*
Submit
Login
Links
Contests
Featured Poems
Fun & Games
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Dictionary
Poem Types
Books
Resources
Blogs
Syllable Counter
Articles
Forum
POTD
New Poems
Anthology
Classifieds
Quotes
*
Contests
Featured Poems
Fun & Games
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Fun & Games
Dictionary
Types of Poems
Books
Resources
Blogs
Syllable Counter
Articles
Forum
Poem of the Day
New Poems
Anthology
Classifieds
Quotes
Email Poem
Your IP Address: 104.23.243.100
From Email:
Required
Email Address Not Valid.
To Email:
Email Address Not Valid.
Required
Subject
Required
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
I He wakes in darkness. All around are sounds of stones shifting, locks unlocking. As if some one had lifted away a great weight, light falls on him. He has been asleep or simply gone. He has known a long suffering of himself, himself sharpen by the pain of his wound of separation he now no longer minds, for the pain is only himself now, grown small, become a little growing longing joy. Something teaches him to rise, to stand and move out through the opening the light has made. He stands on the green hilltop amid the cedars, the skewed stones, the earth all opened doors. Half blind with light, he traces with a forefinger the moss-grown furrows of his name, hearing among the others one woman's cry. She is crying and laughing, her voice a stream of silver he seems to see: "Oh William, honey, is it you? Oh!" II Surely it will be for this: the redbud pink, the wild plum white, yellow trout lilies in the morning light, the trees, the pastures turning green. On the river, quiet at daybreak, the reflections of the trees, as in another world, lie across from shore to shore. Yes, here is where they will come, the dead, when they rise from the grave. III White dogwood flowers afloat in leafing woods untrouble my mind. IV Ask the world to reveal its quietude— not the silence of machines when they are still, but the true quiet by which birdsongs, trees, bellows, snails, clouds, storms become what they are, and are nothing else. V A mind that has confronted ruin for years Is half or more a ruined mind. Nightmares Inhabit it, and daily evidence Of the clean country smeared for want of sense, Of freedom slack and dull among the free, Of faith subsumed in idiot luxury, And beauty beggared in the marketplace And clear-eyed wisdom bleary with dispraise. VI Sit and be still until in the time of no rain you hear beneath the dry wind's commotion in the trees the sound of flowing water among the rocks, a stream unheard before, and you are where breathing is prayer. VII The wind of the fall is here. It is everywhere. It moves every leaf of every tree. It is the only motion of the river. Green leaves grow weary of their color. Now evening too is in the air. The bright hawks of the day subside. The owls waken. Small creatures die because larger creatures are hungry. How superior to this human confusion of greed and creed, blood and fire. VIII The question before me, now that I am old, is not how to be dead, which I know from enough practice, but how to be alive, as these worn hills still tell, and some paintings of Paul Cezanne, and this mere singing wren, who thinks he's alive forever, this instant, and may be.
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required
Member Area
My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
My Poetry Duels
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder
Member Authors
Poetry Challenges
Soup Social
Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us
Member Poems
Featured Poems of the Week
Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread
Member Poets
Best New Poets
New Poets
Top 100 Poets with Most Poems
Top 100 Poets with Most Poems Recent
Top 100 Community Poets
Top 100 Contest Poets
In Memoriam
Famous Poems
Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100
Famous Poets
Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - 100 Most Popular
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War
Poetry Resources
Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Greeting Card Maker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetry
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Short Stories
Spell Checker
Videos
Word Counter