Sunday, July 05, 2009

walk those miles and miles

his whole demeanor shouted weary
still he clung to the little strength he had
something pushed him to go on and on
he arrived into a deadly calm village,

Is there anybody there?" said the traveller,
knocking on a moonlit door
his hands fluttered from lace cuffs
casting long shadows on the floor

while he waited for the door to open,
he heard a tiny voice crying from inside
when he broke open the door
he found the entire family lost to the plague

with only the baby being spared
hastily he picked her up, her cries stopped.
within the warmth of his coat
she fell asleep just as soon

when he walked out of that village
after two days, he was no stranger
to the villagers, nor the infant
now sleeping peacefully in his arms

"many a times, the unknown shows us the purpose of living"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Is there anybody there?" said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door"

are the opening lines of the poem The Listeners by Walter de la Mare



36 comments:

Sylvia said...

Well, if his long and tiring journey took him to saving the life of a baby, it was already worth everything. I heard a journalist talking in the past that he was travelling through Angola and he saw, in the plains, a little baby girl standing close to the body of her dead mother, trying to wake her up. All alone, for days. He saved her life. Those are the harvests of War. Thank you for your story.

anthonynorth said...

The last line rounds it off perfectly.

sarah said...

You wrote this after seeing the prompt? Wow. Great job.

shraddha said...

wow...you are good..

spacedlaw said...

A great story.

The Dark Lord said...

Very, very powerful... It rings with pathos.. You're really good at what you do!

cyclopseven said...

Humanity is not yet dead...

sage said...

A beautiful a good story told in poem, Gautami, thanks for sharing.

Sherri B. said...

This was wonderful...I loved the line about his lace cuffs casting shadows. Very visual!

Anonymous said...

very poignant last line...
loved it!

poefusion said...

You spun a great tale of humanity. It's good to see it hasn't been lost yet. Well done. Have a great day.

George S Batty said...

nice take. great story. often it's a traveler that shows up to help someone.

Jennifer Hicks said...

what a beautiful poem...your words are incredibly succulent!

quin browne said...

another excellent take on the prompt.

lance call center said...

This is amazing poem. You are lucky for you know your purpose already.

Nara Malone said...

I love how you brought something positive and full of hope from a house of death. Nice.

SandyCarlson said...

That's a wonderful narrative poem. Perfect. This is an image of grace.

Jim said...

G.T, this is what I call a Lone Ranger poem. Masked and sounding possibly evil. But it turns out he is a rescuer. His 'Silver Bullet' was the baby.
..
BTW, my grandmother, Mother's side, died of the flu in 1917. Mom was only seven. Of course I knew a Grandma but really she was a step-grandmother.
..

Gemma Wiseman said...

So sad and so beautiful and so inspiring! Humanity has a heart!

floreta said...

uplifting piece and full of hope!

Tumblewords: said...

How sweet this is! Travels and strangers are often key to our lives. Nice post!

lissa said...

nice story, it's beautifully put, reminds me of a tale which I can't remember at the moment

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Between your poem and Sylvia's story, it's hard to keep the lump from my throat.

gabrielle said...

Achingly beautiful. Thank you for focusing our attention on this merciful aspect of the human narrative.

Whitesnake said...

I've heard this one before.....

Dee Martin said...

Sad and beautiful at the same time.

The Dating Game

when the musics over said...

Dark, desperate, and in the end hopefully beautiful.

Patois42 said...

Not all strangers need to be feared. Nicely told.

Linda - Nickers and Ink said...

A story of promise and hope . . .

Pearl said...

war and compassion; both are timeless.

Irene said...

great vignette.

Anonymous said...

This one will stay with me. Great job, Gautami.

angie said...

wow, Gautami.

I always enjoy your poems but I have to say this is one of my favorites. Not just the story, which is wonderful--but the haunting, beautiful images. Amazing work.

totomai said...

definitely lots of positivity on this poem.. being a stranger is definitely a difficult situation but once you are embraced by others, its a feeling that cannot be explained

DeLi said...

stirring....

Toni said...

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.