Like a flower, just opened,
hiding secrets
in my heart,
I have room to bloom,
to stretch and expand
into sunshine,
one petal at a time.
No rush, no hurry,
nothing to prove.
I am each petal,
each leaf,
the stem,
and the roots,
holding deep and sure.
I am time itself,
measured in thoughts
and raindrops.
Copyright 2017 Brenda Davis Harsham
Notes: Happy Poetry Friday! Thanks to Mary Lee at A Year of Reading for hosting!
Most wonderful poetry and a most lovely bloom
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Thank you!
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Really nice poem and love the picture .. It’s been one of those weeks another family funeral to attend and this time my partners mother so reading this really helps to bring sunshine into the world … Also as flowers paid such an important part on Thursday at the funeral and Friday when my partner and her brother both florists prepared a wedding arrangement for a lady of 66 marrying a man of 78 it’s the two sides of the coin as the reverent read a passage from the bible ‘ As in Life We Re in Death and Jesus is the resurrection and the life .. In all of us .. Never understood until that day … Be well Barbara … ⭐️😊👍
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Thanks, Ian. Sorry to hear about your partner’s mother. Never easy to lose a mother, no matter what your age. Yes, the two are always with us, death and life. Once you have gotten close to death, you can never really forget. But it leads you to cherish every day. To realize that each day, each peony, each birdsong is a miracle of chance. At least, that is how I’ve come to see it. Best, Brenda
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Reblogged this on Ace Friends & Bloggers News.
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Nice poem. Loved it
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Thank you!
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Brenda – that’s beautiful and how I see you 🙂
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Thank you!
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Beautiful! Loved it😊
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Thank you!
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Love the line..one petal at a time. Thanks for a very sweet and lovely poem, Brenda!
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Thanks for reading!
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What a beautiful image. A perfect partner to your lovely poem. I especially like the idea of measure time “in thoughts
and raindrops.” Marvelous!
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Thanks, Carmela. Glad you like it.
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That. Is. Gorgeous. The poem, and the photograph. So calming and inspiring at the same time. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for reading, Robyn.
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What a lovely way to mark time with thoughts and raindrops! Room to bloom, indeed. Beautiful Brenda… also: beautiful, Brenda! xo
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Thanks, Irene. Maybe we will meet one day, in a room full of swirling words and images.
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Wow…that’s a beautiful poem…I gotta learn a lot from you😊
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Thank you. My favorite poetry makes me want to write myself. Mary Oliver. Billy Collins. Nye. Rossetti. Kennedy.
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Your gorgeous words are exactly what I needed to read this morning. Thank you for reminding me there is “no rush, no hurry.” That peony is breathtaking! Mine are in a spot with a little too much shade, so they are taking their time to bloom.
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I like the peony for this, not only because it takes a long time to bloom fully, but also because it sometimes needs support to stay open to the world. We can all use a little support to achieve our best bloom.
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This is lovely, Brenda, as is your photo. I felt myself relaxing and settling in to rhythms of just being as I read.
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It felt like practicing yoga, writing it. Thanks for your words.
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Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
WELL-DONE…ORT-ORT-ORT-ORT!
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Thanks, Jonathan.
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You done real good (as always!). 🙂
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Aw, shucks. 🙂
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Yeah…and the first corn from the fields is in the stores now!
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LOL
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Another gorgeous photo/poem combo, Brenda. “I have room to bloom, to stretch and expand into sunshine.” I love peonies. I ran out and cut all ours so we could enjoy them before our seemingly endless rain could destroy them!
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We had some real peony-flattening rain today. I’m always afraid to bring in ants with my blooms, so I leave them outside. I love the way they bloom, so full and abandoned. In their own time.
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My favourite lines, too. But I could never have guessed/known that was a peony. I can’t get past what *looks* to be a dollop of double thickened cream, in the centre… #mmmmm
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Secrets should look like double-thickened cream, aren’t they yummy? 🙂 I tried to take a Georgia O’Keeffe-esque photo that revealed something surprising about the flower. Where the light would make the flower a foreign landscape. Intention and desire don’t often align, but that is partly where the poem came from, as well.
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I’m on the hunt for peonies in my local area. I’m very curious about what they look like IRL. Though no success yet. Some have suggested it’s not #cold enough for them. But we get FROST! 😉 (Probably not the right time of year, either…)
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They are beautiful. Very large blooms, like as big as your palm. White, pink or raspberry in color.
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Gorgeous poem, Brenda. Last three lines are my favorite!
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You and Matt like those best. We don’t have to worry about time if we are time itself. It’s a comforting thought for me.
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I love this! I was looking at some flowers today and thinking of something I recently heard: “Seeds, not switches.” In other words, we are planting seeds, not flipping switches. It holds true in so many areas. Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
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Thanks, Ruth. Yes, we scatter our words like seeds, and we hope they take root in the hearts that need them. XOXO
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Brenda, this is a great affirmation of who you are (as Mary Lee noted). I really like the comparison to a bloom ready to blossom, especially with these lines: Like a flower, just opened,
hiding secrets
in my heart,
I have room to bloom…
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I like what you said so much that I decided to place your poem right under your #imagepoem of the floral in gray/pink that will become the last poem in my gallery’s floral collection. Is that fine with you?
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That’s a beautiful thing to do. Thanks, Carol. I’m slow to get around to visit everyone today. Too many errands and not enough pep left in my day. Tomorrow is a new day. 🙂
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Thanks, Carol. We bloom week after week in poetry friday. I’m glad to be part of it. 🙂
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Very nice, Brenda…I especially love those last 3 lines.
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Thanks, Matt.
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I find such peace in your poem, especially in the time to bloom.
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I’m glad to be able to spread peace.
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Beautiful! As I get older, I feel like I’m finally allowing myself room to bloom.
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Me, too. 🙂 Aren’t we the late bloomers?
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I love the repetition of “I am..” Yes, may we all have “room to bloom!”
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Yes, Kiesha. A good way to view our lives.
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Those peonies are breath-taking, beginning our summer joys. “Room to bloom” is what I wished for my children, and now for the grandchildren, am glad that I’ve had that in my life, too. Beautiful, Brenda!
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Thanks, Linda. I’m glad you see the beauty in that, too. I’m glad you’ve had that, too.
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Such a beautiful and wonderful poem. “Room to bloom” yes we all have that, sometimes we forget. Thanks for reminding us.
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Summer is a good time for remembering patience. 🙂
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I like the idea of thinking of myself as an unfolding flower. Lovely!
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And so you are.
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Gasp! This is stunning, Brenda. I am each petal…..each leaf. Wow. Quite a poem of mindfulness, I think. Well done.
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Thanks, Linda. We are okay, just as we are. A beautiful thought, no?
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This is beautiful—like a meditation. And that photo–wow!
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Yes, exactly. You get me. I was meditating, on where I am, and where I’m not. And I’m okay with it.
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I like that there is time and there is room, and nothing to prove. Very reassuring!
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We all have this. Simple, but true.
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Oh, that photo! And the affirmation of self and becoming! WOW!
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Thanks, Mary Lee! Part of me believes it, and the other part needed to hear it. 🙂
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wow.. awesome piece of writing! I liked it a lot. 🙂
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Thanks, Irtka!
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beautiful things take time, like your poems and this flower
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Yes, but it’s worth the wait. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Still Another Photoblog.
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So beautiful, this poem leaves such a lovely feeling behind..
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So glad you felt that. 🙂
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Gorgeous!! A perfect reflection of YOU! 🙂
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Thank you!!
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Lovely poem and fairy-like peony Brenda!
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Thanks, Michelle!
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