I am delighted to have the chance to feature another one of Thalia Gust’s poems. Enjoy the walk with her.
Gracious Lady
I met a gracious lady, she smiled, light lit her eyes,
I dropped a pretty curtsy, to the wise woman.
A curtsy learnt from childhood, showing honour and respect.
Do we really honour those older and wiser, fully enough?
The Lady spoke to me, we shared
experiences of life.
We shared joys, pains and love.
Her road was a gilded one but her heart had bled.
I know my mother would love this lady, enough said.
Walking among the roses, we talked
about our children with humour and delight.
About countries and people, about peace and war,
About the sky, the ocean and nature’s force.
We found unity.
I walked up the mountain in a far away land
met a Shepherd, resting with his flock.
You have come, he said, seeking long,
please sit down and share my fare.
Quietly I did as the old man asked.
We talked in stillness about life,
its passions and griefs, its beauty and joy.
What can you hear, the old man asked,
I was quiet for a while, then said
The mountain stream, the wind through the grass.
The old man smiled and his eyes shone bright.
You have come a long way, he said
thus you found the core of joy.
Never forget the mountain stream, the wind
Let stillness and wonder live in your soul.
© Thalia Gust.
Annika Perry 
Such a metaphysical voyage with real corollaries, so to speak… beautiful prose-poem.. It really resonated with me…Sending you all my best wishes!. Aquileana 😀
Thank you so much for poetic comment. I must admit it had me heading off to google corollaries…ahh…another interesting lesson for the day. Great that you liked it – I think it is very special and find something new in it every time I read it. Warmest wishes to you too. 😃
Just beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing the peace of this poem.
It does have an innate peace, I agree and I find it more restful every time I read it. So glad you liked it.
Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner.
Many thanks for the reblog. 😀
This poem has a wonderful message. Sometimes I think we forget the way that we have come. We forget the streams and the beauty that we have seen while climbing our mountains.
Thank you for sharing.
Shalom,
Patricia
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Patricia. Life is a journey and hopefully we will remember it and the wisdom learnt along the way, enriching our lives and those around us along the way. May we all stop by those streams as we battle our way up the mountains!😀 Warmest wishes to you.
At this point in our society I don’t even think it’s having respect for elders… It’s slowing down and spending time with them that needs to move up a few spaces on our to do lists…
GREAT POST Wonderful blog!
I’m so glad you liked the post; more time for each other is a topic that comes up again and again – only recently on my blog as well. Thank you for your lovely comment about my blog. Happy Reading. 😀
Your so very welcome!
Respect for elders- a familiar theme from my youth, Annika. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Jo, we can learn so much from each other and in the process enrich our lives. Respect for one another, whatever the age, is so important for a better society.
A very calming poem in a sometimes mad world. It reminds me of what the important things in life are and had a reassuring effect on me. Thank you Annika
Love the photo too.
Mike
Mike, I agree the poem resonates with tranquility and peace; soothing wise words for a hectic world. So glad you liked it and the photo too…quite dreamy. 😀
This lovely poem reminds me of precious times spent with my mama and grandma. How my elders have embellished and blessed my own life with their love and wisdom. Blessings to you and yours! ❤
Bette, it was lovely to read your comment and that it brought reminders of the close times with your mother and grandmother. I am lucky to still have my mother around and we are very close and share so much together. As for my grandmother, only when she was gone did I realise how central a part she played not only in our lives but that in the wider family. She enriched all our lives, her sense of joy and peace and quiet force always in evidence. Warmest wishes to you, Bette and have a good weekend. 😀
It was lovely thanks so much for sharing it. 🙂
So glad you liked it, Jane. 😀 Some peace and tranquility in our busy lives.
Oh yes and I just loved it. Need some peace and so enjoyable too. 🙂
Lovely poem thanks for sharing Annika. 🙂
Thank you, Marje. 😃 I felt strongly for this poem and was happy to be able to share it here.
Beautiful!
Thank, Maja.😀
Thanks for sharing this poem and picture. They are both very beautiful.
They are indeed, Janice and great that you like them both. 😃
Such a beautiful poem and photograph this, thank you for sharing Annika. I feel so peaceful now 🙂 We must never lose that wonder and stillness in our soul…and nature reminds us of that so perfectly. I hope you are feeling a little better, I have had you very much on my mind and thinking of you, sending blessings and a hug…gently of course ❤
Sherri, I’m so happy you enjoyed the poem and found its peaceful core of stillness. How true and the final line echoes in my mind. For many of us nature is such an integral and vital part of our existence that helps us find that inner peace. Thank you so much your warm thoughts and today good news – I am definitely on the road to recovery and managed a little walk outside – phew! I was getting ‘cabin fever’. Gentle hugs to you. 😀
I’m so happy to know this Annika, I have had you on my mind, hoping so much you are feeling better. I hope you experienced that ‘core of stillness’ as you recover and get back to normal as soon as possible. A break from cabin fever…phew indeed! And yes, gentle hugs…take care and get well my friend :-xx
The beauty and joy of nature painted in a a wonderfully descriptive poem. I would say that perhaps we do not honor older people as we should, working with young people, I see a great deal of disrespect. They would do well to embrace the feelings of respect and tranquility.
Thank you so much and the poem, I also find, is powerfully descriptive whilst retaining tranquilly throughout. The honour and respect towards older people is sadly rare and many of us are so rushed to do the ‘next thing’ and we do not have to time to stop in the moment and pay full attention to each other. Although I have seen this with the younger towards older people, one of my particular gripes is with parents when with their young children, the children sit staring into space whilst the adult is on the mobile, texting etc.
I agree wholeheartedly. ..and while I love technology as much as the next person, I feel our kids are going to pay a price for it 😦
What a glorious poem. Peaceful, deep–it speaks to my core. Thanks, Annika.
Jacqui, what a truly wonderful comment. 😀I feel the same and have read this many times now and every time peace and quiet descends upon me. Thank you so much for your kind words.
That’s what happened with me. I felt my muscles relax, my head tilt and the world come into focus.
Beautiful poem, Annika. Being present and enjoying the beauty of the world is indeed a source of joy. Have a wonderful, joyous week 😀
So glad you liked the poem, Diana. Nature gives us not only so much joy but also infinite wisdom I think – but it can take time and experiences to appreciate it. So far a better week as I’m gradually improving from my slipped discs – small dance of joy! Hope you have a great week back settling home after your holiday in Hawaii. 😃
Thanks, Annika. Back pain is terrible and it takes a long time to heal. Take care of yourself and don’t do too much wild joy dancing!
What a beautiful ode to joy. Learning to live in the moment and experience life to its fullest measure makes for meaning and happiness. The sights and sounds of cold mountain streams are wonderful. I recall in high summer how cold the water was. Thank you for sharing this beautiful poem.
‘An ode to joy’ – what a beautiful and warm comment about the poem, Mary Ann. 😀 I agree, as a reader one travels along with the writer, on the road of learning in this life and hopefully arrives at the same inner peace and spiritual awareness as the writer. Oh, mountain stream water is freezing cold – but that never stops me from paddling! Always a kid!
Honor the inner child! As always, a pleasure. Love the comment.
I love “we talked in stillness” and “the core of joy”. What a lovely poem. I also agree with the comment above about wanting to step into that picture… 🙂
Jessica, thank you for your kind words and so happy you enjoyed the poem. I found the photograph on the internet and loved it immediately – it reminded me of certain Casper David Friedrich paintings and when I saw them in real life, I felt transported into them; a most surreal feeling. It suits the essence of the poem perfectly.
This poet has wonderful insight to the beautiful things of life.
It is nice to have this reminder :
“mountain stream, the wind, Let stillness and wonder live in your soul.”
Just Beautiful.
Thanks for posting this Annika.
So glad you enjoyed this post and once I’d seen this poem I was keen to share it here. Lovely to see these lines quoted again – I think maybe this is a mantra many of should choose to adopt in life – I feel stillness settling on me just reading those lines, then the poem again and again. Wishing you a lovely week with moments of stillness in your hectic life!😀
Never forget the mountain stream, the wind
Let stillness and wonder live in your soul.
These two line resonated with me and my wilderness wandering. –Curt
Nature is a supreme gift to us all, I feel although often time is not taken to truly appreciate its infinite peace, serenity and wisdom. You have made that choice, take that time and opportunity to experience it to the full in your ‘wilderness wandering’! Warmest wishes to your Curt.
Thanks Annika. –Curt
I love this line: ” Let stillness and wonder live in your soul.”
very nice.
Andrew, this is one of the lines I really like as well.
Lovely post to read on a Sunday morning. 🙂
Thank you, Carrie – it has a certain peace and serenity which is perfect for the start of a Sunday. 😀
This is wonderful, the poem makes me want to leap into the photograph and walk toward the mountains and heavenly light. Thanks for sharing…
You’re right, JC! 😀 I just sat and starred at the photo and it gave me that feeling I have on top of cliffs or in an aeroplane – just wanting to walk one step more and fly. So glad you liked the poem.
What a lovely poem! Thank you for sharing, Annika!
So glad you liked liked it, Julie. Have a great day.😀
Beautiful…thank you for sharing, Annika. Enjoy your Sunday!
Thank you, Jill. 😀 Wishing you a very special Sunday too.