Poetry & Prose by Carol J Forrester
Just a murmur, a whisper,
that was all it was.
Passed like an injured bird,
cupped between your hands,
palms hollowed so not to crush its wings
heart a juddering drum beneath feathers.
It sang to me
like you did.
It gave me life.
It’s Quadrille night over at the dVerse Poets Pub. Tonight’s prompt is ‘murmur’.
Carol J Forrester is a writer and a history geek. Her debut collection 'It's All In The Blood' came out November 2019. She has a 2:1 BA degree in history from Bath Spa University, enjoys judo at least twice a week, and tries to attend poetry events around the Midlands when she can. Her flash fiction story ‘Glorious Silence’ was named as River Ram Press’ short story of the month for August 2014 and her short story ‘A Visit From The Fortune Teller’ has been showcased on the literary site Ink Pantry. Her poems ‘Sunsets’ and ‘Clear Out‘ were featured on Eyes Plus Words, and two of her poems were included in the DVerse Poets Pub Publication ‘Chiaroscuro’ which is available for purchase on amazon.Her poem ‘Until The Light Gets In‘ was accepted and published at The Drabble and her poem ‘Newborn’ was published by Ink Sweat & Tears. She has been lucky enough to write guest posts for sites such as Inky Tavern and Song of The Forlorn and has hosted a number of guest bloggers on her site Writing and Works. View all posts by Carol J Forrester
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Such a delicate image. Lovely.
Thank you.
This made me think of Emily Dickinson
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
I’d forgotten about that quote, perhaps it was lurking in the back of my head when I wrote this.
Such gorgeous word choices here.
LOVE:
“heart a juddering drum beneath feathers.”
Thank you.
Oh, this is exquisite. What an absolutely beautiful description for received words of hope……this is just an amazing write. And so grateful are we when we’re handed this one lovely word/gift of hope and yes, we nurture it, hold it close, protect it. I’m so reminded of my dear dear friend who battled ovarian cancer for two years. She would not give up. And when doctors said there was nothing more, she demanded more. She always held hope in her heart. I miss her.
I’m sorry for your loss Lillian, but she sounds like a wonderful person. Hope can be so fragile but it can also be so fierce. Well done to her for not giving in and demanding more.
Gorgeous work
Thank you.
“heart a juddering drum beneath feathers” … I love that. This is a wonderful poem.
Thank you Larkin.
That’s wonderful, a kind murmur, or whisper. The gentleness of this is such a stark contrast to the usual uses of the subject, sounds really cool!
I’m happy to hear you say that. Single word prompts are great for the diversity they can inspire.
Indeed,well done
My goodness…I am so touched by this. Thank you.
Pat
Thank you for the lovely comment.
“That’s all it was” ? Right. Read the last three lines, there’s a powerful poem beating underneath those feathers.
Thank you. Those last three lines were the ones I was least confident about. I was trying to make something work within the word count and they didn’t feel quite a smooth as the rest so I’m really happy to hear you enjoyed them.
You have given the readers a gentle song of hope. I can feel myself cupping the fragile bird in my palms.
I can’t describe how amazing that is to hear.
I am a sucker for birds and feathers, Carol, and fell in love with the images in your Quadrille:
‘cupped between your hands,
palms hollowed so not to crush its wings
heart a juddering drum beneath feathers’.
It’s the one bit of the poem that survived editing.
the ‘juddering drum’ makes it all so tenuous and tender
Thank you Laura. I was 100% on the use of juddering so I’m glad to hear it worked.
The murmurs of life, from the right person,are what keep us alive! Nice!!
Dwight
Thanks Dwight. You’re completely right.
I like the singing and giving life at the end.
Thanks Frank, I’m glad you liked it.
This feels like a precious song to a loved one, Carol.
Thank you Misky. That was what I was aiming for.
Once or twice I held a bird I was able to rescue from the cat and their hearts beating is just as you describe!
Beautiful!💖 This reminded me of Emily Dickinson.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers. 💖
Indeed our lives are nothing without hope. A short beautifully written poem.
Here’s a poem I wrote about HOPES and BELIEFS. It would mean a lot if you give it a read. 🙂 🙂
https://yourlifeyourchoicesyourways.wordpress.com/2018/02/24/the-lights/#more-175
Love this! So true!