Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Silk Road


WEDNESDAY CHALLENGE

SILK ROAD

'Silk Road'.
The phrase echoed in my mind
From my earliest days.
I never questioned it.
There was a Silken Road
That wound through Asia.
I pictured it as made of 
The finest purple silk.
I saw it laid out beneath my feet,
Leading to some place of splendour.
Maybe it led to Shangri La,
A place where everyone was
Always young.
My images were those of 
Fairy Tale,
And yet I knew this Silken Road
Existed! 
Magic Carpets,
Genies in Bottles,
Wishes Coming True,
These were all fantasy.
I was too sophisticated for them.
But a Silken Road!
That was real.
*
Of course, I am wiser now.
It was a Route,
A Silk Route.
Not a Road at all.
It was a series of trade connections.
And one of the items traded
Was silk.
It was important,
It was vast,
It made civilisations.
But it was not magical.
*
Hey Ho!
We live and learn.
I have learned to live
Without magic.
Almost.
*

The Silk Road
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OFF COURSE

My love lived in a block of flats
On the other side of town
And sometimes being away from her
Really got me down.
One day while I was languishing,
Downhearted, and alone,
I saw a way of greeting her
By a method all my own.
I made a paper aeroplane
From a love-note I had written,
(As you can tell I was deep in love.....
Absolutely smitten!)
With well-honed origami skills
I folded and I fashioned,
A paper aeroplane which spoke
Of a man deeply impassioned.
I cast my plane upon the winds;
It flew just like a bird.
I knew that it would reach my love
And carry each loving word.
It circled in the breezy blue,
It fluttered in the sky
Then, like a stupid boomerang,
Came back and hit me in the eye!
*
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10 comments:

Kerry O'Connor said...

The Silk Road always sounds so exotic and magical to me too. Who needs to know it is rocky, barren and arduous for the most part?

shawnacy said...

silk road... what an idea.
i can't seem to stop looking for the magic... maybe all our routes are silk roads.

Anonymous said...

"I have learned to live
Without magic"

So sad. :( Thank goodness for that "Almost" at the end.

rosemarymint.wordpress.com

Susie Clevenger said...

The silk road was one of commerce...perhaps knowing it seems to take away its magic...but the poetic mind can use it as inspiration to create their own magic...nice work!

Laurie Kolp said...

Ahh, the imagination of a child...

Helen said...

Do you believe in magic? I think you do!!

Anonymous said...

I still live with magic and fancy in my heart. Great poem of growing up. I really got a chuckle from the second one.

Hannah said...

I love your magical silken road, Rinkly and the humor of your second set me smiling! Thank you!

Margaret said...

A child's "silken road". The painting makes it look so, I can see why a child would think so. :)

vivinfrance said...

Your first is fabulous - did you ever read the James Michener book Caravanm, about the silk road alias the hippy trail? I also love the romantic image you paint. Your second is simply fun, with a sting in the tail.