Afterglow
By onemorething
- 1481 reads
Cormorants embrace the sun
as if they are always standing on the brink
of departure, and like them,
we have been misunderstood;
the way we make our holes in the ocean
when only fishing for light.
There is so much suffering
in the search for a shore
before we reach one,
in the realisation of the knowledge
of nothing - the flight of what we thought
we knew. I think you are Odysseus
holding to a raft and I am a black bird,
a slick of oil with the sea for a pillow,
both leaves pitched on the arbitrary motives
of an imperfect storm.
I know you asked the afternoon for answers:
it is not the evenings that are haunted,
but the soft length of falling radiance
where three cormorants may pierce a psyche.
And I wonder what I can give you
when I have lost everything;
I could offer the sharp hook of my beak,
the roll and pace of the wave beneath me,
a pea-green eye to watch
shadows sink into the night.
Here the darkness becomes louder
in the growing absence
of the witness of sight
and how I miss you
and the afterglow
on the warmth of your horizon.
Written for my closest friend who sent me this song: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xA_uWtbXnh8
Image from Pixabay. Other image on Twitter: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferdinand_von_Wright_-_Two_Great_Cormorants_-_A_III_1929_-_Finnish_National_Gallery.jpg
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Comments
'There is so much suffering
'There is so much suffering/in the search for a shore' That tore the heart out of me. Such a considered, powerful piece.
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I really like how you
I really like how you describe afternoons as "the soft length of falling radiance" almost like a shroud wrapping the possibilities of the day, as they pass
It must be so hard for you both, not being with the person you love most
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A beautiful poem, and reminds
A beautiful poem, and reminds me of how lucky I am to have the people who mean most to me close by. At least you know you are helping to keep a precious person safe.
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Heartbreaking beauty - a poem
Heartbreaking beauty - a poem for our times.
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Is that what the cormorant is
Is that what the cormorant is doing in the picture? Embracing the sun? I love that. Genesis provided the soundtrack on our long drive up to Scotland recently. An excellent poem with real depth.
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' A Poem of our times' indeed.
Being a fan of Genesis and all things prog, I felt a compulsion to commment :) . As I also lie trapped and haven't seen a lot of my friends this year, this hits hard. Such a moving piece.
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