Liturgy of the Wind

They loiter
in memory's mausoleums,
old chants, 
those gilded liturgies,
ready to resurrect
and eat through the ear
with promises
under the finery 
of polished myth.

Grafted onto our very bone,
these structures scaffold history 
and who we are. 
Now, stripped of flesh,
they moan 
and rattle the dark
when given voice
by savage winds.

I have heard 
the haunting echo left
in the wake 
of their going.
Emptied of substance,
these vacated vaults
house only noise
from human ghosts.

I have listened
for the faint whisperings 
beyond the worn out 
replays of the dead, 
for something transcending 
numbers and name -
hear only the wind.
I keep telling myself
this is enough.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2022

Poem

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Bahr Avatar
November 20, 2022 at 8:53 AM
This is, and has all the feeling of such measures that a person can pause in this moment and be consumed by another time. Thank you enjoyed.
Willason Avatar
November 21, 2022 at 1:23 AM
Thanks Kathy for your feedback. Good to know that the words carried something that resonated. Regards, Paul
Kyser Avatar
October 19, 2022 at 3:50 PM
To me, this is just fabulous, and also frustrating, because it is powerfully written, and escapes me at the same time, not the meaning, but what about its construction I like so much. Another fave. I would swear you and Eric Ashford are long-lost blood relatives
Kyser Avatar
October 19, 2022 at 6:00 PM
I totally get letting a poem go where it wants - I rarely have a fully formed one in my head when I start. It is an unusual process, this musing. Take care, and keep writing!
Willason Avatar
October 19, 2022 at 5:44 PM
Thanks Jeff. Very much appreciate the feedback. Like many of my escapees, I simply let this poem go where it wanted to go. I sat back and watched. To be related to Eric would be a compliment...he uses words like a knife. Very skilled. I think I am more at home in the grey zones of the mind. Regards
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