I wrote this poem: Speaking in Tongues

Posted on Saturday, March 29th, 2008 in poems Tags: ,

I’m on a mad poetry-writing roll at the moment, in a way that I haven’t seen since for at least 15 years. I’m enjoying it. Random lines keep springing into my head (like the first one of this poem) and hanging round, shouting at me to write them into a poem. So I do. This one was mostly composed during my drive home yesterday, and then written down as soon as I got home.

Speaking in Tongues

Love is a language
scribbled on the sky
in glowing sunset clouds.

We grasp for meaning
and tangle our tongues
in words both fierce and foolish.

A touch is a word,
a kiss is a sentence,
and day by day we learn
the story of each other.

© 2008 C Sharp

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7 Responses to 'I wrote this poem: Speaking in Tongues'

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  1. no imageFrancis Scudellari (Who am I?) said,

    on March 29th, 2008 at 3:14 pm

    That’s really beautiful. Keep listening to the shouts and let the words flow. It’s a great experience when they come so easily.

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    		2.9
  2. no imageGregorio (Who am I?) said,

    on March 29th, 2008 at 5:43 pm

    Real nice poem.Spontaneity is the best type of inspiration for any artist.I’m a painter and I love the pieces that just come.Its like a Zen flash,you always have to run with it.Keep up the good work and take care. :)

    Rate this:
    		3.0
  3. no imageKen Armstrong (Who am I?) said,

    on March 29th, 2008 at 6:38 pm

    You write good poems!

    I’m going to say something about this one - you can delete the comment if you want, I won’t mind :)

    It’s just that the first stanza feels (to me) like it’s from a different poem.

    Whilst the second two stanzas stand together as a complete (and striking) poem in themselves.

    Rate this:
    		2.8
  4. no imageCatherine (Who am I?) said,

    on March 29th, 2008 at 9:13 pm

    Thanks for the compliments and encouragements.
    And Ken, you’re right about the stanzas not really fitting - I felt that when writing it. Specifically for me, the second two lines of the first stanza don’t fit although it’s the middle line that really inspired this poem. I read it all when I’d put the words down, and re-read it, and couldn’t see how to change it without making it worse or losing bits, so I signed it off as is.
    Maybe I could try taking the first stanza again and write something else to follow it, and/or rewrite it to fit the rest. I might just do that. But tomorrow. :)

    Rate this:
    		2.5
  5. no imagerobert bourne (Who am I?) said,

    on March 29th, 2008 at 10:00 pm

    I enjoyed this..a touch is a word..a kiss is a sentence

    Rate this:
    		2.9
  6. no imageKen Armstrong (Who am I?) said,

    on March 30th, 2008 at 10:59 am

    Interesting reply. It kind of illustrates how the theme of a piece of writing doesn’t always become apparent to the writer until some way into the writing.

    The first verse started the flow but, for me, the theme is in verses 2 and 3 and those verses work SO well as a poem IMHO.

    Rate this:
    		2.8
  7. no imageCatherine (Who am I?) said,

    on March 31st, 2008 at 9:55 pm

    I woke up yesterday morning with this poem - or its fragments, anyway - on my mind, and decided that that the first part works alone as an almost-haiku, and as you said, Ken, the second two stanzas work nicely together.
    So my current plan is to hang on to them as parts of a poem which basically riffs on the ‘love as a language’ theme, and will have other parts as well. Once I have the right inspiration for them, anyway.
    Thanks for the constructive criticism, it’s really appreciated.

    Rate this:
    		2.5

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