Tags
a conversation with myself, brook, ducks, Forty Hall, geese, hearts, love, metaphor, mysteries, nature, romance, smile, the lake at Forty Hall, whispers, wildlife
Credit: Google Images – Forty Hall
I have watched you for a while
I feel I know what makes you smile
I’ve cast around in the deep,
deep places before I sleep
And I’m convinced I know
And of this I’m sure
It’s the laughing brook
Where first we took
Some time to unravel
(Our footsteps crunching on the gravel)
The mysteries surrounding us
What lays hidden in the dust?
You and I can never be sure
And search we might for ever more
But this I know and cannot deny
That all that’s hidden will come to light
And that’s what makes you smile my love
The mysteries hidden in heaven above
And the laughing brook
Where first we took
Those faltering steps
And our hearts leapt
Whispers gently all the while
That is what makes you smile
~ Marie Williams – 2017
NB: clicking on the image gives a more enchanting view.
ComeFlywithme 
This is so beautiful! I am of the humble opinion that our lives would be much better if we use up our time also in squandering smiles. Whole lot of smiles…💚
This is a truly enchanting view, worth a hundred smiles. Thank you!
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Dear Iulia thank you so much for your kind words. I agree with you – ‘squandering’ smiles is a lovely expression – pun intended!
Whole lot of smiles back to you …💚💚
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You are most welcome! Of course I had in mind “squandering time”, but it is far better to squander smiles 🙂
Thank you! 💚💚
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“Squandering time” or “squandering smiles”? Who cares?? :))) You’re bound to benefit either way! And of course ‘squandering’ in this sense doesn’t mean wasting it – it means being generous, doesn’t it Iulia? LOL ❤❤
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You are right, Cherry. Nobody cares as long as it is about giving :)))) 💜💜💜
Have a lovely warm Saturday!
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💜💜💜
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Hello Iulia and Marie,
Indeed! Let’s hope that we shall continue to be blessed with squandering smiles and lavishing laughs more often in our lives, perhaps aided from time to time by an assortment of teasing, joking, mocking, wit and humour, a fraction of which can be sampled at https://soundeagle.wordpress.com/humour/
Happy December to you!
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Thank you SoundEagle for visiting and spreading a little joy! And yes, I will pay you a visit soon. Happy December to you too! 🙂
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So simple, and this is of course when happiness delights us the most. ❤
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Thank you Bela. Spending time alone with one’s thoughts and meditating in and on nature certainly brings happiness. Love to you❤
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❤ ❤ ❤
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Hi Bela – you’re up! I’m just off to bed now. Hope you have a lovely day/week ahead. ❤
ps. typed a comment on your ‘menopause post’ (The Wisdom of the Ages) earlier which vanished – too irritated to re-type! lol
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Lovely. You evoke a place of peace. ❤
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Thank you Anna. It’s so important to be kind to yourself, speak lovingly and to treat yourself, especially when that may have been lacking – therein you can find peace. ❤
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Yes, truly this poem is peaceful and lovely. Thank you, Marie.
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Thank you Michele. I am smiling at your lovely comment.:)
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Agreeing with Michele and sharing a sophisticated and very moving version of Charlie Chaplin’s song sung by Barbra Streisand:
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Thanks SoundEagle. These are such uplifting words and thanks for reminding us of them. 🙂
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You are very welcome, Marie! Your poem is quite sophisticated and even somewhat polysemous at various points, which require several readings. In any case, I have savoured your “Smile” poem several times. Perhaps someone will reblog your post just as you had reblogged the post of Kenzie O’Hara (agoodlittlegirl). Regardless, SoundEagle find your poem compelling enough to read several times and to leave you multiple comments and a specially chosen video.
I am definitely going to find the time today to further improve the post at https://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/soundeagle-in-earth-day/, as you mentioned a few days ago that you will visit it soon.
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You are very kind – thank you for reading so many times and for seeing that the interpretation is multi-layered. 🙂
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Given your experience in, and penchant for, writing poems, SoundEagle hopes that you will kindly critique my poems, especially the two that you have just visited, the one about the moon and the other one about snowflakes. Thank you in anticipation. 🙂
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SoundEagle, one swallow does not a summer make. I am no expert where poetry writing is concerned. If it makes you happy I’ll pop over again and leave a comment. 🙂 It might not be tonight though, but soon …
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It would be a great delight if both https://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/%e2%9d%84-%e2%9d%85-%e2%9d%86-snowflakes-tell-me-why-you-are/ as well as https://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/if-my-name-were-moon-tonight/ were to receive your thorough critiques after you have had a good rejuvenation in the slumberland . . . . . .
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Hi Marie,
You must have quite a moment of inspiration as your poem “Smile” was being composed. I wonder how long it took you to write. There seems to be a confluence of balance in the atmospheres, feelings and thoughts that it conveys as one reads through it at various speeds.
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The inspiration for the poem came at least two weeks before I wrote it – it was while walking in the grounds of ‘Forty Hall’ (pictured above), and whilst there was no ‘brook’ as such, but a beautiful lake, as I sat on one of the benches dedicated to a couple who lived in the 18/19 centuries called ‘Soule’ (believe it or not!), I let my imagination run wild …
Thanks (again) Soundeagle for seeing so much, which on the face (no pun intended) of it appears to be very simple.
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Hello Marie,
It is delightful that you were able to capture and immortalize those moods, moments and milieus (the 3Ms) so imaginatively in your “Smile” poem.
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Why thank you SE!:) And as I believe in life after death, I somehow hope the couple (long dead R.I.P.) who inspired it are immortalized too.
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Marie, I would like to offer a suggestion: Given the significance of the top photo showing the grounds of ‘Forty Hall’, perhaps you could make the photo larger.
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how do you do that?
the only other way I found was actually clicking on it. I’m hopeless at fiddling around with picture sizes lol
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Unfortunately, this is not something that can be easily explained via comments. Perhaps you can seek help from the WordPress support site. Alternatively, use a larger photo to start with.
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I did use a larger photo to start with, but when I imported it into the post it ‘shrunk’ lol I’ll check with WP for the next significant post – but until then, hopefully readers will see the ‘NB’ at the end!
Are we on the same time – or don’t you sleep? Whatever hour of day I reply – you respond also. 🙂
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It is SoundEagle at your command, as far as possible. 😉
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SE are we having a blogmance? lol
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Not quite, Marie, as you are not (yet) a follower of https://soundeagle.wordpress.com
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SE I will not be coerced! lol Any relationship we have or might have has to be unconditional.
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There has never been any coercion, merely pointing out the asymmetry.
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Perspective, dear Watson – perspective!
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Consilience, dear Sherlock, and commitment!
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It took you a while to come up with that dear Watson. I hope you weren’t sleeping on the job! Consilience and commitment are not qualities I would associate with such a short union – that must come when one has proved oneself, my good man!
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Are you saying that SoundEagle has to prove itself to you in these regards? It seems that it is a very short step from mentioning coercion earlier to mentioning proof just now.
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I’m not suggesting anything as such SE, but what I am saying is that were the relationship to become binding then I would expect a modicum of an intention in that direction. One cannot expect any union to flourish based on coercion, consilience and commitment without first establishing some degree of trust. I hope I make myself plain.
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Of course, that goes without saying. There are plenty of grounds and evidences to establish and/or seek trust. After all, and it is vastly and plainly evident that a website and its contents reflect the person, and there are plenty of opportunities for you to see and experience for yourself just what kind of creature SoundEagle has been by sufficiently scrutinizing the website (including how SoundEagle has been interacting with others at the comment sections of various posts and pages), regardless of whether or not we have ever exchanged words and comments.
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I do ‘scrutinize’ your website SE, and as I have previously said, it’s quite dazzling (and even that is a bit of an understatement). I would be grateful if you would allow me to continue to do so at my own pace, rather than bow to your kind invitation to follow you at the moment. I would say, on reflection (no pun intended) that you are larger than life and I am a bit of an introvert – so let’s leave it at that for the moment shall we? I’ll visit when I feel inclined to so and you are at liberty to visit as often as you wish. I think that’s a good compromise, don’t you? 🙂 Have a good weekend SE!
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Thank you for your kind words, Marie, and for being caring, sensitive and diplomatic towards SoundEagle and also others, regardless of your proclaimed introverted nature.
Please kindly allow SoundEagle to clarify that there has never been any coercion, invitation and/or compromise viz a viz following SoundEagle’s blog, as you can concretely ascertain from/by ‘scrutinizing’ all of SoundEagle’s comments written at both of our blogs.
Moreover, there have always been considerable levels and elements of consilience and commitment from SoundEagle, not just in the comments (whether those are directed towards you or other people) but also in many other aspects of what SoundEagle has created and presented throughout its main website and a few other more significant ones.
By the way, I examine your top image and found that its width=”300″ and height=”210″. There is a way to resize the image in your editor by clicking on the image to change the Display Settings.
May you have a lovely (but not necessarily short and sweet) weekend, Marie!
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Thank you for your considerate message SE. I hope you did not feel as if your comments offended me in anyway. The thing is, sometimes (not always), words can be deceptive and emotions are not apparent when trying to convey a message. Most of our exchanges yesterday were (for me, personally) of a light-hearted nature – so all that stuff about conciliation, commitment and coercion weren’t meant to be taken too seriously, but I see that you may have taken them to heart – and for this, I’d like to say, I hope you were not disturbed.
Now, thank you for the advice about the image – I’ll try that!
And I hope you have a lovely weekend too and hope also, that we get to chat again soon. :)x
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Thank you, Marie. Good morning to you!
By the way, consilience is not the same as conciliation at all. May you have a very nice Saturday . . . . . ❤
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Sorry, it’s early morning – I typed the wrong word. But thank you for pointing out my mistake. But perhaps, subliminally, conciliation was taking place … ❤❤
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Whilst I am enjoying this conversation, albeit entirely unexpected, SE, and in the persona of someone out of a ‘Jane Austen’ novel. I have a sinkful of dirty dishes which is pressing me to attend to them forthwith. Lovely chatting! 😉
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I too am smiling. Thank you for your beautifully written poems.
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Aww you are too kind … thank you so much.
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Beautifully written. It made me smile
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