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Living in Yesterday

from Call & Response by Dale C. Fredrickson, Poet

/

lyrics

I limped along the hiking trail,
living in yesterday,
until a doe and a fawn startled me.
They sprang gracefully
bounding effortlessly,
over wildflowers and rocks,
through pine trees and thistles,
Landing and leaping;
inches from the head
of an indifferent snake.
cutting the switchbacks and
ascending the mountain.

I stood captivated
as their shadows disappeared.
Freedom and finesse
with each touch down and takeoff.
A doe and her fawn
hooves kissing the earth
the forest floor their drum
a praise song of wonder.

When their dance fell silent,
unanswered despair stirred,
unresolved feelings swelled,
slow tears fell from my cheeks,
a strange mixture tasting
of fear and failure,
regret and salty longing,
of dirt and death.

Yesterday’s memories
my forest thicket
rocks and thistles and snakes
my stomping grounds.

I limped along the hiking trail and asked:

Will I ever feel the graceful spring
of wonder in my body again?

Then the song of the doe and fawn resounded

Leap away from the past
and free the people that wounded you.
Leap toward the present
and let the way of love ground you.
Spring to your future,
spring to the wonder of people and places,
spring to the work that is waiting for you,
cut your own switchbacks
and ascend the mountain.

credits

from Call & Response, released September 24, 2016

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Dale Carl Fredrickson image

Dale Carl Fredrickson Denver, Colorado

Dale is a poet from Denver, Colorado. He’d like to inspire the entire world but finds that inspiring himself and his family and friends is work enough. He writes and speaks about beauty and misery and his favorite story is the one about how love surprises us in the end. He fails a lot. On his best days, he lives by Samuel Beckett’s motto, “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” ... more

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