tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post3684917190344462058..comments2023-12-30T17:31:11.883+00:00Comments on The Solitary Walker: Poetry And WalkingThe Solitary Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-11771412475469977142012-05-08T06:19:21.679+01:002012-05-08T06:19:21.679+01:00I really enjoyed reading this, another reminder of...I really enjoyed reading this, another reminder of how precious simple, unassuming gifts such as a poem or a walk can be.Laurelhttp://www.theforestgarden.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-49547323686335655872012-05-03T10:39:46.066+01:002012-05-03T10:39:46.066+01:00Thanks, Heidrun, for your comment. I am lucky enou...Thanks, Heidrun, for your comment. I am lucky enough to be able to read French and German poetry too! Wonderful.The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-24501887020732809712012-04-30T21:04:44.631+01:002012-04-30T21:04:44.631+01:00Your words have definitely hit a spot somewhere in...Your words have definitely hit a spot somewhere in my soul because of that human need to make sense of loss. <br />I used to be very fond of the romantic poets and was lucky to be able to read the French and German poetry too.<br />Solitary Walker seems to be well defined in this post.Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16174142810114806410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-24755428281047671062012-04-25T08:07:31.796+01:002012-04-25T08:07:31.796+01:00Thanks for all these comments — forgive me for not...Thanks for all these comments — forgive me for not replying to each one individually. This post really does seem to have struck a chord, and I'm pleased about that, as it was certainly meaningful to me, and close to my heart.<br /><br />Rachel — no, I don't feel lonely without my mum, dad or sister, if I'm honest. My sister died a long time ago. And the rawness of the grief following my mother's death has softened. As for my father, he was so demanding during his last few years that there was some feeling of relief when he passed on. Am I allowed to say that? I felt a burden had been lifted somewhat, as I was the only person who regularly visited him within the family, and these visits were often very painful and difficult. They took a lot out of me.<br /><br />Thanks for visiting, Terra, and welcome to my blog!The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-12773488975540063012012-04-25T00:47:39.028+01:002012-04-25T00:47:39.028+01:00This is my first visit here, and I find your post ...This is my first visit here, and I find your post to be beautiful; did you see the movie The Way, starring Martin Sheen? It is about the pilgrim walk in Spain. My husband and I give it a top rating. Ah, poetry can soothe an aching heart at times, and the Bible is what I often turn to.Terra https://www.blogger.com/profile/04396481049075747940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-71778886539884514542012-04-21T14:43:15.465+01:002012-04-21T14:43:15.465+01:00What a perfect (at least in my eyes) memorial to y...What a perfect (at least in my eyes) memorial to your family. I don't think I could think of a better way to have my family remember me when the time comes, than a poem and a really long walk! Well, besides planting a Larch tree on top of me. All the while reciting something Monty Python.ksamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01998231466478015431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-11239072573030743412012-04-21T13:57:00.874+01:002012-04-21T13:57:00.874+01:00Thankyou, Robert, for such a sensitive post.Thankyou, Robert, for such a sensitive post.Gardener in the Distancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14478393904059307841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-278315103009591472012-04-21T10:53:37.600+01:002012-04-21T10:53:37.600+01:00This is moving, and so wonderful. I feel sunrise i...This is moving, and so wonderful. I feel sunrise inside now. The ways you've combined sorrow, loss, walking, poetry and remembrance have become altars in this post, and in your life. At the end of my father's life, we too were reconciled in ways that couldn't happen when he was healthy, for whatever reason. And he loved the poetry of the King James version too, though it took me many years to come back to it myself. (My own poetry mentor Diane Wakoski rekindled a love for it.) Beauty heals, there's no doubt about it. Nature and well positions towns nestled in a valley, how they lift the spirits! And poetry gets down to the soul like nothing else, I feel. This all resonates for me. Thanks.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-73052532034286920322012-04-21T02:53:46.497+01:002012-04-21T02:53:46.497+01:00How very poignant and beautiful. Poetry, the Roman...How very poignant and beautiful. Poetry, the Romantics in particular, has often kept me sane in trying times. Off late I have been tilting towards Neruda more and more, but yes poetry it is. And nature too.Sumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11251497690649264925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-2804145811264900182012-04-21T02:17:18.405+01:002012-04-21T02:17:18.405+01:00A moving tribute, Robert, not only to your sister,...A moving tribute, Robert, not only to your sister, your mom, and your dad, but also to the poetry and walking that have sustained you through all of your losses. Very lovely, and I always enjoy getting to know you a little better. There are so many parallels here, lives following lives, words following words, footsteps following footsteps. It's just the eternal rhythm of things, I suppose, distant drumbeats that gently beckon us to continue moving forward.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03959953035812596907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-90587201134897561972012-04-21T01:13:56.594+01:002012-04-21T01:13:56.594+01:00Quite a moving post. Walking is poetry. Poetry i...Quite a moving post. Walking is poetry. Poetry is walking. Both can keep us connected to our best selves and to each other.amhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212213177713917828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-31166372823979467262012-04-21T00:09:00.749+01:002012-04-21T00:09:00.749+01:00Wow, beautiful and moving post, SW. I'm not mu...Wow, beautiful and moving post, SW. I'm not much of a verse reader, though I'm trying to make more room for it, but I really enjoyed your selections there. The Lawrence one is amazing.<br /><br />Yes, walking is very healing. I think it works on so many levels, physical and psychological, spiritual and even musical. I have at least 50 songs I can call on as I walk, all "written" by me while walking. They're my internal jukebox and though I can hear every drum beat, lead break and baseline, they're never complete, and I'm still fine-tuning lyrics that I started on while walking in Japan 10 years ago...GOAThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16992077370209677842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-83993275923997004112012-04-20T22:42:41.522+01:002012-04-20T22:42:41.522+01:00I think we've talked about Moel y Gest before....I think we've talked about Moel y Gest before. It's a fantastic little hill, full of good scrambling. I've lost count of how many times I've climbed it, when staying at its foot, which we do often.<br /><br />I'm not sure if i can say walking has kept me sane. Hill running, perhaps.Dominic Rivronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02618013365521035400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-63761086684698669952012-04-20T22:19:24.574+01:002012-04-20T22:19:24.574+01:00I've walked trouble and sadness away too. It i...I've walked trouble and sadness away too. It is a great cure... and enjoyable in itself (unlike so many other cures!).<br /><br />Do you feel lonely now the family you grew up in has gone? I feel that a bit at times - even though I have my lovely current family around and some of the old lot are still alive (though very far away or estranged).<br /><br />xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-46740178599054472772012-04-20T22:04:21.686+01:002012-04-20T22:04:21.686+01:00Lovely piece, Solitary—and an oh-so-familiar motif...Lovely piece, Solitary—and an oh-so-familiar motif. <br /><br />Like so many of us with a certain shift, the best panacea for our troubled spirit has proven to be the solace of words and walking through a landscape that grasps both imagination and body. Surely this curative is as ancient as mankind, and may account for those restless tribes and desert wanders who scribbled and prayed and followed their unsettled wanderlust to the back of beyond.<br /><br />Where would we be without either poetry or path?Grizz…………https://www.blogger.com/profile/04828454689578685330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-12437265065085224672012-04-20T21:52:15.821+01:002012-04-20T21:52:15.821+01:00This is so lovely. In every way.This is so lovely. In every way.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-18917422328447295132012-04-20T21:36:16.780+01:002012-04-20T21:36:16.780+01:00What lovely gentle and moving tributes and memorie...What lovely gentle and moving tributes and memories.Sabinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09015827501648296977noreply@blogger.com