The Years, My Friend
The years, my friend, have not been kind
upon your marble face, I hear the river songs
tinkle with the cymbals,
your eyes are shriveled grapes upon the vine,
your mouth a wounded cherry,
pecked reddish-grey
by restless robins.
Take my hand, my friend,
let us go to the calling fields that blaze with diamonds
under the eternal skies,
to the orchards in the midst of these winter days,
where leafless branches stand dauntless
in the endless cold, with jubilant tales to tell
in the blizzard of their days —
harken to the legends
of the root and the bud and the sun,
and the promise
(believe the promise)
that warmth and springtime
will come,
(it always comes)
once again.
by D. G. Vachal © 2013
*** Photography by Farhad
lilies, sparrows and grass 
Sweetly hopeful!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and for the lovely visit!
Beautiful post
Oh thank you, Valerie! I just saw your first comment now! 🙂
I’ve read it again, and the images are just so telling and so true
Thank you so much for reading (and re-reading), Valerie! I am thrilled that you identified the images and made the connections in this piece! All my best wishes to you! Dee
Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful! Thank you.
Oh, thank you, Karen! I am so happy you like this poem! Love and blessings to you! Dee
This is beautiful, Dee! Oh how I love “the promise…springtime” in so many ways… It helps us get through winter.
Blessings ~ Wendy
Thank you, Wendy! Indeed, springtime is a promise, that comes with fulfillment, that in spite of the inevitable winters and storms in life, there always awaits for us, the increasingly green and warm, and surely promised Spring! Thank you for your lovely comment, Wendy, and blessings to you, too, my dear friend! Dee
Reblogged this on Becoming is Superior to Being and commented:
You need to visit this blog — the poems are beautiful, meaningful and I predict, lasting.
kenne
Thank you for reblogging, Kenne!
Believe the promise…that certainly lifts my spirits. Beautiful poetry!
I am glad this post lifted your spirits! Thank you so much and have a wonderful week ahead!
Oh Dee, it’s a song. It is a wave, a gentle lap of emotion with the undercurrent of pull toward a vastness of emotion – the joy that can only be understood due to sorrow. Very well done, very well done.
Such beautiful words about the river song — I love “the gentle lap of emotion with the undercurrent of pull toward a vastness of emotion”. Thank you for sharing these lovely and deep thoughts, Sandra!
i love the music in your words, so beautiful. i like to wait until my mind is clear and ready for one of your poems. so lovely, thank you. and i must say, i like the line with the robin so very much…
It makes me so happy to know you can hear the music in my words, for I work on the sounds and the flow of the poem. Makes me smile when you say you like the line with the robin a lot. Thank you so much, Lorna. Love, Dee
So lovely!
Thank you, Josephina! Blessings, Dee
In the moments where forever weaves our tears into a dream, lovers rest – forgotten for their loss. I love this, Dee. The sweet beautiful reminder of spring, which shall bring the dead to life again. Love you, Bobbie
The eternal constancy of the turn of the seasons renews our inward hearts day by day. How beautifully you put into words, that “forever weaves our tears into a dream, and lovers rest”. Thank you, Bobbie, for sharing your light and beauty. Love, Dee
It was a conversation between the writer [you] and my soul! BEAUTIFUL !
Thank you so much, Deborah! Feels wonderful that the poem had a conversation with your soul! That is quite a humbling compliment. Wish you all the best, Dee
You truly have a wonderful way with words. Another beautiful poem, indeed. 🙂
Thank you, Janet. I am blessed that you liked this poem. All my best, Dee
This is really beautiful….thanks for this, and for the follow of my blog. Spring does in fact always come, and with it comes new beginnings in that beautiful cycle.
Thank you so much, Jean. Blessings to you!
One of your best so far, Dang. It brings to mind the Camus quote that my old prof, Doc Casambre, had in his office at the UP Faculty Center – “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” Even more beautiful, knowing by faith the force that drives the seasons!
Thank you, Lils. I love that quote by Camus too! Yes, truly, and how wonderfully you describe it, that it is faith that drives the seasons. Love and hugs to you Lils!
I think you must believe the promise and know that spring will come again. Once you do not, then all is lost.
Great song of hope.
Tim
Agree wholeheartedly. Thank you so much for stopping by!