

again.

You have unified

the chaos

within my heart.


Wisely,

I was the one

who waited.

All I really

had to do

was call your name,

and you appeared,

arms wide open,

willing to help me

find my way.


We became

a duo again,

us against the world.

Blessed with Love,

no longer a lost victory.

Following your sweet directions

I am lifted into my place

in this conundrum.


I no longer

have to rage and curse.

My angry heart

has turned from stone

to apple sauce,

for the traveller

has returned,

saying:

Home is where

the heart is.


Glenn Buttkus 


Posted over at d'Verse Poet's Pub

10 comments:

The Bytesized Studio said...

I really, really enjoyed this. It tugged at me a lot.

sarah said...

Wisely,

I was the one

who waited.

All I really

had to do

was call your name,

and you appeared,

arms wide open,

willing to help me

find my way.


I love this stanza, Glenn. It's so simple, so moving, so powerful. It is the heart of the poem for me. I love it when you do funny, and I love it when you do moving.

Laura Bloomsbury said...

surely one of your best poems Glenn (but having chosen Cohen as your springboard, I am immediately swayed) - this is a poem of being found through love and it reeks of the heart.
"My angry heart

has turned from stone

to apple sauce,"

such an appealing line!

Barbara_y said...

“applesauce” is brilliant, if not conventionally romantic

JadeLi said...

You have tears floating my eyeballs. A gentle soul with open arms can mean all. One who looks with kind eyes, free of judgment, can transform stone to applesauce. <3

robkistner said...

Aw shucks, damn my man, such tenderness for a fellow curmudgeon! Beautiful brother! I’m verklempt Glenn

ben Alexander said...

apple sauce, eh, Glenn? You should be careful that it doesn't get eaten!

Much love,
David

Linda Lee Lyberg said...

Such a beautiful emotional piece Glenn.

brudberg said...

My angry heart has turned from stone to apple sauce.... what a brilliant way to express the coming home to a place it love.

Kerfe said...

the essence