Wide-eyed and full of wonder,
you hold my hand and guide me
through your world. I can only blunder,
an ancient alien who has lived here
too long to appreciate a single leaf,
a muddy pebble or the sun on water.
Now I have your eyes to discover
the beautiful among the fearful,
forget for a while the turmoil
and enjoy being an alien – wonderful!
Kim M. Russell, 14th January 2020
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: Last Lines
Mish is our Poetics host this Tuesday and she invites us to pull up a chair and ponder some last lines of books. She has given us three options:
Choose books that are physically close to us, turn to the LAST page, read the last one or two lines, let these words stir our poetic souls and write poems;
or
choose from quotes she has given us;
or
choose closing lines from an assortment of best sellers, for which she has provided a link.
Mish asks us to include quote, book and author in our responses. She says that we can incorporate the lines (quoted) directly into our poems if we wish, we could write a haibun, or think outside of box and take our ‘last lines’ to a completely different topic, using any style of poetry we wish.
My last lines come from my favourite Christmas present from my husband, the beautiful book Morning Glory on the Vine, Joni Mitchell’s early songs and drawings, which was originally a Christmas present from her to her close friends in 1971.
The last lines are:
‘I’m thinking, “And it takes you
Through your own world
As an alien – fearful and full of wonder.”
The image is of my 22 month-old grandson showing my daughter around Winchester Cathedral a few days before Christmas.
writing in north norfolk 
I love how both your poem and Mish’s took me to childhood and how precious it is.. Two different quotes but what a similar result.
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Thank you, Bjorn. That’s the way it should be.
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How lovely, Kim. It’s good to be reminded of how wonderful the world is. Before I had children, I watched a child pick up a brightly coloured autumn leaf, and heard her mother screech at her to “put it down – it’s dirty”. I vowed never to do that. I did, of course – parenting has failure built in – but I tried hard not to.
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One of the many good things about being a grandmother is seeing the world through a child’s eyes again.
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When you know you are an alien, everything is a source of wonder.
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Yes. 👾
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An intimate and uplifting sharing of the wonder of your grandchild, Kim. That Joni book looks like one I need to get ahold of. She’s an amazing human being/artist. Your hub knows you well.
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Thank you, Jade. You can get the Joni book on Amazon. I still have a book of her music from when I was a teenager. Her style of playing guitar is complex and intricate. She is such a talented woman with her poetry and lyrics, the various instruments she plays, and her art.
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A beautiful poem of rediscovering wonder.
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Thank you, Joseph.
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I love me some Joni Mitchell; even in her old age, after she settled into being a jazz singer. Grandchildren are gifts from the universe, and your POV through their eyes is bang on and up-lifting. Joni got me through the 60’s
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Thank you, Glenn. I’m looking forward to visiting Planet Lucas again in March!
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Oh, how I love this! I knew it might be a child, even before I scrolled all the way down. DELIGHTED.
Love these lines, especially:
“an ancient alien who has lived here
too long to appreciate a single leaf,
a muddy pebble or the sun on water.”
…and they make me happy to realize that for some reason, while I might have lost my wonder for many things, nature is not one of them. I still giggle with delight over these things, and still talk out loud to all kinds of animals, the moon and the sun. 😉
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Thank you, De! 🙂
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Good observation about being too accustomed to what’s around us: “who has lived here
too long to appreciate a single leaf,
a muddy pebble or the sun on water.”
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Thanks Frank!
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Life progressing does that to aging ones, yes we become aliens to new and interesting cultures crafted by generations of our children. The secret though is not to alienate ourselves.
Nice poem
Much✏love
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Thanks Gillena! @)
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OH how we both wandered into wonder! Love it. We all need to re-visit our toddler brains, look at the world, unmarred by judgement, with open eyes, minds and hearts.
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Thank you, Mish!
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How amazing it is to be a stranger in a strange land – I loved your trip to wonder.
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Thank you, Toni.
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A wonderful post, Kim! Sometimes it takes a child’s eyes to discover the wonder in something as simple as a mud puddle! 🙂
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I look forward to being an alien again in march, when he will be two!
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I love the way children look at the world. Beautiful Kim.
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Thank you, Linda.
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Oh, would that we could see our own world through the eyes of another! Great thought to ponder.
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Thank you, Bev.
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kaykuala
Beautiful words Kim. Very apt last line adaptation. That pic transcending 2 generations touched my heart,, Ma’am!
Hank
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Thanks Hank!
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I love the wonderful newness of seeing the world through fresh eyes.😊
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Thank you, Viv. 😊
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Nice launch from the word alien.
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Thank you.
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Amazing
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Thank you so much!
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