Sit and make silence
The Solace Of Solitude
First build a wall that runs along
the root of a lone tree, stone on
stone, preferably, cracked with
mossy patina and the erosion
that being alone provides.
Next, set random rocks and weeds
along a barely noticeable path that
vanishes in the distance far too early.
Wash the scene with textures of light
sifted from overclouded skies. Here
sit and make silence your temple.
After the voices fade and the murmurs
of the night commence, stand and move
towards the star that leads home. Some
part of you will follow, some part of
you will remain. What stays with you
is what is left of that which is no longer
part of you. Be with it as you heat water,
cut bread, make the mutable signs that
mark your tenuous presence in two worlds.
There is a lasting comfort in this division.
Joseph Gallo
November 2, 2007
post-time 4:09 PM
4 Comments:
Joseph, this is magnificient.
I'm trembling through the (good) tears.
Here you are getting down to work: Poet as shaman, priest, eminently qualified.
Thank you both, Aharamanx & Kyle. Don't think I've ever been likened unto a shaman, but in this, I will dance like Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
this is quite beautiful ... your (description of that) prelude to a poem or painting, (the choice to open) the door between external inspiration and the inner world (of its translation) ... and yes, paradoxically, it is both tenuous and lasting
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