Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The Answer


For Three Word Wednesday. Prompt words calm, rattle, know.
Also submitted to dVerse--better late than never. 

The Answer

Long nights,
restless turning, too many
rattling thoughts.

I rise from my bed
wrapped in blackness;
the dark house holds
no comfort. Out
of doors, I walk the
uncultivated field, footsteps
muffled by the long
damp grass, the silent
ground calmly keeping
all her secrets.

I keep walking
onto the new-plowed soil,
the moonlight refracted by
millions of dew-mist prisms.
Coming to the old oak standing
in our field God knows
how long, I kneel
and lay my head
against that ancient bark.

My heart longs
to say something meaningful,
to find words
that will bear witness
to the soul’s awareness
that it is not alone
in this stumbling journey.

I look into the moonlit sky
and know that everything
has already been said.

23 comments:

  1. This poem speaks to my soul. I know those restless nights, and the walking through damp grass, looking for answers. I have been frustrated by the ground keeping her secrets, but I have also been satisfied by looking into the moonlit sky and letting it wash its silent, healing words over me. I enjoyed this journey. Thank you!

    Three Foreign Tongues

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    1. MMT, thank you for enjoying the journey. Looking at the night sky is always a spiritual experience for me--humbling, awesome (in the older meaning of awe-inspiring), consoling.

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  2. Magical poem. I too take night-time wanders under the stars, or listening to the wind in the pines on stormy nights. When I was younger, and lived by the sea, I would often take long walks along a wave-drenched beach - trying to make sense of everything around me. I am glad it was an oak - my favourite tree.

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    1. Thanks Leigh. Those night walks can work magic. And sometimes--this is magic indeed--we try to make sense and realize that it is enough just to be alive in this world.

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  3. "Millions of dew-mist prisms." Fresh and kind of inspiring...

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    1. I wasn't sure if this was the right way to put it or not--I'm glad you liked it. Thanks, Berowne.

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  4. Isn't the dew beautiful in certain light?
    I love the imagery in all of this. The doubting, the faith in hoping there is someone to hear us, the ancient bark and, the certainty of knowing that without speaking a word, thoughts were heard.
    Beautiful.

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    1. Thanks Bren. Yes--in a certain light, specks of dew on a dark ground looks remarkably like stars in the sky. Funny, this correspondence between heaven and earth.

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  5. nice...enjoyed the walk with you...much has been said, but i think there is much more still...though sometimes it is hard to capture that moment...this really was a lovely write man...

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    1. Thanks Brian--obviously I'm struggling to put the moment into words, and to me this is how it should be. Some moments will always be beyond description.

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  6. This is certainly my cure for all ills too; to walk with nature. A great read.

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    1. Rob, I thank you. It's good to know others share my cure!

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  7. oh gosh nico. this poem you've penned is so deep, so visceral in honor of nature, of life.

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  8. I really enjoyed this poem -- even though my emotional responses are very different (though they were perhaps once the same as yours). But what you said, you said well and I enjoyed it very much. Thank you.

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  9. Sabio, the fact that we come at life from different angles yet you persistently try to understand where I'm coming from, speaks highly of how generous and kind you are. Thank you, thank you.

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    1. Like you said in a different comment -- neither of us are at all clear on how different our angles are, though our word usage and allegiance may differ.

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  10. stunningly beautiful. if only my restless nights would lead to such calm, peace and answers.

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  11. Thanks RMP--a rare experience for me as well.

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