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The constant onlooker

May 29, 2010
By Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
More by this author
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

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I know an old man who lives down the lane
With a wrinkled, old face and a thin, wooden cane
From time to another, will waver an inch
But never is he known to rise from his bench

His face a still surface and a window for his eye
Content to be the witness of the world gliding by
As it croons its happy-sad, slow melody to him
A mind gently swaying to the never-ending rhythm

The fellow sits there all the morning to watch the dawn of day
Our sun is climbing through its realm to find its daily stay
Dabbed, the old man’s feet, by diamond drops of dew
On the face of all around the lane is brushed a brighter hue
Creatures, every breed, deliver their new-day song
A happy heart frolics with them all along
Persons stir from in their homes; call down the lane to say
“Good morning!’ to the one who always sees the dawn of day

He sits there all the afternoon to watch the noontime of day
Colors flit ‘round and ‘round to brightly lead the eyes astray
A hand of warmth envelops him throughout the lengthy hours
He sups the sun with budding leaves and blooming flowers
Blithe butterflies flutter; the aged trees creak and sway
A smile in the air when the children come to play
Majestic clouds bow low to him, only to swirl away
Bow low to the one who always sees the heart of day

He sits there all the evening to watch the close of day
Through windows of homes, to glimpse the folks that pray
But darkness crawls across the sky, keeps the light at bay
Lonely silence lingers when Day’s last sparks die away
Save a twinkle from dark depths; the stars have come to stay!
Light, darkness, silence, sound- skipping hand in hand
Beautifully joyous in the dusk-to-dawn band
A worn face in the shadows observes the array
The face of the one who always sees the close of day

Everyday

And feels Spring’s lively cheers
And Winter wielding chilly tears
And Summer with its golden grin
And Autumn with its crispy skin

The world so heartily embraced
By the wrinkled, old man
Who sits on a bench
And lives down the lane

© Christopher M., El Paso, TX

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This article has 42 comments.

SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND said...
on Mar. 29 2013 at 11:10 pm
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND, Islamabad, Other
75 articles 16 photos 1136 comments

Favorite Quote:
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou
When i was little/I used to point a chubby finger toward the dark sky/And ask my father/why some stars moved and others didn’t/He would laugh and explain that some were airplanes/I still wish on them today ~ Laugh-It-Out
The feathers of a crow are black/The ink of my pen is blacker/The pain of my heart is blackest~ Mckay
If love produced a blossom/I’d take it in my palm/What a blessing, the bright color!/How soothing, such a balm!/I’d keep a petal for my own/The rest, drop from my hands/For such a flower would multiply/And populate the lands~ thesilentraven
And I began to rival legends/Long entombed before my birth./But for all my much envied fame/The lust for more would not abate./The plaques and prizes with my name/Will, like all things, disintegrate. ~ TheEpic95 now known as Helena_Noel

View profile
God, Look at all my typos.
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND said...
on Mar. 29 2013 at 11:04 pm
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND, Islamabad, Other
75 articles 16 photos 1136 comments

Favorite Quote:
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou
When i was little/I used to point a chubby finger toward the dark sky/And ask my father/why some stars moved and others didn’t/He would laugh and explain that some were airplanes/I still wish on them today ~ Laugh-It-Out
The feathers of a crow are black/The ink of my pen is blacker/The pain of my heart is blackest~ Mckay
If love produced a blossom/I’d take it in my palm/What a blessing, the bright color!/How soothing, such a balm!/I’d keep a petal for my own/The rest, drop from my hands/For such a flower would multiply/And populate the lands~ thesilentraven
And I began to rival legends/Long entombed before my birth./But for all my much envied fame/The lust for more would not abate./The plaques and prizes with my name/Will, like all things, disintegrate. ~ TheEpic95 now known as Helena_Noel

View profile
And I didn't really expect you to actually reply because I'd read around TeenInk that you'd left. All I hoped for was that you might read it and it might bring a smile to your face. I'm so so glad that you actually came back on just to reply to me. Thank You.
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND said...
on Mar. 29 2013 at 11:03 pm
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND, Islamabad, Other
75 articles 16 photos 1136 comments

Favorite Quote:
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou
When i was little/I used to point a chubby finger toward the dark sky/And ask my father/why some stars moved and others didn’t/He would laugh and explain that some were airplanes/I still wish on them today ~ Laugh-It-Out
The feathers of a crow are black/The ink of my pen is blacker/The pain of my heart is blackest~ Mckay
If love produced a blossom/I’d take it in my palm/What a blessing, the bright color!/How soothing, such a balm!/I’d keep a petal for my own/The rest, drop from my hands/For such a flower would multiply/And populate the lands~ thesilentraven
And I began to rival legends/Long entombed before my birth./But for all my much envied fame/The lust for more would not abate./The plaques and prizes with my name/Will, like all things, disintegrate. ~ TheEpic95 now known as Helena_Noel

View profile
"The Little Things That Matter", "Life Is To Live" "A Poetess, I?" Maybe only three are enough......besides you can see them if you have some time and then if you like them, pick whatever random title looks interesting and read it. I'd consider myself really fortunate.... Thank You, Raven.
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND said...
on Mar. 29 2013 at 10:52 pm
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND, Islamabad, Other
75 articles 16 photos 1136 comments

Favorite Quote:
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou
When i was little/I used to point a chubby finger toward the dark sky/And ask my father/why some stars moved and others didn’t/He would laugh and explain that some were airplanes/I still wish on them today ~ Laugh-It-Out
The feathers of a crow are black/The ink of my pen is blacker/The pain of my heart is blackest~ Mckay
If love produced a blossom/I’d take it in my palm/What a blessing, the bright color!/How soothing, such a balm!/I’d keep a petal for my own/The rest, drop from my hands/For such a flower would multiply/And populate the lands~ thesilentraven
And I began to rival legends/Long entombed before my birth./But for all my much envied fame/The lust for more would not abate./The plaques and prizes with my name/Will, like all things, disintegrate. ~ TheEpic95 now known as Helena_Noel

View profile
It made me smile the way you said "TeenInk career"...I really don't know if I'll ever be half as good as that, I just write my heart out and try to see if other people think my heart is worth being paid attention to or delicately handled or just roughly cast aside... AND believe me, you truly do deserve all this. Despite me crying for the fact that it isn't much to say, you think I've given you kind words and I'm happy that I made someone else happy but really it was completely honest and those are my exact thoughts as I read your piece. It was never meant to be anything other than a gift and I'm glad you liked your gift.  Well, I don't know which ones,, wait I'll see which ones of mine I've posted then get back here and tell you, but don't worry, I do not expect you to come up with feedback for it all, if only you were to read some, it would be an honour. 
Thesilentraven PLATINUM said...
on Mar. 29 2013 at 4:06 pm
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

View profile
Hmm, I really know what you mean about first getting on to Teenink--at the start, I doubt that anyone really wants to read everyone else's work as much as they want everyone else to read their own. But I, personally, don't think I would have grown as much as a writer had I not read all of the poems and essays and stories which other kids have posted up here. So I admire you for taking that initiative so soon into your Teenink career. I stopped going on Teenink a while ago, but I've been getting all of these kind comments from you, I needed to thank you for them. I'm so grateful to you for taking the time to read my poems and ponder them and then give me feedback (I only wish that I deserved half of the compliments you've given me).  If you like, I'd be happy to read and comment on a couple of your pieces, just say the word--and tell me which ones. But good luck with those exams, and a thousand thanks for the many gifts you have given me!
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND said...
on Mar. 20 2013 at 5:32 am
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND, Islamabad, Other
75 articles 16 photos 1136 comments

Favorite Quote:
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou
When i was little/I used to point a chubby finger toward the dark sky/And ask my father/why some stars moved and others didn’t/He would laugh and explain that some were airplanes/I still wish on them today ~ Laugh-It-Out
The feathers of a crow are black/The ink of my pen is blacker/The pain of my heart is blackest~ Mckay
If love produced a blossom/I’d take it in my palm/What a blessing, the bright color!/How soothing, such a balm!/I’d keep a petal for my own/The rest, drop from my hands/For such a flower would multiply/And populate the lands~ thesilentraven
And I began to rival legends/Long entombed before my birth./But for all my much envied fame/The lust for more would not abate./The plaques and prizes with my name/Will, like all things, disintegrate. ~ TheEpic95 now known as Helena_Noel

View profile
You've just made my love for poetry in general get multiplied by ten thousand knowing that there are suc amazing composings out there just waiting to be unleashed and to race back and forth in my head.
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND said...
on Mar. 20 2013 at 5:27 am
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND, Islamabad, Other
75 articles 16 photos 1136 comments

Favorite Quote:
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou
When i was little/I used to point a chubby finger toward the dark sky/And ask my father/why some stars moved and others didn’t/He would laugh and explain that some were airplanes/I still wish on them today ~ Laugh-It-Out
The feathers of a crow are black/The ink of my pen is blacker/The pain of my heart is blackest~ Mckay
If love produced a blossom/I’d take it in my palm/What a blessing, the bright color!/How soothing, such a balm!/I’d keep a petal for my own/The rest, drop from my hands/For such a flower would multiply/And populate the lands~ thesilentraven
And I began to rival legends/Long entombed before my birth./But for all my much envied fame/The lust for more would not abate./The plaques and prizes with my name/Will, like all things, disintegrate. ~ TheEpic95 now known as Helena_Noel

View profile
You know when I first found out about Teenink, which was only 2 months and 8 days ago to be exact, I mostly wanted to share my stuff with this whole new world that had opened up to me, then I started to take some quality time out for reading all the wonderful stuff people put on here,..and one day I stumbled upon one of your pieces, I was blown away! You're like SO SO good at this, really if you ever do publish a book PLLLEEAASE let me know. I'd definitey want to get it instantly.  Right now I'm half thinking of saving all your work as a pdf file , as in ebook form and read it like a proper book...but got exams going, maybe I'll do that in June.  Anyway LOVE this poem and can't wait to read the rest. You're amazing!
The Silent Raven said...
on Jan. 21 2012 at 1:31 pm
Many thanks, for this compliment and all the others. You are more wonderful than you know to leave me with memories of your poetic and insightful words.
RedFeather GOLD said...
on Jan. 7 2012 at 7:50 am
RedFeather GOLD, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
12 articles 0 photos 155 comments

Favorite Quote:
Prose is like walking but poetry is like dancing.
—Paul Valery, poet (1871 - 1945)

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Seeing that this is your earliest poem, I had expected it to fall short of the more recent posts of yours, but it didn't. Besides the last stanza, where your rhyming pattern stopped and the words forgot to sound the same, it was just as good as some of your other poems.
leafy said...
on Dec. 21 2011 at 3:08 pm
leafy, City, Other
0 articles 0 photos 682 comments

Favorite Quote:
Gil: I would like you to read my novel and get your opinion. 
Ernest Hemingway: I hate it. 
Gil: You haven't even read it yet. 
Ernest Hemingway: If it's bad, I'll hate it. If it's good, then I'll be envious and hate it even more. You don't want the opinion of another writer. 

View profile
Despite my perversion to long-lined poetry, I seem not to get enough of this. Despite that this is one of your earlier poems, it is still amazing. Again, job well done, Raven.
Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Aug. 15 2011 at 2:05 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

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Yeah.

I actually went back to see Raven's poems(which one I thought reminded me of The Green Mile) and it turned out to be the first one! :)

savetheplanet PLATINUM said...
on Aug. 15 2011 at 12:51 pm
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

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Aderes:

 

There!  That's where, I remember you commented on one of my poems and said it was like The Green Mile and you couldn't remember where you'd said it before.

Thesilentraven PLATINUM said...
on Aug. 14 2011 at 7:17 pm
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

View profile
Oh, a wonderful compliment. I very much agree, The Green Mile has such timelessness, that it is almost a little tragic (at least, tragic for Tom Hanks).
Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Aug. 14 2011 at 5:32 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

View profile
This is the poem that reminds me of The Green Mile, they both have that timelessness, that no matter what happens, it stands still in time. That movie has that effect and so does this poem too!
Thesilentraven PLATINUM said...
on Aug. 9 2011 at 11:35 am
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

View profile

Oddly enough; I accidentally sent this one in twice (one as The Silent Raven and one by mail). The one in the mail got published, and this one didn't!

Of course I'll check them out.

savetheplanet PLATINUM said...
on Aug. 8 2011 at 6:34 pm
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

View profile
I'm waiting on a couple of my poems to get posted on their website, "Limitless" and "A Symphony of Silence".  Could you check them out when they go up?
savetheplanet PLATINUM said...
on Aug. 8 2011 at 6:32 pm
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

View profile
I simply don't understand how you weren't published at least once.  I love how you see the world through old eyes.
Thesilentraven PLATINUM said...
on Jul. 23 2011 at 10:55 am
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

View profile

Many thanks. This is the first poem I ever wrote.

I am one of many, including you it seems, who is often bewildered by the choice of poems in the magazine.

Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Jul. 23 2011 at 2:15 am
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

View profile

Another fabulous poem. :)

Shame on Teen Ink for not publishing you and other talented authors. I think it depends on the time you put in it.

A_shy_dove GOLD said...
on Oct. 7 2010 at 9:45 am
A_shy_dove GOLD, Hubli, Other
10 articles 1 photo 76 comments

Favorite Quote:
Never compare your life with others, as you have no idea what their journey is all about.

View profile
Everything you create is a good source of enjoyment which always manages to crawl deep in my heart.