Friday, June 17, 2011

Faces in the Sand

I.
Whether it had been
the shining round Moon,
the eye of light in the starless night
or rather the freezing touch
of the golden gentle sand,
I could not realize
which had found me
softly dragging my feet
in that majestically desert beach.
Desert! Oh Lord, how I wish
the place had truly been so.
For anywhere I looked
there was no one to be seen
neither gently lit by the cold white light
nor casted from the shadows of the darkened sea.
II.
Yet, my mind, my soul and ears
crumbled into agony upon the sound
of voices of despair, crime and lust,
as whips punished with threshing hand.
Cries, oh terrible cries!
but still no dying one – not around.
No one but me and my soul which,
stabbed, bled for these terrible howls.
And the misery finally won,
and I crumbled: my knees,
on fire, yet numb, I couldn’t hold straight
and I collapsed, never finding defeat so bright.
Relief cooled my body with an intense wave,
as ice – which never lacks its thaw.
 

For I saw, but couldn’t describe
what laid before my unbelieving eyes. 
III.

From what I before thought was
a gentle coat of beautiful sand,
an endless army of cursed faces emerged
devouring my every step into the Palace of Death.
These figures rhythmically danced, changed
and in their stillness, shared their place,
generously trading an eyeball, a mouth
and voice, in despair to form a face.
Shrieks. Bellows. Laughter caused by sorrow.
Screams and sighs of agony. Misery.
A whole world of torments had found its owners,
which, crumbled, desperately clanged to the sand.
And with every step,
a new mercy cry seemed to take shape
trading its rueful sound of pain
for a voice claiming its wishes in vain.
Heard I did, as one cursed soul,
merely the remnant of a lover’s memory
swore and spat its foul damnations and hopes
proving his life had truly been low.
IV. (A lover’s tale)
“Loved I did, and love was all I knew,
for years and years, my mind drifted aloof
as moon after moon, night after night,
only her voice could bring me back to the light.
Well, she truly was mine, merely for a kiss,
and instantaneous eternity of heavenly bliss,
in which our lips met, and darkness came
for the light we caused, dimmed Heaven’s flame.
Yet, Darkness forgot that single day,
to blind Tragedy’s vengeful eyes,
claimed my love’s shining future
and pushed my heart into everlasting torture”.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Good piece. I especially enjoyed the third chapter, I found it particularly dark and powerful. Thanks for letting me know, I've put you on google friend follow so I should see when you post new work, I'll add you to my blog list as well. Thanks:)

emmett wheatfall said...

Oh my! Absolutely gorgeous poem. It moved me.

Diana Lee said...

This is deliciously dark and deep. Simply amazing. I love the third chapter best, as well.

PoetryGirl said...

wow that is a mighty piece of prose :)) well done!

Claudia Putnam said...

Nice core of imagery. Now, consider, if you're interested in feedback, stepping back and chipping away at the marble a little more to release the sculpture a little more. What happens, for example, as an experiment, if you ditch all the ly-adverbs? Just try it as a discipline. You can always add them back in if they deserve to be there. Then look some more at the adjectives. How many are necessary, or can the images speak for themselves? Etc. Just see what you think. If it's not useful, disregard... :0

TheLargeYard said...

This is very good. I greatly enjoyed the whole thing. As Fred said the third chapter is especially deep. I will follow your blog and recommend your blog in my link list...Thank you for sharing this with me. Wonderful