“The Daisy Ring” published at LatinosUSA

On By Mike U.In Poetry

Greetings, friends. Just a note to let you know my poem “The Daisy Ring” has been published at LatinosUSA. Editor Michelle Navajas does such a wonderful job of sharing various writers’ offerings with her readers and it’s always an honor to be published by her. I’m sincerely grateful, Michelle.

“The Daisy Ring”
© 2021 by Michael L. Utley

“I found thee in a faerie copse…”

“Hmm?” she murmured
Her gaze caught somewhere
In the rainy neon night-world
Beyond the coffee shop window
Her fingers weightless
Feather-like
In my hand
Ethereal
Furnace-hot

“I found thee in a faerie copse
Alighting on each flower fair
And as I ‘proached thee in the hopes
Of snaring thee in lovers’ ropes
Thou disappeared into thin air…”

She looked at me then
A faint smile teasing
Her lips
“Your poetry is terrible,” she said…

You can read the rest of my poem here:

“The Daisy Ring”by Michael L. Utley

I hope you’ll consider following and subscribing to LatinosUSA–a place of unique visions and creative voices from around the world.

18 thoughts on ““The Daisy Ring” published at LatinosUSA”

  3. Dearest Mike, I read this piece out loud to Scott and by the end of the writing I was crying too hard to finish. It was breaking my heart. I was touched by both the incredible intensity of the scene in the coffee shop, a brief encounter of something so fragile and delicate it came from another world.

    ““I found thee in a faerie copse
    Alighting on each flower fair
    And as I ‘proached thee in the hopes
    Of snaring thee in lovers’ ropes
    Thou disappeared into thin air…””

    This is such a catchy verse and the way you make us wonder “as she is never with you for long – she is a fairy afterall – a figure of one’s imagination.”

    The mention of the woman on the bus and how you were not sure she saw you leads us to ponder if she was someone real at one time that left – leaving you heartbroken and hence the last encounter when she was too frail to look upon.

    I found so many emotions within this poem/story that I found myself feeling overwhelmed for both the fairy and the man in the coffee shop. The illumed face of the woman on the bus felt like her spirit reaching out to you, a spirit eventually taken away by something or the loss of something.

    Anyway, I have gone on long enough, but this piece when read in the tone of old english and as it is written – line by line – it tells a beautiful tale of a man that meet an ethereal spirit and then had to watch it fade away. “She loved his poetry,” I love that you added that. Big hugs and love coming from both of us.

    Thank you Mich for publishing Mike’s gorgeous work.

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    1. Thank you so much, Joni. I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate your appraisal of this poem and how moving it was for me to discover how this poem touched you. There’s a lot going on in this one, and I wanted to leave it ambiguous enough to allow readers to formulate their own conclusions. The fantasy aspect was derived from that silly little faerie poem that sort of spilled out of me one night and left me wondering what I could do with it. The themes of loneliness, loss and despair are common in my writing, as is the concept of people fading away before our eyes and our inability to save those people we love. This is based on someone I knew long ago who was metaphorically fading away and I couldn’t save her from herself and her personal demons. I don’t know where she is now or if she still lives, and it feels like a huge hole is inside of me still after all these years. So, that silver daisy ring with the obscure etchings represents my memories of her–all that’s left of her.

      Wishing you and Scott a good week ahead as we find ourselves on the cusp of springtime. 😊

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      1. Dear Mike,

        I had a feeling that the poem may have had something to do about the woman you cared so much about. I am sorry, it is so hard not to have closure when you have truly cared deeply for another.

        That piece touched me perhaps as much as “Snap Beans in a Wooden Bowl” and perhaps it was all the loss I could relate to. I think my mom’s suicide was devastating because I had no closure with her. After just two years after my dad’s death, and then hers and with her first two years of sobriety, and finally developing a friendship, put me in a bad place for a while. We all have so many losses in life which are hard to get over.

        Your poem touched me deeply and I felt every single line. Just Bravo on that one, Mike.

        Sending you our love, hugs and blessings from another chilly day here.

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    1. Thanks so much, Peggy. Grateful for your kind review of this strange piece. I had fun with the fantasy aspect of the poem even though I had no real idea where it was headed (writing blind seems to be my modus operandi). I hope you’re doing well and enjoying the warmer weather. May springtime bring peace and hope and respite from this crazy world. 😊

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