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Tag Archives: poem

Consequences

“Consequences”

If hell is what I
Must face, then
So be it. Eternal
Damnation is a
Small price for
Love.

 

Originally written 4/27/13.

Library: A National Library Week Poem

“Library”

Brightly lit shelves and cheering voices
Of children hearing the call for storytime.
Frazzled researchers sharpening golf pencils
And digging for scraps of paper from their
Hand-written records of family trees.
Lines of the question-filled masses forming
Before the reference desks and the smiling
Librarians, seeing the benefit of their job
With every answer they dispense, every
Mind they help to open, every misconception
They dispel.

An Update and a Poem

Wha? Eleven days? What the hell, April? I’m sorry, everyone. I’ve done all of no writing on here in a week and a half. On the plus side, I wrote something for you at work yesterday.

Yes, I got paid to do this, but only because I was on the clock at the bookstore.

Yes, I got paid to do this, but only because I was on the clock at the bookstore.

 

My boss was in the process of rearranging half of the gift merchandise in the store when I got to work last night, and she handed me the Magnetic Poetry (copyright info here) display. We were switching all of the magnets to a slightly smaller display, so I was instructed to fit all of the demo magnets on the smaller stand. I did as instructed, but I also took the time to craft a short poem for my favorite readers (but don’t worry, you can all read it).

And here’s the text of said poem, just in case you’re having trouble getting that photo to load.

“let me dream of you
and worship like rain
for a rose & love like
a storm above the sea”

Trifextra Week 105: Farewell

“Farewell”
Trifecta.
A wager once,
Now a confluence,
Defined by writers who
Gather to share their stories
With like-minded others and learn
To express themselves, leaving each one
Vulnerable, but stronger. Thanks, and farewell.

 

This piece is my entry for the final Trifecta Writing Challenge, and as per our prompt, is a 33-word free write. I would like to thank everyone who has come to visit my blog since I started the Trifecta entries exactly one year ago today. It’s been a hell of a year. You are all absolutely incredible people, and I hope that we manage to keep in touch with each other even after our weekly writing assignments are no more. Particular thanks must, as almost always, go to V. Without her, I never would’ve discovered the joys of these challenges. It’s a very bittersweet day indeed. I like to think that I’ve grown a great deal as a writer since I started participating in Trifecta, and it’s all thanks to you, dear readers, fellow Trifectans. Thank you. I’ll see you around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Dream

“A Dream”

I dreamed of a night too hot to sleep,
So I wandered under the light of stars
And a moon that smiled like you did
On another night so long ago, my bare
Feet touching nothing but cool grass,
Gently tickling my soles until I smiled
Too.

I dreamed that I walked for many miles,
Until I reached the shaded edge of a
Forest of towering, trembling oaks, and
I saw there, standing alone at the verge,
You, clad in such blue that the skies
And seas wept jealous tears at seeing
You.

I dreamed you glided across the grass,
And reached out your hand to lead me
Down the secret paths to forest’s heart.
We found a clearing, bathed in starlight,
And fell down together there, and for a
Night, a brief night, the world was only
Us.

 

I Know That This is Not the End of the World

I know that this is not
The end of the world,
But now the end holds
No fear for me. For I
Do not fear death,
And I now know the
Pain of losing you.

I know that this is not
The end of the world,
For I know that I
Shall not live to see
It. Nor would I want
To carry on if I would
Do so without you.

I know that this is not
The end of the world,
And I do not believe
In hell, though I
Have survived the tortures
That any hell could
Hold for one such as me.

I know that this is not
The end of the world,
Though I have raged
Against death and sorrow,
And found my only
Comfort in the arms of
Those I hold most dear.

When I Can No Longer Hear Your Voice

When I can no longer hear your voice,
I will seek out your words.
If I have nothing else of you,
No lingering trace of your
Perfume, no lasting warmth from
Where your head once rested
Next to mine, I will still have
Your words.
If your face fades from my
Mind as the years pass, and the dreams
We once shared in confidence
Are forgotten in the light of days
Long gone, I will still have your words.
When all else in my world is lost,
I will still have your words, whispered,
Resounding for eternity in my heart.

Come Walk With Me Beneath The Stars

“Come Walk With Me Beneath The Stars”

Come walk with me beneath the stars,
And we’ll watch our breath rising to
Meet the moon above.

Come walk with me beneath the stars,
And count the constellations that
Are familiar, and name our own.

Come walk with me beneath the stars,
And wonder at the age and the
Depth of the universe.

Come walk with me beneath the stars,
And hold your hand in mine, our
Fingers intertwined.

Come walk with me beneath the stars,
And we’ll sing songs that echo to
The sky and distant mountains.

Come walk with me beneath the stars,
And we’ll walk throughout the
Night, and leave the world behind.

And So Begins The Long Night

“And So Begins The Long Night”

And so begins the long night, for though the sun
May rise and set a thousand times, until I hear
Your voice again, whispering into my ear, the
Morning will not return.

And so begins the long night, when I find I am
Alone, lost in the darkness and so uncertain
Of which way I need to go without your hand
Reaching out for mine.

And so begins the long night, and I am now
Unable to sleep, despite the silence that
Has fallen, and I pray that I might dream of
You, and find some comfort there.

“Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines” by Pablo Neruda

Sometimes when you’re searching for the perfect words, someone else’s come to mind. Today’s words are not mine, though I feel their sentiment coursing through me. Today’s words belong to the legendary poet, Pablo Neruda. This piece comes from his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. Poem number twenty is shared here for your reading pleasure, as translated by W.S. Merwin. I found the poem online here. You can find the collection here.

“Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines” (Pablo Neruda, 1924)

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example, ‘The night is starry
and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.’

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is starry and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that’s certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another’s. She will be another’s. As she was before my kisses.
Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that’s certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.

Trans. W.S. Merwin
Poem XX from Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair