Just let yourself be mindful
Open you heart, free your soul
Yearn no more and be JOY!
Copyright © JRFC August 2019
Author The Mush from the Hill
Friend of the Mariner
I’ll stand on cliffs edge
No matter the weather
Protector of all
Mariners together
My friendly glow
Some days, all nights
Warning of cliff’s edge
A beacon shining bright
Copyright © JRFC August 2019 Image from Pixabay
Sandman
He
Comes
To You
In the night
Sweet are the dreams He
Bestows upon your troubled brow
Each one designed for you to play with in your dreamscape
While your conscience is accosted in the outside world
He shares with you the delights of
Peace, serenity
And the Moon
Journeys
On
High
Copyright © JRFC August 2019 Image from the Artwork of Johanna Ost
My Special Guest tonight is…
Elizabeth Barrett Browing and A Man’s Requirements
I do consider myself a fair man when it comes to the opposite sex; most of the time, which is the very reason why I chose this poem. I don’t assume to know the meaning of it particularly because of the era it was written. Today though, I think any woman writing this may very well be sticking two fingers up to men. And good on them I say!
Its the last verse that gives it away. You can almost hear the sarcastic undertone as she’s writing. It could be the prelude to a ‘I want a divorce dear’; sweet.
Then again it maybe that Elizabeth was trying to tell her husband something as it is said that during the years of her marriage to Robert Browning, her literary reputation far surpassed that of her poet-husband. When visitors came to their home she was always the greater attraction.
Regardless of any meaning though I hope you enjoy.
A Man’s Requirements
Love me Sweet, with all thou art,
Feeling, thinking, seeing;
Love me in the lightest part,
Love me in full being.
Love me with thine open youth
In its frank surrender;
With the vowing of thy mouth,
With its silence tender.
Love me with thine azure eyes,
Made for earnest granting;
Taking colour from the skies,
Can Heaven’s truth be wanting?
Love me with their lids, that fall
Snow-like at first meeting;
Love me with thine heart, that all
Neighbours then see beating.
Love me with thine hand stretched out
Freely—open-minded:
Love me with thy loitering foot,—
Hearing one behind it.
Love me with thy voice, that turns
Sudden faint above me;
Love me with thy blush that burns
When I murmur Love me!
Love me with thy thinking soul,
Break it to love-sighing;
Love me with thy thoughts that roll
On through living—dying.
Love me when in thy gorgeous airs,
When the world has crowned thee;
Love me, kneeling at thy prayers,
With the angels round thee.
Love me pure, as musers do,
Up the woodlands shady:
Love me gaily, fast and true
As a winsome lady.
Through all hopes that keep us brave,
Farther off or nigher,
Love me for the house and grave,
And for something higher.
Thus, if thou wilt prove me, Dear,
Woman’s love no fable.
I will love thee—half a year—
As a man is able.
The Door Man
It was then I must have passed out.
I didn’t know how long I was out for but I woke suddenly feeling very bewildered, unsure of what had happened. Looking around the darkened room, I thought it was close to night. A squinting glance told me it was still daylight, as the sun fought to shine through grubby windows.
Slowly moving, I got off the very dusty floor, stood there a moment for my eyes to adjust to the light trying to work things out. Then self-preservation kicked in. My senses quickly sharpened as the realisation of what had happened came rushing back to me. I was no longer in the pristine room I had passed out in.
I ran for the door and was just about to grab the knob when I remembered how cold it was. I tentatively tapped it several times to see how it felt. It was back to room temperature and not freezer cold.
I turned the knob but the door stayed shut. Panic came over me as I frantically turned and pulled at it. I looked up and realised the latch was off. I flipped the catch and the door immediately opened almost knocking me to the floor as I pulled it.
I bolted from the room, down the corridor and hurdled the stairs two and three at a time until I got to the lobby only to be stopped by a door man standing there.
“Hello Sir, can I help you”, he asked me.
“Not really”, I replied.
“Well before you go I have a message for you”.
“A message?”
At this point I’m doing all I can not to freak out and just barge past this guy but again curiosity held fast. I just hoped I wouldn’t end up like the cat.
To be continued…
Find out how the story begins.
Copyright © JRFC May 2019 Image by Brigitte Werner from Pixabay
