"whelmed, over with remembering"
-
- Posts: 2154
- Joined: 18 Apr 2005, 04:57
"whelmed, over with remembering"
prosimetrum while reading Katharine Clifton's letter from Michael Ondaatje's 1992 The English Patient
Lamps in the sand
never a good bye & turn off
each a farewell love letter
illuming beyond the world
the lull
without a bye
My darling,
I'm waiting for you. How long is the day in the dark? Or a week? The fire is gone, and I'm horribly cold.
I really should drag myself outside but then there'd be the sun. I'm afraid I waste the light on the paintings and on writing these words.
all for the warmth
of an unending
love affair
I remain her
strong torch
(son)g
no need to remember
how good it could be
now it is always right here
We die. We die rich with lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we've entered and swum up like rivers.
Fears we've hidden in - like this wretched cave. I want all this marked on my body. We're the real countries.
Not boundaries drawn on maps with the names of powerful men. I know you'll come carry me out to the Palace of Winds.
That warm white wind we all yearn for
we have long belonged
into Your hands
with The Miracle Lift
Life
exhumed
with the Light
That's all I've wanted, to walk in such a place with you, with friends. An earth without maps.
The lamp's gone out and I'm writing in the darkness.
Found abandoning the maddening
memories of death
we die at last just to live
unburied with abandon
treasure not precious
absolutely priceless
Her joy continuing
as their laughter lifts flat lines
to rhythm & rhyme with her boy
Catch the wind of deserted thoughts
but never the breath of me
same boy & we'll always be
-
- Posts: 1619
- Joined: 01 Jun 2008, 09:17
Re: "whelmed, over with remembering"
This is really quite beautiful. I have no suggestions