Wonderful Alien

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

Wonderful Alien

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.

Morning Glory on the Vine: Early Songs and Drawings (Hardback)

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.

Also linked up to What’s Going On? on the topic of miracles on Wednesday 3rd April 2024. Not only was Lucas a miracle, he has been joined by Louie, who will be two on Halloween this year.

58 thoughts on “Wonderful Alien”

  2. 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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  4. 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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    1. 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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  6. 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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  7. 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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  9. 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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  20. I had to search your writing and your explanation for a while to discover what miracle was being described, and alas I discovered it — smiles–children are miracles indeed! And seeing through a child’s eyes is a special gift.

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    1. Thanks Shay. I’m enjoying playing with all sorts of games and toys when I visit. I can’t wait for warmer weather, when we can go to the park. There’s nothing better than swings and a slide!

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  28. To see through the eyes of a child the wonder in the world is no small miracle. And then to become an alien one’s self, another. I loved this poem, Kim. Praise God for Lucas, Louie, and their mother!

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  29. “

    Wide-eyed and full of wonder,
    you hold my hand and guide me

    through your world.”…..How sweet this is, Kim!! This feeling of wonder is a miracle. May this feeling last forever. SO delightful to read.

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