The Ride
We stood in a field of waving grass,
and spoke, only not with words.
She was alone; I with my wagon.
Our eyes met. Hers sparkled, she fancied a ride.
The stalky sea might tangle the wheels.
Resisting, she climbed aboard red Radio Flyer.
Was I dead?
I pulled, we flew higher.
My dress flapped like a flag in the breeze.
Over my shoulder, I could see she was happy.
I was her captain. Grandma, first mate.
willow, 2010
For more "red" Theme Thursday posts, click [HERE].
photo "Radio Flyer" by Jenny Arnez
that was a wonderful ride of a poem. gramma as first mate...beautiful willow.
ReplyDeletelove dreams like that!
What a splendid ride.
ReplyDeleteI share similar dreams with my grandma, I think it goes back to always making lovely childhood memories with her.
Beautiful red wagon to illustrate.
Lovely, willow.
ReplyDeleteSo much depends upon a red Radio Flyer ...
loved the poem...I have always dreamt in color; thought that was normal until I learned not so...can't imagine not dreaming at all and or not in color! My grandma always asked my dreams when I was a little girl. Then she would run and look them up in her dream book; this gave her special numbers that she'd place as bets with the bookie's in back of the butcher shop. That was her pin $$; her stash and she only spent it on me & her, usually on ice cream and movies for us.. ahh dreams.
ReplyDeleteYes, once I had a dream that someone told me that all I had to do to become a millionaire was to buy a canoe. Yes, buy a canoe. And then rent it out to people - you know, bookings. All year round. And people would be clamoring to rent my canoe, all year round, and I would be a millionaire!
ReplyDeleteI woke up laughing with how easy this great idea was, and then I said it out loud.
"All I need to do to become a millionaire is buy.... a .... canoe?"
So much for that.
Marcheline, so what the canoe represent in your dream?
ReplyDeleteThat kind of had a ghostly element to it! I really enjoyed it! I also really enjoyed the fact that I don't have to feel guilty about posting mine on weds! LOL!
ReplyDeleteLovely poem! I've been having very vivid dreams lately--always about my mother--I'm my age now, and she's very young, (like in her 20's) and she can still walk, and isn't sick. But I always have a hard time getting to her...it's eerie. I wake up comforted, but then, strangely anxious and troubled, too.
ReplyDeletewillow - i'm holding my breath. what a beautiful piece of writing. what a dream. what a memory of a dream. it brought a memory to mind of sailing across my nana's ocean carpet in an upturned footstool boat. i landed on table sialnd at tea time. there were little glass bowls of vanilla ice cream with three mandarin orange slices and a biscuit wafers waiting for me when i cam ashore. have a lovely evening at the manor. steven
ReplyDeleteI am waiting for the Willow poetry book to come out in print.
ReplyDeleteI dream in the colors of the sixties.
Patty, seriously, the colors of the sixties? That is wild!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful poem and a wonderful dream! And a wonderful picture -- something so iconic about a little red wagon.
ReplyDeleteI too dream in color, thank goodness. That's why I remember the lime green plastic sandals on Kierkegaard's pink feet.
What a lovely dream! And what I'd give to dream of Grandma...
ReplyDelete"My dress flapped at my legs like a flag in the breeze." GOLDEN WORDS WILLOW!!
ReplyDeleteI love the poem - very vivid; it reminds me of the Canadian west.
ReplyDeleteI had a dream about my grandmother once only. She turned into a volkswagen! Bizarre.
Kat
what a lovely poem/dream/ride! i loved reading it and seeing the old wagon...and thinking of my grandmother. i dream very vividly as well--sometimes a little too vividly since i wake up convinced it happened!
ReplyDeleteUm, it's Tuesday?
ReplyDeleteI know, I'm a tad early.
ReplyDeleteWillow, you are such a poet. Expressive and yet thoughtful! I also enjoyed your post on His Holiness, The Pope. Isn't wonderful to think he is reading your blog? Blogging is such a fantastic way to reach out to people.
ReplyDeleteYou know...when I awake I am often so caught up in the context of my dreams it is hard to think if it what in color or not! I think, though, most usually it is.
What a wonderful ride! Your poem brings back
ReplyDeletemy memories to my grandma, Helena.
She also was my “first mate”!
Thank you for the lovely words!!!
Have a wonderful evening,
Virginia
nice piece - beautiful vision.
ReplyDeleteI, too, dream in color and when you say "red", now you are speaking my language! I love the color red, have red everywhere in my house and I loved your poem Willow! I could see it in my mind's eye. Great!
ReplyDeleteGives a whole new meaning to:
ReplyDelete"go, granny,
go, granny,
go, granny, go."
With my gram's death a few weeks back, this poem resonates deeply with me.
ReplyDeleteIt is touching and brilliant at once, without being mushy. (Just they way I appreciate poems served up. :)
Willow, I'm not sure if your gram is alive or dead, but wherever she is, she is thinking of you. And you will both be together again someday.
Light-hearted & touching at the same time--nicely done!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE THIS DREAM.
ReplyDeletegreat! no I dont dream much (that I remember), but when i do they are usually a jumble of events that have occured..
ReplyDeletethis was wonderful Willow :)
ReplyDeleteI think there was a movie back awhile about two young brothers and a red flier wagon-- there was a dream like feeling in that movie as well-- beautiful poem and wonderful tribute to your grandmother
ReplyDeleteheavens, you even jumped ahead of the Australians! What time zone are you in?
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, your poetry skills are immense! Happy TT(uesday).)
Loved the little red wagon poem . I and my siblings had several of these and towed each other or any pet willing to take a chance or our "driving skills" which included frequent "roll overs!"
ReplyDeleteAwww... I love this!
ReplyDeleteI always dream in colour, and jot them down upon waking. Sometimes the themes are similar and others very different.
ReplyDeleteA radio flyer...such wonderful memories. I have one here at the house that I adore.
ReplyDeleteYour poem was wonderful. LOVE Grandma playin' along.
You have embodied a carefree and childlike freedom within an old soul, while you carry on and lead the way, still feeling the need to assure yourself she is fine. No doubt your Grandmother is truly loved and missed. Very touching, wonderfully written, wonderful dream like imagery.
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh, I'm thinkin' of how many of those things we wrecked as kids! Love the poem :)
ReplyDeleteYou have the heart of a poet, as well as the technical skill. Most excellent!
ReplyDeleteI dream in color, and almost always dream weird. One of the strangest had several players. The dream played out, and there we stood. We had no more lines. For several minutes we stood awkwardly together.
Awakening was a relief.
Mike
This gave me a big smile "grandma as first mate" -- wonderful! :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your poetry...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful poem and dream. I love art inspired by dreams. Many, many times I have written from dreams. Dreamers are true artist. xx
ReplyDeleteWillow - to answer your question, I think the canoe represents my ability to believe any stupid idea while I'm asleep. 8-)
ReplyDeleteI have to say one good thing about the dream, however - any time I'm driving around in the summer and see someone with a canoe strapped on top of his SUV, I laugh, point, and say, "There goes a millionaire!"
Willow,
ReplyDeleteOh yes, dreams are real. If they were not, how then could we witness them?
rel
Really enjoyed the poem. The colours tend to drift in some of my dreams. Some scenarios look as though they've been sketched, although the people and voices are very real.
ReplyDeleteI love your poem, willow.
ReplyDeleteYears and years ago I dreamt (dreamed?) I would marry someone called Michael Rittner. Of course I kept wondering when he would appear at the parties and clubs I would go to. Nil Findum.
Willow,
ReplyDeleteThat is just wonderful. You are busting with Talent..
I have a red rider now.
I use it every time I work in the yard.
yvonne
This just might be the best you've done, Willow. Absolutely love it!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I always dream in vivid technicolor.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! It made me smile... a huge smile.
ReplyDeleteDi
The Blue Ridge Gal
Lovely poem, portraying both the playfulness and seriousness of such a thing for a child.
ReplyDeleteYour header matches my take on the theme this week!
Wonderful poem. Sounds like a dream I would like to have.
ReplyDeleteI found the poem both ethereal and oddly transcendent! thanks!!
ReplyDeletecoincidentally when thinking of red the image of a red radio flyer was one of the first things to pop into my head, but alas I don't have a decent snap among my photos - at least not without me having to spend hours mining for it - am sure there's one somewhere!
Oh, red Radio Flyers... Love the poem, Willow. Love how you see beauty in the everyday objects. My dreams are pretty vivid too, but not always nice.
ReplyDeleteI loved this Willow.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little, and living in Montreal, we used to play with a wagon, pushing each other as fast as we could and crashing into a fence for fun.
My mother and aunt, who was really like a grandma to me, would chat and watch us, no doubt thinking we were perfectly childlike.
This photo and poem rushed me right back there, thank you.
and oddly, I don't dream, just nightmare.
Love the ending in particular. Another fantastic poem, Willow. Kudos.
ReplyDeleteYes, I dream in Technicolour too, each and everyone very detailed.
Interesting meaning to this dream and what you may have been thinking then too.
Your poem is so special and sweet, as I'm sure she was to you and all who knew her. : )
ReplyDeleteFlying dreams. They are the finest kind.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful dream!
ReplyDeleteAnd a super poem.
I'm a pretty keen dreamer
and a left-over Jungian.
You certainly do make words dance...=-)
ReplyDeleteI've just found your blog - lovely! What a fabulous poem. But I don't suppose you'll even read this comment as you have so many. That's kind of impressive in itself.
ReplyDeletelove the new header..fabulous
ReplyDeleteand loved this too....lovely as always
love the dreams...
more later, my friend
kary
xxx
Hello Willow,
ReplyDeleteA dream of a poem! If only I could remember mine!
Thanks for the reminder of my Granny rolling me around in the bushel clothes basket in the back yard...you know, the one with the oil cloth liner that had the strawberries on it...those were the days!!!
ReplyDeleteMagpiety poetry...
ReplyDeleteFantastic!
Willow
ReplyDeleteOne of your best poems ever,,,,absolutely loved it
It struck a chord deep within--
I had a dream in which my grandmother and I were enjoying the day together doing what made her the happiest in life, it inspired me to do a post using the poem called 'What if...'by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
Thanks
Joanny
Ah... the ride we all coveted as children!
ReplyDeleteLove your new magpie header!
ReplyDeleteI rarely remember my dreams unfortunately...they are always a vague wisp...
Thanks, Oliag! I just put it up today and I absolutely love it!
ReplyDeleteI had a "Radio Flyer" wagon as a child. Lots of happy memories scooting down a hill behind our house. Thank you for reminding me.
ReplyDeleteI hope I'm that kind of grandma someday. Lovely poem, Willow.
ReplyDeleteLove that Grandma was first mate!
ReplyDeleteI've had a few lucid dreams as well..fascinating..
That was... quite awesome.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGreat poem. Enjoyed the ride.
ReplyDeleteYou'll find mine here.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteReally good poem Willow!Happy TT!:)
ReplyDeletelove your new header!
ReplyDeletemagpiety -- brilliant!
I have been thinking a lot lately about the poetic state of childhood - and how few poems really validate this state as something vibrantly separate and unpossessed in any way by adults - even by our own adult selves! I so much enjoyed your evocation of a child's perspective, right from the start - that remarkable first stanza put me immediately in that other world.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the poem, I thought the "she" was another child, and so finding out about Grandma was a delightful surprise - reminding me that fragments of girlhood stay alive in us all through our lives. Thanks!
You write so well. Reading this, reminds me of taking my daughter sledging. Very well done.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing such a wonderful memory. Very vivid.
ReplyDeleteNicely done. I miss my red wagon. *sniff*
ReplyDelete--Terrace Crawford
www.terracecrawford.com
www.twitter.com/terracecrawford
I love dreams of grandma, and this one is superb. Fly on Willow.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful dream! I love dreaming of loved ones that are no longer living....just a great visit with them...
ReplyDeleteThe picture really does look dreamy. I have memories of my grandpa being my first mate with a flyer... someday maybe I'll get to act out your dream with my grandkids.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteVery sweet poem. Grandma as first mate. I like that dream!
ReplyDeleteI have barely any memories of my grandparents because we rarely saw them, us living on the other side of the country.
ReplyDeleteBut I have many memories of our red wagon. We used to use them to go collect the soda pop bottles along the sides of the road. And then take them to the liquor store and trade them in for candy. It was a lot of fun spending times with friends and brothers and sisters. Seeing who could collect the most bottles and then we always shared the bounty.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
Happy TT. Love the new header.
God bless.
awww, a red wagon. did you ever see the movie "Radio Flyer"? A very poignant film.
ReplyDeletesweet poem and photo.
Ask and you shall receive, Willow. After you said "pretty please" how could I refuse?
ReplyDeleteThe beard picture has been posted on my blog. Please note I also had hair on my head at that time.
such an interesting dream, willow. and the poem is just delightful. i'm behind on reading your blog and wondering if the magpiety has some special meaning. i'm reading on to see. either way, i love the image you've used in your header.
ReplyDeleteCaptain Willow's RED Wagon:
ReplyDeletejust perfect!
Jjj
Julie, in case you missed my post on "magpiety" I have a link you can click on my side bar. :^)
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful poem of a beautiful dream. When I was young I was very close to my grandmother.These lines reminded me of those days.
ReplyDeleteThank you for peeping into 'mywritings'.
I enjoyed writing this poem, but it was even more fun sharing it with all of you dear people. Thank you! xx
ReplyDeleteI loved the poem.
ReplyDeleteI am envious of those who say they dream in vivid color. I just don't know if I do or not...but I'm beginning to suspect if I did I would know it.
Yep. I'm envious.
Jerry
the radio flyer wagon. my son's always loved his.
ReplyDeleteOh how lovely!! :D
ReplyDeleteOh I like that! Great dream.
ReplyDeleteOh what an amazing dream! You captured it so beautifully with your words. Unfortunately, colors are not very vivid usually in what dreams I remember. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletenow that's a ride! my grandma had a red convertible and I think she would would be standing in line to ride on your flyer--beautiful post-c
ReplyDelete