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Windswept

11 Windswept

Well rugged up
against the wind,
ever present
on this shore,

I breathe deep
of air cleansed
by the sea,

take it into my lungs,
allow it to repair
some of the damage
caused by years of smoking.

Perhaps repair
is an illusion,
but nonetheless
I will feel better
when I return indoors.

This entry was posted on April 9, 2014 at 3:14 pm and is filed under David's Paintings with tags , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

23 Responses to “Windswept”

  1. belfastdavid Says:
    April 9, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    My thanks are due to Ina
    for it was her photo which inspired this painting
    And it is her island which is depicted in the painting

    Reply
  2. Ina Says:
    April 9, 2014 at 3:19 pm

    Hi David,
    see, it does look great against the black 🙂 I am really very smitten with the painting (it is almost hanging on the wall lol) and I love the poem too. Like it does for you, the fresh air gives me new energy. It would be nice if the air could repair the damage from smoking! 🙂

    Arohanui

    xxx

    Reply
  3. journeyintopoetry Says:
    April 9, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    This painting is fabulous; you doubt yourself too easily. (I could be talking to myself too!)

    I love the poem too; the fresh air can feel very healing. I always feel better just for five minutes in the garden whatever the weather.

    I really do hope you can make a Whitby trip.

    Love you loads
    Christine
    xxx

    Reply
    • belfastdavid Says:
      April 9, 2014 at 3:55 pm

      Thank you Christine,

      It is quite remarkable how even a few moments in the fresh air can make a difference 🙂
      I have just had a cup of tea out on my balcony 🙂

      And I hope too that I cam make that Whitby trip this year

      Love you loads
      David
      xxx

      Reply
  4. jatwood4 Says:
    April 9, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    Just lovely, my friend. 🙂

    Reply
  5. eebrinker Says:
    April 9, 2014 at 5:21 pm

    oh they say….let’s see, it’s if you go over 15 years of heavy smoking. something like that and so i cut the amount way down at age 45. plus have always torn the filters off which stopped the bad coughing. that’s my experience but everyone is different. mostly enjoy the meditative quality, and you still have that so most important thing. finding a tranquility.

    though i do wish “they” would pay as much attention to cleaning up polluted air and all the smog — as they do to fighting cigarette use. but of course, the very largest and richest companies in the world feed off of petroleum sales.

    so we’re stuck …. ocean air is definitely the best. though even that could not save los angeles. my sister didn’t have even a bit of asthma until she moved closer to that hub. now moved to a better place her lungs are still damaged.

    E.

    Reply
    • belfastdavid Says:
      April 10, 2014 at 11:26 am

      Thank you Eileen,

      We have just had a spell of very bad air pollution in this country – some of it caused by sand blown up from the Sahara, but mostly of course caused by the crap blown out of car exhausts!!! Last week I was quite poorly because of it.
      I do live in a city but would love to go live by the sea *sigh*
      My best to you my friend
      David

      Reply
  6. Harry Says:
    April 9, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    Beautiful David

    Reply
  7. ebbtide Says:
    April 11, 2014 at 6:49 pm

    🙂 made me want to skip the rest of the afternoon at the office and head down to the shore for some of that wind and sea – lovely poem and painting, David

    Reply
  8. Thomas Davis Says:
    April 11, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    David, Ethel took one look at the painting and said, “Oh, that’s beautiful.” One artist commenting on another artist’s work, I figured. The poem has your trademark dry humor,
    “Well rugged up
    against the wind,
    ever present
    on this shore,

    I breathe deep
    of air cleansed
    by the sea,”
    Then the contemplation:
    take it into my lungs,
    allow it to repair
    some of the damage
    caused by years of smoking.”
    Then a self-depreciative realization:
    “Perhaps repair
    is an illusion,”
    followed by a simple truth:
    “but nonetheless
    I will feel better
    when I return indoors.”
    The poem overall seems to ask a self-resigned question: Can we never escape our misbegotten past? Then answers it by saying that what we do today will at least make us feel a little better, especially if we go out rugged up in a stiff wind on the ocean’s shore.

    Reply
    • belfastdavid Says:
      April 12, 2014 at 11:17 am

      What a lovely comment Tom – Thank you.

      “self-resigned” is a good word – sums it up exactly

      And yes, all we can do today is do what we can do today>

      Tell Ethel thank you

      David

      Reply
  9. Anna Mark Says:
    April 12, 2014 at 5:51 pm

    the sea…and an image of repair! Beautiful!

    Reply
  10. Christy Birmingham Says:
    April 13, 2014 at 8:13 pm

    What a clear image. Well done and happy to find a new poetry blog here too!

    Reply

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