Total Darkness

Photo by Sam Moqadam on Unsplash

The light dwindles down

to nothing as

the candle sputters out.

And the darkness begins

to shine its own fury.

Darkness as deep as

the earth is that lays

itself upon the dead

so that they sleep well

and all is quiet for them.

Darkness as deep as

the sky is that takes our

prayers out where

nothing has ever been

found that answers back.

That darkness is what will

happen when the light

of the stars dwindles

out before dawn and all

starlight at last blinks out.

And that light in your

eyes when it dwindles

away, at the end of time,

will join all those

same darknesses that

belong together, that

total darkness of the earth,

the sky, and the soul.

~ Sue Owen

Rounds

Source: Favim (adapted by Srivilasica)

Downstreet from OM we opened
A bar called AMEN, where the noise
complaints came from above,

where our choir howl swept
the dust. Ask the Jehovists:
they’re slow to trust the dark, corroding
our confidence in flashlights—our faith
in the warm beer of blackouts,
and they LIGHT candles to make wishes
and we DARKEN OUR DOORS

with mezuzahs, our floors with mandalas,
but catch you on the flipside
never meant anything to me.
Waking from nights out, dawn
long gone seems so spirit heavy, grave.
Our pains are answers to our prayers.

~ John Cotter & Shafer Hall

Rounds

Source: Favim (adapted by Srivilasica)

Downstreet from OM we opened
A bar called AMEN, where the noise
complaints came from above,

where our choir howl swept
the dust. Ask the Jehovists:
they’re slow to trust the dark, corroding
our confidence in flashlights—our faith
in the warm beer of blackouts,
and they LIGHT candles to make wishes
and we DARKEN OUR DOORS

with mezuzahs, our floors with mandalas,
but catch you on the flipside
never meant anything to me.
Waking from nights out, dawn
long gone seems so spirit heavy, grave.
Our pains are answers to our prayers.

~ John Cotter & Shafer Hall

Where There's a Wall

Photo credit: anitapatterson from morguefile.com

where there's a wall

there's a way

around, over, or through

there's a gate

maybe a ladder

a door

a sentinel who

sometimes sleeps

there are secret passwords

you can overhear

there are methods of torture

for extracting clues

to maps of underground passageways

there are zepplins

helicopters, rockets, bombs

bettering rams

armies with trumpets

whose all at once blast

shatters the foundations

where there's a wall

there are words

to whisper by a loose brick

wailing prayers to utter

special codes to tap

birds to carry messages

taped to their feet

there are letters to be written

novels even

on this side of the wall

I am standing staring at the top

lost in the clouds

I hear every sound you make

but cannot see you

I incline in the wrong direction

a voice cries faint as in a dream

from the belly

of the wall

~ Joy Kogawa

_______________________________________

Every wall is a door.

 ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Where There's a Wall

Photo credit: anitapatterson from morguefile.com

where there's a wall

there's a way

around, over, or through

there's a gate

maybe a ladder

a door

a sentinel who

sometimes sleeps

there are secret passwords

you can overhear

there are methods of torture

for extracting clues

to maps of underground passageways

there are zepplins

helicopters, rockets, bombs

bettering rams

armies with trumpets

whose all at once blast

shatters the foundations

where there's a wall

there are words

to whisper by a loose brick

wailing prayers to utter

special codes to tap

birds to carry messages

taped to their feet

there are letters to be written

novels even

on this side of the wall

I am standing staring at the top

lost in the clouds

I hear every sound you make

but cannot see you

I incline in the wrong direction

a voice cries faint as in a dream

from the belly

of the wall

~ Joy Kogawa

_______________________________________

Every wall is a door.

 ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson