On a Stephen Crane Poem
On Stephen Crane’s #23
(The Black Riders and Other Lines)
Places among the stars,
Soft gardens near the sun,
Keep your distant beauty;
Shed no beams upon my weak heart.
Since she is here
In a place of blackness,
Not your golden days
Nor your silver nights
Can call me to you.
Since she is here
In a place of blackness,
Here I stay and wait.
Because I could shed no candle-watt of flame
to light or heat your darkness, because I
failed to warm you in your cold hell, to light
any path from that black oblivion,
because I am helpless to rescue you
who know not how to rescue your own life,
your heart, your soul—because I could not
convince you to open yourself to light
and love and the beauty of the cosmos,
I shall stay with you in oblivion
and shun the sun with its gardens of bloom,
its incense-bearing blossoms, its golden
rays and soft stars; yes, no more silver nights
nor those nightingale notes shall call to me.
David M Pitchford
16 April 2009
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Future Unknown
In whose oblivion do you shelter?
With whom do you share this light-less future?
The flicker of flame from soft candlelight
casts shadows across my path; I know that
nightingale song will ever sing your name
and that along the horizon, sunrise
promises azure skies with starlit nights
to follow. The fragrance of evening blooms
tempts me into the garden, beautiful
with vows of forever more and silver
linings. I linger with my heart against
the edges of where I am – listening
to the future; it is hope-full, unknown –
the chance to learn to trust and love again.
© Siobhan
04-22-09
Shallow Respite
Oblivion lies beneath each line, sub-
text of hope in slivered linings, silver
in the light of mind shined optimistic
despite deep shadow and benighted heart.
Too long I fed on bitter dregs of despair,
soaking in the oily mire as though hope
were Hydra with her myriad heads, each
a gaping maw ready to swallow each
bit of heart it tore in tortured segments
of eternity—oblivion gulped me
into its acrid belly to find new
stars, a new moon, new galaxies, and suns
bright as life, bold as love, soothing as words
from my lover. I found hope in losing all.