Photo: healingfeet.com via Google Images
Thursday, 3PM EST, I’m hosting Meeting the Bar at dVerse Poets Pub where I invite you to join us with a descriptive poem that packs a wallop. Hope to see you there.
Running
You told me to take it easy.
“Deep breath,”
you said.
Early morning—
17 degrees outside.
Frost covers the deck
and grass crunches
beneath my feet.
Trees stand still,
stretching naked branches
toward the sinking moon.
But still, I chase
yesterday.
My computer is moribund–it’s croaked on me a few times in the last 24 hours I have one on order. In the event I don’t show up right away…:0(
Victoria C. Slotto, Author 
oh, i know that feeling of chasing yesterday!!!
enjoy your new computer when it comes!
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… as we so often do. Lovely!
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Chasing yesterday can be an exhausting pursuit.
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i am chasing yesterdays too.. while running towards tomorrow at the same time..
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it was so much warmer yesterday!!
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“But still, I chase
yesterday.”
Always.
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Love the details. I can hear the crunch of the frozen grass under your feet.
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Victoria, thank you so much for the visit and kind words–hope that your new computer comes soon–loved the crunch of your poem, used to run all the time–your words really took me back. And funny how those yesterdays are so hard to release, running used to make me let them go, though. 🙂
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It is hard to look ahead when the past still causes us to lose our breath isn’t it. I felt the cold rush through me in this one.
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..chasing yesterday…defines for me what I need to spend less time doing……a really smart poem;)
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Very powerful ending! I enjoyed this a lot. I think we often want to live in the past or in the future.
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Very nice, especially the ending, it left me impressed. 🙂
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So much said with so few words. A cameo.
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Superb little gem of a poem.
Hope you get your computer sorted…it’s maybe a bit like the way they sometimes smash the glass after drinking an outstandingly fine wine from it.
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from winter to spring. or here the grass is crunchy and brown in summer
and is soft again after autumn rain.
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really nice Victoria. I like this a lot. I hate it when things go wrong. When computers cause issues it really makes you realize how much we rely on them, hope yours holds out for you until your new one gets to you. Thanks
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Ha. Very well done. K.
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Such a weather can tempting or intimidating. But it worked beautifully in this verse! The computer ‘problems’ can be daunting ( been through with it before) but it’s ok here! Thanks for sharing Victoria!
Hank
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You can’t deep breath in 17 degrees of frozenness…your lungs will freeze.. I love the ending too…like a haiku that cuts to another angle.
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Awesome write, Victoria! I like it!
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Brilliant, got it down to a T, completely captured the moment.
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Almost sounds like the voice was from the past too, still caring, giving advice. I read much love in this piece, a deep love that takes decades. At least that’s what I read. I liked it much.
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Brave of you to run in such weather 😉 Chasing yesterday…cool!
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I felt the grass crunch as well– not sure why this line struck me most– perhaps because when we normally think of grass, we think ‘green, soft, picnic..’– but the juxtaposition here with “crunches” is superb. Nice read ~ Jason
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Excellent work here, crystal clear descriptions, a picture rendered in words. And a needed message to boot!
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It can be exhausting chasing yesterday…too far to go sometimes and the anxiety it causes too…wonderful write.
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Its winter cold here and I wouldn’t go out for even a walk ~
But I do like the turn at the end, so unexpected ~ A wonderful share Victoria ~
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why do we look back… great topic
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You would never catch me running when it’s 17 degrees outside, no matter how much I want to catch yesterday 😛
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To be honest, me neither. I’ve never been a runner and I hate the cold…which is why I migrate south to the desert in winter. :0) (I am a fiction writer, too!)
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Chasing yesterday…..yes, I get it! I think best thing is to give up the chase and take heed of today. (second comment of today…..your poem has multiple layers)
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I am really feeling this!
Yesterday is gone, though
Looking forward to Spring!
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So much time is wasted chasing yesterday – and what is worse, too often we are chasing the illusion of yesterday, not its reality. I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of images; the tree trying to capture the moon and you trying to recapture yesterday.
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Fabulous writing! And does pack a wallop!
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This is what I like so much about your poetry,” It does exactly what it says on the tin “. Thats a line from a tv advert that I believe describes your poetry so very very well.
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That’s crisp, very nice. Rising day and then night w branches, naked reaching. Lovely. I like because it has few words and it blends like poetry so quickly, just like the days we want to hold onto.
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A wonderful piece, full of wisdom & warmth. Six decades ago I chased tomorrow, before Viet Nam, before a failed career as an actor, before 3 marriages, so now I have yesterdays saddled, and have a firm grip on the future’s tether.
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chasing yesterday…if we could only let it get away…very nice.
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So many times we do chase yesterday… and fail to see the beauty in today.
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chasing yesterday… still trying to run these paths..not easy to take it easy sometimes… looking forward to meeting the bar – hope you get your computer issues solved…maybe the californian sun helps..smiles
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Descriptive verse is your forte, Victoria. This is delightful.
Sorry about the computer problems – I am experiencing multiple problems with laptop and (ancient|) pc. I foresee imminent expenditure. What is puzzling me is that most of my poetry etc is on my laptop, but none of the USB ports is working, so how do I copy it onto a hard disk which is lying idle?
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..there is a feeling of holding back from the past… a memory you can’t easily let go…. it’s like no matter how long you run and pursue on doing so the road seemed unchanging… i’ll save this for a better read the way it deserves… though enjoyed it now… smiles…
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chasing back those things of warmth …..
I do chase sometimes…. Nice! Loved….
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I like the twist at the end. Really packs meaning in just those words — “Chase yesterday”, causes one to cast a look back. I think I had an experience like that. I used to be able to run long distance, if I try to train myself up now, I wonder if I could do it again…but I couldn’t quite be as I was before. Interesting thoughts from this one.
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ack, i hope the computer issues go away….i am working on mine…think i have it figured out…smiles…we will see in the morning… smiles….yesterday as in your youth…or yesterday as in memory…i take it the first in this one as with the take it easy you start with…
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I know that crunch firsthand. You really captured the feeling of the intense cold winter day.
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Ohhh–this, I really, really like. I bet you almost caught it too.
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