Iphigene here.
Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!
Christmas, as I have gotten older, has become less about the presents, the food and the celebration. At present, it has become about family and about my own personal solitude. I debated on what to post today, being that its Christmas. I was tempted to post a Christmas-y poem, but decided otherwise.
The poem I’m sharing is an original and in some ways mimics my own personal spiritual journey. I find it an apt last poem to share for 2015, encapsulating what my life has been and how important this Christmas is to me.
I also like to take this time to thank the Poetry Friday community for being such welcoming and supportive group. I found confidence over the duration of my taking over Poetry Friday at Gathering Books to post originals and to share bits and pieces of my life. I will miss it, as I take a Hiatus from blogging life.
Thank you to Irene of Live Your Poem for hosting today’s poetry Friday.
Madly
Iphigene
Madly, Madly, I
leave my space in search of you
through the darkness
in search of you—
though blind, I wade through
the cold waters, the sharp stones
upon bare feet.
Madly, Madly I
left comfort in search of you
like a crazed woman, taken
by the sight of you—
a glimpse, a whisper of
a presence: gently grazing
my arm, my lungs
filled with you.
Madly, Madly I
weather through the harshest
seasons, scraping knees
chapping lips, through the
flames and through the rain
in search of you
Madly, Madly I
find no ground for you—
like a phantom , no trace
is true. Ragged, frail,
tired and dying, I wail
for you, for the lost of
you. Madly, screaming
“Where are you? I surrender!
I search no more for you.”
And there you were
standing brightly
like a lampost in a winter’s
night. I call you and you wait
no more to say:
“Madly, Madly I
waited for you.
To stop this running
search for me.
For here, I have always been
waiting that you’d be seen.”
Madly, Madly, I
leave my space in search of you
through the darkness
in search of you
only to find myself
hiding, all this time
from you.
Gathering Books 
Merry Christmas, dearest Iphigene! Much love to you.
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Merry Christmas! 🙂
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“And there you were standing brightly like a lampost in a winter’s night. I call you and you wait
no more to say: “Madly, Madly I waited for you. To stop this running search for me.”
Beloved Iphigene of His Heart! Yours is a most beautiful Christmas poem of searching, seeking, waiting, finding, embracing and being embraced by a Love so madly in love that He became little this day for you. I like that you were like the Magi, and yet, as woman, your search, I presume was more of heart and theirs more of head. Madly, madly….
All-in-all, your poem is a more-than-poignant blogging-hiatus-farewell. Go in peace; go with God, knowing you have left your mark, a piece of you that awakens in me that purity of intention and self-sacrifice that youth displays so passionately. Thank you!
You are an amazing artist and poet and Truth-seeker. God bless you on Christmas and always! Your farewell poem is so bittersweet, so fitting for a Christmas that is joy and sorrow. I’m cheerful and tearful at the reading of your words and the knowledge that the particular wisdom and light that you have shed on Poetry Fridays will be shining elsewhere. I shall greatly miss you! Thank you for being the one and only you!
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Thank you for such wonderful words. This poem is my heart. The very heart of a journey that has brought me to places and to realizations so surprising and beautiful. I am touched by your comment and am glad we met somehow through Poetry Friday. 🙂
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Thank you for taking time to “write” back!…I continue being edified and amazed by your spiritual wisdom and maturity, which seems to me to be that of someone at least three times your chronological age!… I, too, feel blessed that we have connected through Poetry Friday. If it is possible–however it is possible, I hope you will let us journey with you. God bless you on this day and always!
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Iphigene, this painting and this poem are so beautiful and heartfelt and speak to me so Madly, Madly, I. THANK YOU. What a gift. Wishing you love as your journey forth… live your poem! xo
p.s. I MUST write a poem inspired by your painting. I can’t stop looking at it!
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Hi Irene! Thank you. Yes, I’m definitely off to live my poem.
I am glad that my painting is inspiring you to write a poem. Do let me know if you do. This is what I love about art…its ability to produce more art. Thanks Irene. 🙂
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“and you wait
no more to say:
“Madly, Madly I
waited for you.”
It seems it is always that way…
You will be sorely missed. Maybe you will find that you NEED to stop back in for visits?
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Hi Donna,
Indeed, most of the time what we search for is right there, waiting. I may or may not come back for visits, but we will leave that for the future. 🙂
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Lovely painting and poem, Iphigene! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
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Thank you Tabatha!
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I am mesmerized by this painting of the woman in the fragile seeming canoe, receiving the gift of lights on the uncertain sea. This is double sharing, the powerful painting you made + the poem you crafted. It makes me fill still + fills me with peace.
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Hi. It took me a while to reply, as I am in hiatus since the first of january but felt I should reply just the same. Thank you for looking at the painting and seeing the meaning into it. Often the comment is that it is dark, but it wasn’t meant to be.
I am flattered that the poem and painting brought about stillness and peace. What else can i ask for?
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