Sunday, February 17, 2008

Open Any Window

OPEN ANY WINDOW


Open any window, and what do you see?
Open your eyes and heart and let it in,
A brand new world just for you and me;
Forget the past and let a new day begin.

Open the door and what is it you find?
Breathe in deep the essence found there;
And venture to other places in your mind,
Each of your steps can take you anywhere.

Follow the road and where is it you'll go?
You've been there before you might learn.
Your heart leads the way,you must follow
'Til it finally stops you and makes you turn

To look back upon the door you left ajar.
Why does it beckon you, what is so wrong?
The journey was short but it took you afar
To that once place you are safe and belong.

See the open window, and what do you see?
Someone else opening memories from a shelf,
Wondering what could have been and will be.
Open any window and you'll see yourself.


-Mike Ashley


I've waxed a little poetic here today. I'm not really sure what it means. I think it has something to with our mortality? Maybe it has something to do accepting who we are and our lots in life?

This poem is actually a product of a few thoughts I had been jotting down in the margins of newspapers during the past week while I was waiting to be treated at the hospital. There was a line or two scribbled next to the crossword puzzles of four different papers. Before tossing the newspapers, I decided to copy them onto a pad of paper.

I had four verses of the above poem in front of me and it didn't feel finished. I gave it a try, even though I had no trace of a memory of what I may have been thinking when I composed them. I changed the order of the verses. None of them appear in the order in which they were originally composed.

I wrote the final verse today after about an hour of beating my skull trying to think what this thing was all about. You might to surprised to learn that the final verse that I wrote today actually became the first verse of the completed poem.

The image seemed to work nicely with the completed product.

Anyone specialize in analyzing poetry? Maybe somebody can tell me what it means?

No.1263

7 comments:

Skunkfeathers said...

Poetic analysis? Nawp; not my bag.

But it sounds 'deep', and me thinks some poetryphiles will eat it up.

All I would have come up with, in waiting around a hospital all week, would have been bad jokes about enemas and bedpans...

Serena said...

I'm no good at analyzing poetry, but I do hope you take it VERY easy all week, take care of yourself, and feel better.

Jude Allen said...

Seems itrospective at times but seems optimistic about the furure. Kind of a "what did we do/not do in the past, what will we do/not do in the future, what will others see/not see when they look back at us" vibe. Very good.

Jack K. said...

It will require some thought. Perhaps a posting of my own.

Great poem.

Liquid said...

Great poem!
It has me reflecting quite a bit.
Gotta go read it again.

Hope you are feeling better!

:}

Jack K. said...

I read it again and here is my response.

OldHorsetailSnake said...

I don't know. I think any of the stanzas could have been the last, or the first, for that matter.