Sunday, July 15, 2012

Repost - To a friend of many names


One Single Impression has a prompt 'Friend'.  
I wrote this many years ago, while working in Stockton-on-Tees, UK.
It was my first attempt at an (almost) free-form poem..

To a friend of many names.

You touched me once,
In passing;
You probably don't remember,
But I recall it well.

You touched me once,
In passing,
And as you continued on your way
Left a special imprint,
A mark upon the clay that you
And others like you
Have moulded into me.
I reacted to your presence,
To your coming and your going,
With suble little changes
That only I can see.
You shaped my thoughts and standards
Then continued moving on;
Probably never knowing
That I could see where you had been
Long after you had gone.

Yes, you touched me once.

In passing.

You probably don't remember
But I recall it well.
.
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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
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25 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 15, 2012

    Beautifully written, deeply felt.
    McGuffy's Reader
    http://www.mcguffysreader.blogspot.com

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  2. J Cosmo,

    Beautiful sentiments

    I have such friends as well.

    This poem touches me deeply.

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  3. AnonymousJuly 15, 2012

    So very moving.

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  4. AnonymousJuly 15, 2012

    Nice use of a refrain. Lovely.

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  5. Brilliant, J.C. Brilliant.

    Someone who made an important contribution to your life, and who you still love.

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  6. We meet many but only few make difference. Very well put.

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  7. Thinking of someone dear to you is a blessing that rubs on to you. She appears to be still in relationship. It's invariably rewarding in time. Great write Cosmo!

    Hank

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  8. very poignant. i certainly experienced this feeling too.

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  9. Some people can be in our lives for such a fleeting moment and yet, their influence has such a deep impact in us that is permanent. It seems this person was one such just like that. If the influence is a good one, I tend to call them our living Angels.
    Loved this J Cosmo. Tender, deep and very lovely poetry.

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  10. Very nice poem about the influences of friendship!

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  11. AnonymousJuly 15, 2012

    beautifully said!

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  12. So beautiful dear J Cosmo, some people do come into our lives and touch us in a very special way, so much so that we never forget them and how they changed our lives.
    xoxoxo ♡

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  13. Lovely. And it's wonderful that you were in the moment when that (and the many) someone passed by and you saw. So many of us don't.

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  14. Very beautifully written !!! Loved it !!!

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  15. I wish that he/she could remember the encounter, because the writer and narrator can write some wonderful poetry....

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  16. For a first attempt at free poetry, it is quite exceptional. I think you've touched an emotional nerve here, reading the responses. It seems to be one of those universal experiences (which we hope are good), and meets some of our deeper needs to believe we mean something to someone.

    None of us want to be forgotten.

    xxx

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  17. RDG: Thank you. It was originally written when I was backpacking and meeting lots of people, briefly.

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  18. You're welcome. I, in turn, appreciate the back story.

    xxx

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  19. I'm really enjoying your work. I keep jumping from poem to poem. Your words flow so naturally and it's easy to enter and lose one's self. Great work.

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  20. "footprints on the sands of time"

    Longfellow

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  21. a friend is everything we get strangely..

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  22. Lovely, nostalgic, and poignant. Sigh. I have so been there!

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