A Pocketful of Maybes

The trees are mad silhouettes against the rouge pink sky;
perhaps they too need emptying,
at a glance
the silvery shadow of a lake seems not shallow, seems
most capable of serious thought,
it’s something
I haven’t quite been able to comprehendβ€”
lounging lazily
under the mulberry with a pocketful of maybes.

Dusk has the ability to turn even a simple person like myself
into a philosopher, its quiet charm,
ever lit, ever awake with a pulsing heart,
could it be that flowers sometimes bloom merely
to cheer up the ground?
Cigarettes and caesura burn so as to extinguish the mind,
in a world where coffee is cold
and morning bittersweet; because otherwise it would mean
evolving of men gained us almost nothing.

Maybe we are not meant to be selfish, despite the brutality
of Spring, dull roots stirring,
sultry, tearful and at times childish peals of laughter
where oat fields
meet in a stately fashion with the breezeβ€”
and maybe,
just maybe we are meant to sift chaos in the headspace,
one can opt to keep strength to himself
or be open to sharing odes with the world,
how much could it hurt?

I am sometimes noisy like the wind, tempestuous to a fault,
every whim,
every impulse, every notion,
every flaw flowing from the wound, scarlet wishes gone awry,
why do we forget that we are each gifted with the ability
to start over with nothing?
Maybe we have known all along, like graphite sugar clouds
and need a little bit of reminding; maybe,
primordial affairs of the young and old, for now,
maybe is good enough.

 

 

 

Photo credits: Aerial photography of mountains and body of water, Unsplash

Posted for Open Link LIVE – November Edition @dVerse Poets Pub

44 thoughts on “A Pocketful of Maybes

  1. Bjorn Rudberg says:

    I love the pondering here… to have those moments of ambiguity and simply linger in a world of maybes. Twilight has so many options compared to day or night… how can ever life be answered by simply yes or no?

    1. Sanaa says:

      Absolutely! Thank you so much, Bjorn πŸ˜€ so glad the poem resonated with you πŸ’„β€οΈ

  2. Ron Rowland says:

    Enjoyed this
    “noisy like the wind, tempestuous to a fault”

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Ron πŸ˜€ so glad you enjoyed it πŸ’„β€οΈ

  3. Ain Starlingsson says:

    Absolutely wonderful poetry, the philosophy of twilight and the doubt of perennial selfishness in spring so nicely woven in, and an ending redolent of Voltaire, v good company, and his “good being the enemy of perfection.”

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Ain πŸ˜€ so glad you liked it πŸ’„β€οΈ

  4. I so loved hearing you read this today (and thank you for hosting)!
    This is really beautiful–I like pondering, the ambiguity–
    “why do we forget that we are each gifted with the ability
    to start over with nothing?
    Maybe we have known all along, like graphite sugar clouds
    and need a little bit of reminding;” πŸ’™

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you for joining in, Merril πŸ˜€ so glad you enjoyed it πŸ’„β€οΈ

  5. Awesome work indeed, SR. Sorry I couldn’t make it to the live event, but thanks for hosting. I’m sure it was a blast (as always).

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Ron πŸ˜€ so glad the poem spoke to you. We missed you at the LIVE session πŸ’„β€οΈ

  6. How brutal is Spring, indeed? Very nice idea, the growing pains, the ruminations. Loved it!

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Christopher πŸ˜€ so glad the poem resonated with you πŸ’„β€οΈ

  7. You hooked me with “we are not meant to be selfish, despite the brutality of Spring”–that rattled my cage. I think of the brutality of winter and the fecundity of Spring. I liked “lounging lazily undef the mulberry with a pocketful of maybes”. I still detect a whiff of Romanticism, joy and hope.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Glenn πŸ˜€ so glad you liked it! And thank you for joining in the LIVE session, always a joy to have you with us πŸ’„β€οΈ

  8. The poem has the charm of dusk and everything is better against a pink sky.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Colleen πŸ˜€ so glad you liked it πŸ’„β€οΈ

  9. Jason says:

    So moody — in the best of ways, brilliant and windy.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Jason πŸ˜€ so glad the poem resonated with you πŸ’„β€οΈ

  10. Charlotte says:

    β€œcould it be that flowers sometimes bloom merely
    to cheer up the ground?β€œ β€”- Something to contemplate. Lots of nice visuals in this. πŸ™‚

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Charlotte πŸ˜€ so glad you liked it πŸ’„β€οΈ

  11. Maybe, a pocket full of maybes is enough. Could maybe be enough? Maybe an eighth of a tank is still enough to get us home.
    I really enjoyed your poem. I especially liked,
    “Dusk has the ability to turn even a simple person like myself
    into a philosopher, its quiet charm,
    ever lit, ever awake with a pulsing heart,
    could it be that flowers sometimes bloom merely
    to cheer up the ground?”
    It gave me a hopeful feeling.
    Thanks for sharing.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Alicia πŸ˜€ so glad you enjoyed it πŸ’„β€οΈ

  12. Kerfe says:

    Rumination is something we could all use more of I think. I love all the questions (of course). Maybe is always a good beginning to any answer.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Kerfe πŸ˜€ so glad you liked it πŸ’„β€οΈ

  13. kittysverses says:

    Captivating title, Sanaa. I enjoyed all the ponderings especially this one,
    “Dusk has the ability to turn even a simple person like myself
    into a philosopher, its quiet charm,
    ever lit, ever awake with a pulsing heart,
    could it be that flowers sometimes bloom merely
    to cheer up the ground?”

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Kitty πŸ˜€ so glad you enjoyed it πŸ’„β€οΈ

  14. This is beautifully written Sanaa. I love your images of nature which make you contemplate life and its meaning. I liked the… scarlet wishes gone awry…

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Dwight πŸ˜€ so glad the poem resonated with you πŸ’„β€οΈ

  15. Ingrid says:

    I just love this, Sanaa! ‘A pocketful of maybes’ is wonderful! Nothing is certain, but as you say, sometimes ‘maybe is good enough.’

    1. Sanaa says:

      We live in hope my friend πŸ˜€ so glad you liked it! Thank you for joining in the LIVE session πŸ’„β€οΈ

  16. Veera says:

    Great poem!I loved the way you integrated nature into it,its so great! And yeah,I also feel there’s no such thing as “certain” or “impossible”, its all just “A pocketful of maybes!” πŸ™‚

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Veera πŸ˜€ so glad you enjoyed it πŸ’„β€οΈ

  17. Brendan says:

    This is a poem of surrenders the poet comes to find as natural and essential as breathing, so that every moment is a little reminder of immensities awaiting a mouth to sing. Amen.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Amen! Thank you so much, Brendan πŸ˜€ so glad the poem resonated with you πŸ’„β€οΈ

  18. Beautiful writing Sanaa. I particularly loved
    β€˜every flaw flowing from the wound, scarlet wishes gone awry,
    why do we forget that we are each gifted with the ability
    to start over with nothing?’
    We have all been there at some point in our lives β˜ΊοΈπŸ’•

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Christine πŸ˜€ so glad you enjoyed it πŸ’„β€οΈ

  19. Ken Gierke says:

    Every day we are starting over, with the opportunity to make each new day a better one.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Absolutely! Thank you so much, Ken πŸ˜€ so glad you liked it πŸ’„β€οΈ

  20. Mary Hood says:

    You ask my questions and ponder my pondering with words I fail to express. I resonate with I am sometimes noisy like the wind, tempestuous to a fault,
    every whim,
    every impulse, every notion,
    every flaw flowing from the wound, scarlet wishes gone awry,
    why do we forget that we are each gifted with the ability
    to start over with nothing? And Maybe we are not meant to be selfish,

    1. Sanaa says:

      That is such high praise! Thank you so much, Mary πŸ˜€ so glad the poem resonated with you πŸ’„β€οΈ

  21. Jim Feeney says:

    “where oat fields
    meet in a stately fashion with the breezeβ€””
    Great image Sanaa, really enjoyed this one, rumination is a good thing!

  22. anotherKate says:

    This is wonderful! I love the title, such a great line.

  23. Sunra Rainz says:

    I love everything about this poem, Sanaa! I so get the whole enchantment of dusk and twilight, I often write about that myself. So many wonderful lines, my favourites being:

    “the silvery shadow of a lake seems not shallow, seems
    most capable of serious thought”

    “could it be that flowers sometimes bloom merely
    to cheer up the ground?”

    “one can opt to keep strength to himself
    or be open to sharing odes with the world,
    how much could it hurt?”

    Lovely hearing you read it too! πŸ™‚

  24. “I am sometimes noisy like the wind, tempestuous to a fault,”

    really liked that line. lots to ponder here, and you express it so well

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