Forgive me, Spirit of my spirit, for this,
that I have found it easier to read the mystery
told in tears and understood Thee better
in sorrow than in joy.
.George William Russell, 1867-1930
.
This was the prompt at my writing group last night. I understood this totally. So for what it's worth, with some apology for not being more uplifting as the holidays approach, here's my response to a theme I too think about. I know I'm abit somber these days, and the truth is I can't say if this poem is uplifting or depressing, but here it is:
.
For Love
.
It’s only one arm,
Okay its dominant
But I can still
Raise broth to my frozen lips.
.
Only one eye,
The other choked blind
Though still I see your shadow
Gracefully in flight.
.
I gave up my voice
So I could hear yours
When the wires
Misfired and static reigned.
.
My steps though mis-shapened,
Hobble past space
Where molecular memory
Settled in.
.
Forgive me on a day
When my knees give out
And I whimper toward
Whatever grace isn’t.
.
When I was whole
I moved too quickly
To notice almost anything.
Lucky loss has given me sight.
.
My smile survived
because it double duties
With its tearful turn downward
At midnight, through the howls.
.
Yesterday I watched a cattail
Bend and balance
And I remembered when
My heart moved like that.
.
This loss of limb and life
Love lust and luster:
What a tiny price
What a tiny price.
.
I wonder in the years ahead
Should my parts should regenerate
If I will miss
The space I’ve forfeited.
.
I wonder if sorrow
Might reappear as joy
filled with the love
That’s made me whole.
Ultimately, this is the season of rebirth...when, in the darkest, coldest days of the year, the days start getting longer with a promise of spring....For all the mass marketed happiness associated with the holidays, it's also a time of particular misery for mainy, with the suicide rate going up and Joni Mitchell singing "I wish I had a river I could skate away on..." and so, it's exactly the right time for a poem like this....
ReplyDeletethank you yogaforcynics. i see you've come from 'human being's blog, which i consider a compliment. best wishes to you.
ReplyDeleteI've disected each stanza ten times now and I wish I had the words to tell you how powerful this is and how much it moved me. I have many favorite parts, but I love "And I whimper toward whatever grace isn't." That's a hard place to be.
ReplyDeleteBut you ARE grace KJ. I knew it the first time I read your blog.
;)
Your poetry has evolved so much over this past year KJ!
ReplyDeleteI have to ditto Studio lolo here are say it is very powerful indeed.