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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsI woke up at 3:30, wrote this down, and 10 minutes later went back to sleep.
Breaking Camp
This was a good place to camp
the folding hills and the shade
beneath the trees by the water.
The land was inviting and nurturing
but it's time to break camp
and continue the journey.
The great fires we danced around
with such fervor late into the night
are beginning to fade.
The fires danced too, their wavering flames
played tricks with the dancer's shadows
and sent sparks high into the darkness.
Did they die out or just disappear?
Tomorrow we leave and scatter the ashes.
It's time to break camp
but I will miss this place.
stonecutter357
(12,698 posts)Freedomofspeech
(4,228 posts)Well done!
TEB
(12,933 posts)Atticus
(15,124 posts)2naSalit
(86,875 posts)you were on a pleasant journey!
panader0
(25,816 posts)'Knocks on wood'
2naSalit
(86,875 posts)if what you wrote was a reflection after being up a while (10-40 mins) or was it a sort of extension/review of a dream or just a sudden inspiration?
panader0
(25,816 posts)lark
(23,182 posts)Hasn't happened for me in awhile, but your creative juices were obviously flowing that night. Nice!!!
Bob Loblaw
(1,900 posts)I can almost hear Neil Young singing it.
lillypaddle
(9,581 posts)May you awaken at 3:30 every morning and write beautiful poetry. I am here for it.
Martin Eden
(12,881 posts)I like to go backpacking in national parks, forests, and wilderness -- and I don't get out nearly as often as I'd like to.
Days & nights in nature with no TV or social media or cars or the demands of work is necessary nutrient for the soul.
panader0
(25,816 posts)or when I first bought my property over 40 tears ago.
In my poem, the camp is this world, the fire is the spirit of life,
and the dancing and the shadows are the expression of ourselves
and our illusions.
I'm getting old and will be breaking camp ere long.
Martin Eden
(12,881 posts)I'm 62 and still look forward to many years of hiking & camping.
In October 2002 my buddy and I did a 3 day trek in the Shining Rock Wilderness of North Carolina. We hiked from the trailhead just off Blue Ridge Parkway and hiked to Shining Rock, where we set up base camp for 2 nights.
In the middle day we hiked to the summit of Cold Mountain and back. Along the way we passed two older gentlemen , who joined us at the top where we took in the view and had a nice conversation.
They were doing the same trek as we, with a basecamp not far from ours. Cold Mountain was the final peak in their quest to summit all 6k+ mountains in the Eastern United States. They were 70 and 71 years of age. Two years earlier they had completed the entire Appalachian Trail.
My friend and I were inspired, and we are determined to return to Cold Mountain when we're that age (I'm 16 months older).
It's not the miles hiked or the elevation gained that really matters; it's the time spent enriching your soul.
panader0
(25,816 posts)Martin Eden
(12,881 posts)I'm not sure if this link will work, but that's me on top of Hawksbill with Table Rock in the near distance on the left.
https://martysphotoalbums.shutterfly.com/1341#1293
Bayard
(22,184 posts)As the book and movie? Loved those.
Martin Eden
(12,881 posts)The mountains and waterfalls of western NC are beautiful. I live near Chicago, and have driven there numerous times for hiking.
In the book he walked home along those mountains, noting the familiar peaks of Table Rock and Hawksbill. They are on the east side of spectacular Linville Gorge. I've been to the top of both, and consider the view from Hawksbill among the finest in the Southern Appalachians.
calimary
(81,550 posts)We all need thoughts like these. Especially now.
ancianita
(36,178 posts)panader0
(25,816 posts)ancianita
(36,178 posts)defacto7
(13,485 posts)your relationship to DU.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)Only to forget them by the time I wake up
panader0
(25,816 posts)I started forcing myself to get up and write them down.
It's usually just lyrics and then I turn them over to my pal,
a very talented guitarist, for music. I give him the general idea,
and a day or two later he brings it back all filled out.
Five new songs in the last coupla months, one recorded last week.
ancianita
(36,178 posts)calimary
(81,550 posts)Thats so cool!
SayItLoud
(1,702 posts)to what is also obvious but we often don't see.
PatrickforO
(14,600 posts)Pretty awesome.
I don't do music or poetry - I do numbers and narrative, but I had a friend I worked closely with, and the synergy we created was much more powerful than either of us could have done by ourselves. There really is a magic in working together with the right creative partner.
bpositive
(423 posts)Wonderful poem.
Trueblue Texan
(2,448 posts)Heartbreakingly matter-of-fact.
Response to panader0 (Original post)
RandiFan1290 This message was self-deleted by its author.
panader0
(25,816 posts)Response to panader0 (Reply #26)
RandiFan1290 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Anon-C
(3,430 posts)Docreed2003
(16,888 posts)Thank you so much for sharing
Alliepoo
(2,230 posts)I couldnt write something that beautiful on my best day!!
Backseat Driver
(4,400 posts)Bayard
(22,184 posts)Its lovely, and the imagery is provocative.
panader0
(25,816 posts)Iggo
(47,580 posts)PatrickforO
(14,600 posts)internal conflict between contentment and forward progress. At least that's what I got out of it...
Beautiful poem.
Mr.Bill
(24,344 posts)That is what you have done there. I feel like I was there with you dancing around that fire. I can see it clearly.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)To be woken up by your creative self to write this jewel is proof positive that the soul exists, whatever that is. The divine spark.