BAREFOOT GIRL

/ delphini510

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“You are led
through your lifetime
by the inner learning creature,
The playful spiritual being
that is your real self.”

quote from Richard Bach

With this beautiful quotation as introduction I give you a poem which has two clear              
layers. Isn’t it true that we are led through our lifetime, from the seeming safety of our home villages or environments to seek and carve out our own life and adventures. We might fail many times and and try again.  Without searching I guess we would not know our own truth.

I would love to hear your responses.

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BAREFOOT GIRL

        Barefoot girl ran free
        her feet in harmony;
        In harmony with earth,
        with reality.

        She smiled with pure joy.

        Barefoot girl grew up
        she did good.
        Went to the city, 
        studied law; 
        She became an attorney.

        she smiled with success.

       Barefoot girl ran in high-heeled shoes
       she felt the glow of admiration,
       she had a Penthouse apartment.
       She had happiness,
       so she thought.

       Barefoot girl went home to say hi,
       she cried,
       Her feet no longer knew the earth.

      © miriam ivarson

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photos courtesy of Pixaby

70 thoughts on “BAREFOOT GIRL”

  1. I am sure some people discover their destiny, or find a working relationship between themselves. the world around them and the people in it and some people just run out of battery during the search for peace and companionship. The lack of certainly is one of the things which makes life interesting.

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  2. Thank you Peter, you are so right. If we had a ready protocol from beginning there would be
    no space for growth and creativity. We might at times have to ” pick up worn out tools” as Kipling so
    aptly says; to not give up is important.
    miriam

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  4. Yet the ties that bind us to our beginnings, our heritage, I find get stronger with distance. That breaking away from our past, doing well, and running free as you express it, is so necessary, yet, I find, does bring with it regrets for what was lost in making that break. I feel that your returning ‘home to say hi’, and then crying, encapsulates this so beautifully, Miriam.

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  5. Roland, I appreciate this wonderful comment from you. You got the whole meaning of the last stanza and the poem as such.
    I have also found that one sees the heritage, the place we grow, with more clarity and love than before when you took it for granted.
    Regrets now, that is a big story in itself…..does what we won and found outweigh them…
    Miriam

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  7. Yes Roland, I have noticed and in yesterday’s Sonnet by you I was strongly reminded about the song with Edit Piaf which surpasses Frank Sinatra’s
    although both are strong.
    I look forward to hear more and search myself for the truth of my own feeling on the matter. Often I find that some difficult feelings get hidden away as not wanted pain. 😉 .
    Miriam

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    • Thank you Phil, nice to meet another admirer of “Illusion”. It came to mean a total turn for me at one time. I agree with you, we will always be part of who we were. Our songlines will always be there along with new experiences.
      I am glad you also got the meaning of the last verse.
      Miriam

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  10. Very pertinent poem in these times I think Miriam, and I have known people who seem to be forever searching for the reason for being but it is always just out of reach.Perhaps if we stop and look around us we are already there – but just not realised it.
    That’s my excuse anyway!.

    Mike

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  11. Thank you Mike, that is a lovely and interesting answer. Like going around and around in circles when we really could rest and accept we might have already found what we wanted.
    Good luck to you
    miriam

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  12. I echo the sentiments of Roland, but would add Miriam that sometimes a person has to touch the flame to appreciate the cold. I remember climbing a peak to see the magnificent view and to say I’d climbed it. As impressive as it was it paled compared to the beauty of the valley below which I had just left and dismissed .
    In my own recent experience I’ve said ‘this disease has robbed me of everything’, indeed PD is known by some as the thief. The reality is that although it is true I’ve also gained so much, more valuable than mere trinkets and baubles which I have previously coveted.
    Thank you for such an engaging and uplifting piece Miriam.

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  13. Thank you Nigel for your beautiful answer, it touches me deeply.
    Yes, you are so right, we might have to touch the flame to appreciate the cold. Like a child. I love the way you describe that you didn’t appreciate the valley until you climbed high. Maybe they were both needed to give you fullness.
    Your writing shines Nigel and I am often in awe as I know what you are coping with each day. It seems to hone your creative self. My heart goes out to you and pray there will be much more beauty ahead for you.
    Miriam🦋

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  14. Very true feelings there, Miriam. I’ve been following your conversation with Roland, and have to agree with going “home”. I’ve recently moved back to my birthplace and, despite moving away as a baby nearly seventy years ago, I feel I have finally returned to my “spiritual home”.

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    • Thank you for commenting and I am glad my poem spoke to you.
      I still call the place I grew up – home – without thinking and yet so many places feel like it. I did live there long though and still have family there.
      Glad you found your place of birth and can make it your home.

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    • Thank you Rosaliene for this thoughtful comment. I guess it varies from person ot person and if it ” goes to one’s head”. 😊 .The kind of success I describe definitely can . Success of course can come in other less obvious forms. Interesting topic.
      Miriam

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  16. Barefoot Girl could be so many of us, doing all the right things to find they are unfulfilling. Still, when we don’t follow those dreams, we wonder what we’ve missed. It’s not only us who change as we grow, and we must do both, it’s that what we leave behind also changes.

    Miriam, I’ve been meaning (and forgetting) to tell you how much I like that you include an introduction to your poems, explaining the incentive for your thoughts. I always enjoy knowing what inspires other people.

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    • Sharon, thank you for your wonderful comment. Yes, we need to go our own way to find who we are and what we want and need to do. You are so right that what we leave behind also changes. Oh, so much. That can also be hard to deal with as we want that to remain its own comfortable self.

      Thank your also for your very kind comment on my introductory writing.
      I am glad you like it as I find it difficult not to connect with you all before
      including the poem. Like small talk.😉 .
      miriam

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  20. Dear Miriam,
    The key seems for me to be,
    the true self / real self your inner being .
    Additionally I stumbled upon following thing, that might or might not be helpful in your situation :
    Ever thought about the possibility of being a multipotentialite ? 🙂 all the best, thank you for being you .

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    • Thanks Andreas, you are right. Being true to your inner self is the way to live in balance throughout life. So many of us though stumble and fly …..find many levels before quite being able to breathe deep and say ‘ I think I got it ‘. 😊 .
      Multi potential I think many of us are. I believe I am one and know a number of others. At times we do desperately need the specialists though.
      miriam

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    • Thank you for your deepfelt comment.
      It came to me that it might be up partly to all who come back to reconnect as
      a seemingly changed persona might confuse and make folks vary.
      Another angle to discuss…or just do.
      miriam

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  22. A powerful poem, Miriam! I love the contact with nature I have by living in a rural area. I don’t think I could live long where I can’t touch trees or breath untainted country air every day. This is so illustrative of our need to keep Nature in our lives. Beautiful!

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    • Thank you Julie, I couldn’t agree more. Nature is the big healer and teacher.
      I love both the countryside, forest and as you all know, the ocean.:)
      I now live with country air around me too but am soon due for another big dose of the sea air, view and sound.
      Miriam

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  23. Beautifully penned Miriam. I could hear the muffled yearnings of this girl.
    To me the barefoot girl reveals herself as a self-made woman, struggling to find her passion, without any help or support. It is sad that ‘pure joy’ melted with her success but that often happens! A poet has rightly said: “Nobody can have the whole world, some get the earth and some the sky”…I have translated this verse but it is more beautiful in its original language, which is Urdu. Though she lost touch with her roots, she had accomplished what many around her couldn’t have.

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    • Balroop, thank you for your deep and thoughtful comment.
      I hadn’t myself seen how lonely the struggle could seem. Rereading
      my own words I got thoughtful.
      Yes, that purity of belonging can wane when you replant in a harsher
      soil. The Urdu poem you mention intrigues me, I would love to see your translation. You are right, translations of poems are hard. I try it between
      English and Swedish. Very different cultural and natural references.
      May we all find the sky and create the home that fulfills our soul and
      needs.
      Miriam

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  26. Thank you Miriam for your kind comment. The girl could be any of us or an amalgamation of several. My belief is that some might have regrets although most will see you needed to move.
    Even when things might go wrong you have learnt from that and get stronger as you continue. To stay for fear will create depression but staying as the best choice for you is peace and happiness.
    miriam

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  27. The way I’ve interpreted this is that barefoot girl THOUGHT that she’d be happier with all of the world’s enticing things: a high-profile job, high heels, penthouse. But what she found is that perhaps she’d sold her soul for something that was already there within her barefoot self.

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    • Thanks Kate for your thoughtful comment, I hope the Barefoot girl didn’t sell her soul but in her eagerness and hard work lost connection with her roots. I like to think she will find them again. Some never do of course.
      Miriam

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  28. Oh, Miriam, I felt like crying with this girl…I hope her feet soon reconnect with the earth as she treads upon it with her bare feet. 😀 This is a treat of a post with three various elements to build a precious whole. Bach’s quote is wonderful and I love the idea of ‘a spiritual playful being’…what a light and magical thought! Your introduction helps guide us to examine our decisions in our life, the steps made, ones most likely that had to be taken. Your poem is both playful, full of joy, then the deep plunging sadness of the loss of self…wonderful. Finally, the conversation through the comments are an added joy, encouraging thoughts and sharing feelings. Wow! All-encompassing post! 😀🌺

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  29. Annika, thank you for this beautiful comment, I feel like calling it review, of my poem. I am honoured and so glad that you have got the whole spirit of the post.
    May we never lose ourselves as we leave our nests and roots and forge ahead but keep that spirit that is ours alone. Make that enrich whatever endeavour we chose.
    I too feel so enriched by the thoughtful and enlightening conversation that has followed. It has put a shine on this post that I never could myself.
    🦋❤️

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  30. Thank you for another one of your poems Miriam that always cause me to stop and reflect. I think at times we always lose a bit of our connection with the earth and it affects us, as we disconnect from what we are meant to be a part of. Fortunately the Universe is forgiving and it always keeps the door open for us to reconnect. It is becoming more difficult with the pace and pulls of today’s society, but poems and words like these help in many ways.

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    • I am honoured Davy that my words stop you to reflect. You are right that our connection with earth can at times lose its firmness and we get a bit unbalanced. Love of Earth in all its manifestations can steady us through both highs and lows.
      This poem was inspired by a conversation with a friend from my home place who sadly couldn’t see that others treated her just as the girl she was before.
      I tried to make her see things from their side but was left with a very unhappy and clever woman.
      Myself, I still love walking barefoot where possible.😊 .
      Miriam

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  33. Thank you Brian and how right you are; walking in the sand along the shore is one sensual pleasure. As is walking on polished granite rocks and grass with morning dew.
    Miriam

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  36. Thank you Tiny for your interesting comment. I am so glad you could feel these three emotions all within. You speak from experience I understand
    from your comment. To reach harmony with each world is the trick.❤️
    miriam

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  38. Jaqui, it is very relaxing, especially if you can find a seaside without crowds.
    Do you come from a place with a beach? I grew up surrounded by sea but there I walked on granite rocks. Love those smoothly polished rocks.

    Main thing is we don’t lose touch with our roots. 😊

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  39. You’ve captured the cycle of many lives here, Miriam. The moment we realize how far away we’ve become from that barefoot girl is often devastating but it has also the potential to bring us back just in time. We need to connect with our roots and the earth, both literary and metaphorically.

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    • Thank you Sarah for your beautiful comment. You are so right, as long as we see that we need to remember and keep connected to our roots we are o.k.
      I have met those who have lost that and they often are restless and find difficulty in settling happily anywhere.
      Miriam

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  40. This is such a thought provoking poem Miriam. We never really fail in life I feel. They’re all merely learning experiences, stepping stones on our path in life. Wonderful poem. xo

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  41. Thank you Miriam for your kind comment.
    What is often perceived as failure could instead be a tumble that teaches us
    something new. As you say, another stepping stone or path.
    There can be quite a few tumbles as well as straight running for all of us.
    😊❤️

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  45. Thank you for your warm compliment Shiva.
    Yes, for those of us who leave the place where we grew this will change us to greater or lesser extent. It is better for our whole being if we can keep the connection open with both our worlds.
    Miriam

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