Bends just so

It's day three of the five day June #OpenWrite at  Ethical ELA . Today's prompt is a 'memory poem,' and encouraged us to think of how certain sensory experiences trigger memories. There is a certain part of my neighborhood walking path that never ceases to take me back many, many years in time, to my college days.

Bends just so

The wooded path bends just so,

softly descending, curving,

meandering through the trees, and

I am back in Durham, New Hampshire,

the wilderness shortcut in the heart of campus,

leading me onward,

daring me to hope and explore.

The natural medley of seed,

blossom, growth, and wither,

branches stretching and interlacing above,

diffused light and precious breeze,

I am both set and set in motion.

The wooded path bends just so,

beckoning,

reminding,

inviting me towards,

whispering,

there’s more ahead,

there’s more to seek,

there’s more.

Here are the comments I received on the Ethical ELA website:

Glenda Funk

There is a special calling in a “wooden path [that] bends just so.” I have an image of that path through your words. My favorite line is “I am both set and set in motion” and the paradox of this line. Lovely poem. Thank you.
—Glenda

Tammi Belko

I love the way you lead the reader down your path with “the wooded path bends just so”. I could identify with your moment because it reminds me of the wooded college campus I attended years ago. I also love that this poem is more than just a walk in the woods it is a journey towards knowledge.

Sarah J. Donovan, PhD

Maureen,
I noticed the slant, italics in the title that work so nicely with the “bends.” These lines, I found so magical: “The natural medley of seed/blossom, growth, and wither,/branches stretching and interlacing above” — wow, the movement and even more so the acceptance of movement to be alive and to wither, to stretch and to interlace. Gosh, I wish we could do more mental interlacing in our world (of course the physical interlacing, too, but not yet).

Peace,
Sarah

Margaret G Simon

I like the repeated word at the end, and how it leads us forward on the path with you.

Katrina Morrison

Your title draws us in, and then the path takes over leading us through the poem. I never heard of college woods before. You made me want to be there.

Kevin H

That imagery of the world “bending just so” is wonderfully evocative
Kevin