Voices at the Door

Voices at the Door

fingerprints
on the ribbed window pane
crust crumbs
on the kitchen floor
apple cider bubbling
on the stove —

where have the children gone
I hug them in the warmth
of hearth fires,
hear their laughter
in the songs
of the autumn wind —

leaves plummet in violent swirls
like flocks of sandpipers
landing on the shore
topaz and rubies fade
into the salmon sky —

before winter comes
I long to hear
“the steps returning
and voices at the door” .

D. G. Vachal © 2024

* “the steps returning and voices at the door” is a passage from J. R. R. Tolkien’s poem ” I Sit Beside the Fire and Think”

Image by J Plenio @pixabay

23 thoughts on “Voices at the Door”

  2. Thank you Dee, and for your voice. Glad you made the choice to do this. Inspiring. Good work.

    A poem of reflection
    And changes amidst
    Which only nature knows
    Which only exist
    There alone in the scenes
    Of woodlands pure
    Of long-awaited dreams—
    There is a future
    Which hope does bring

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  4. Beautiful as always, D. G. My favorite line….”topaz and rubies fade into the salmon sky —” Perfection achieved! And then to hear you reading it added a wonderful touch!! This helped make my night 🌙 as I fight off some sort of bug. ❤️Ellen

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    1. My dear Ellen, thank you so very much for reading and listening to my narration of this poem! I pray you have a restful evening and may this “bug” just fade into the salmon sky, and may you have sweet dreams tonight till sunbeams find you tomorrow. ❤️🥰⭐️🌙

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  5. Oh I imagined you in some garden in India… isn’t Vachal an Indian name? But then, of course, an Indian name doesn’t mean you are in India. Glad you’re nearby. India is a place I want to go to in my next life or be born there. New Jersey is good, too. New Jersey is more civilized than New York. It has the right to die laws which New York (supposedly so great) doesn’t have. Important to me. But maybe not to you. Sorry to talk your ear off.

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    1. Oh.. Ellen, “Vachal” is my husband’s family name — which is German/Austrian/Czechoslovakian — LOL! I was born in SE Asia, and came to the US to study graduate school in Economics to pursue my doctorate in Economics at Rutgers in NJ where I also met my husband (where I did not complete my dissertation because I got married to him and had two children LOL so I am an ABD all but dissertation but it’s all good) . Right to die is important to me too, I did not know NJ is civilized that way.

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  6. Oh, how funny! Me seeing you in a garden in India and you’re right next door. Vachal is a Hindi word I think. I will ask my Hinduism teacher tomorrow. I hope to see him online. He is in Lucknow, India. We Skype. So funny, you are married to an Eastern European. My husband is ABD, too. But he left the field of Islamic law and became a psychiatric social worker in the Bronx. Yes, New Jersey is way more civilized than New York!! Thanks for all the info. Funny!😄

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    1. Thanks Ellen! Who would have thought “Vachal” is Hindi word — my husband would be all out of sorts with that concept! Anyway — originally his family name in Austria was “Van Acken” and for some reason — evolved into Vachal, a family name found in Hungary and Czechoslovakia — who knows. Very interesting, though — and that I have to explain to my children.

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  7. And who would have thought that you studied economics and wind up writing such gorgeous poetry. I had to drop Economics because I can not think in that way at all!! So funny. I looked up “vachal” and it is a Hindi word meaning chatterbox or loquacious as I am tonight with you. So have a good night’s rest. I have enjoyed “talking.”

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