Saturday 5 July 2014

Within The Glass (A Requiem for the Night)

When the sun finally rises and kills tonight
Shining over me its bleeding fingers
I plan to smile broadly as I burn in sin

I hear the night voices sing to me their requiem
So I know I need to appear as normal as beeswax
And be sane with your love and longing for me

Make the fragile motions to reciprocate and love
Holding your heart gently in my hand as we dance
The knives gleam as we sit down to eat birthday cake

If it seems this pedestrian behaviour is odd to me
Throws me off fearsomely completely utterly blankly
I understand why I must be silent and bear witness

The humdrum is hated because hope is a mirage
Living this life wholly one-dimensionless within the glass
A gentle face shown to you and to the world at large

Keep the horrors bottled in heady perfumed mists
The cloudy truth that we live in a continuous dusk
That I walk in a perpetual midnight

With nowhere to lay my head to rest
In a hell not of my own making I carry on
The moon shines down on this heaving wraith

Through the cracked black skies of past lives
I see shadows of your shattered lips singing
The moon casts no glow on my dry eyelids

On the withered tatters of your tears for me
Of another scene flashing across us I raise my hands
The cracked midnight skies boom across

Swallow the light my heart skips a beat or ten
If ever there were any lamps shining across the divide
Immortality does not appear gently does she?

Relief would come soon if I stopped thinking
I feel my obstinate pulse shrink as it ticks over and over
Dizziness takes hold as I imagine the telescoping future

This is what ebbing life feels like to your immortal beloved
The shaggy black dog is back in town looking for us
His chocolate brown eyes begging for a treat

His fur silky and soft and a reminder again and again
That behind the insanity of death repeated a thousand times
Lies the hope that there will be peace when I am done

Who was that wise old man who said this is life
Pain and grief, they accumulate
As does joy?

-Anne V


Fits Poetry Jam's theme this week for Thirst. In this case a thirst for peace, hope and catharsis. 

10 comments:

Brian Miller said...

ah they do accumulate...and though at times life can seem to be full of one or the other...in the larger picture they tend to balance out.....an intriguing trip in this one anne

Mary said...

An amazing, thought-provoking poem!

alan1704 said...

Beautiful and very thought provoking, a tapestry of emotion and desire. Excellent images and i love the intensity.

Anne V said...

Thanks for the input my dears.

I first heard the lines about pain and joy accumulating from some random Korean grandfather being interviewed on tv. So I'd like to credit KBS channel for the inspiration.

I also used my favorite tune of the moment, "Carry On Wayward Son", by the 70s rock group Kansas, as my writing prompt... This line "there will be peace when I am done" is paraphrased from the song:

Carry on, my wayward son
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more

Read more: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son Lyrics | MetroLyrics

mrs-minerva said...

What a thought-provoking poem you wrote. I especially like the last stanza, it expresses in very few words something I've always been wondering about life. I also love the song, "Carry on my Wayward son", it's one of my favourites!

Intelliblog said...

Beautifully written!

Jennifer Wagner said...

I really like "Through the cracked black skies of past lives
I see shadows of your shattered lips singing" and your close!

Mary said...

Anne, I have appreciated your comments to everyone who participated in Poetry Jam. You are indeed an example of the kind of person who UNDERSTANDS 'community." Thank you!

Gabriella said...

A beautiful write! I like how you use the dog as an embodiment of our thirst for peace.

NataĊĦek said...

I'm moved.. it's beautiful.

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